Idiots in Charge: Lies, Trick, Misdeeds, and Other Political Untruthiness

The Votes Are In...We've Got Idiots In Charge!

With the 2008 Presidential Election just around the corner, the whole country is inundated with political hype. The issues are serious: the war in Iraq, education, the environment, immigration, and homeland security. The numerous candidates all give good reasons why voters should choose them as the next leaders of the country. While a politician may campaign to be the best candidate for the job, no one is perfect and some people are just plain dumb. In order to give the election run an honest perspective, and to keep the candidates on their toes, best-selling author Leland Gregory introduces his newest book Idiots in Charge: Lies, Tricks, Misdeeds and Other Political Untruthiness (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $9.95).

Leland Gregory exposes the truth, or more appropriately the untruth, on Capitol Hill with more than 250 reports from across the country and both sides of the political battle lines:

• In a May 2003 Shutesbury, Massachusetts town meeting, seating was designated using the following criteria: those wearing perfume or aftershave; those who never wear perfume or aftershave; and those who claim they never wear perfume or aftershave but forgot and wore some that day.
• "This isn't rocket science here," explained Senator Thomas Daschle (D-SD), rejecting the idea of spending billions on President Bush's ballistic missile defense, also known as the "Star Wars" system, to a group of reporters on June 8, 2001. After a second thought, Daschle said, "Yes, it is rocket science, now that I think about it."
• In 2001 the city of Dallas commissioned a study on doing business with local companies; the firm it hired to conduct the research was located in Oakland, California.

Idiots in Charge is a fun collection of bureaucratic blunders from Democrats and Republicans at state and national levels that will leave readers laughing and wondering how these people got into office in the first place.

Who do we have to look forward to in 2008? Take a look at the presidential hopefuls:

"We don't all agree on everything. I don't agree with myself on everything." —2008 presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, March 2, 2007.

"This is a great place. Everybody who has announced here has been successful...but I have to say that I've already committed to the Food Network to announce." —2008 presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, December 1, 2006.

In November 2006, as Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) was preparing to leave office, he took the time to set up a wedding registry at two department stores, and that might lead one to believe that Huckabee was getting married. But Huckabee had been happily married to Janet Huckabee for thirty-two years, so why did he set up two registries? Arkansas law prohibits gifts to public officials of more than $100, with a few exceptions—wedding gifts being one of them.

"You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent...I'm not joking." —Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) on the C-SPAN series Road to the White House, June 17, 2006.

"For the life of me I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do." —Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson (R-WI), at a news conference on December 3, 2004, announcing his resignation.

"We have a lot of kids who don't know what 'work' means. They think 'work' is a four-letter word." —Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, May 13, 2006.

On December 23, 2003, New York Governor George Pataki (R) pardoned a comedian who had been convicted on a misdemeanor charge for performing an "obscene, indecent, immoral, and impure" show at a Manhattan nightclub. The pardon was signed for Lenny Bruce, who had died from heroin overdose thirty-seven years earlier.

Since starting his political career in 1980, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) has bragged about being a draft pick for the Kansas City A's (now the Oakland A's) sometime in 1966, 1967, or 1968 (he's mentioned different years in different interviews.) But an investigation in the November 24, 2005 Albuquerque Journal uncovered the exact year he was drafted—never.

"I feel like Luke Skywalker trying to get out of the Death Star." —Presidential candidate and possible space cadet John McCain (R-AZ), describing his intergalactic battle with his own party concerning campaign finance reform, February 5, 2000.

2004 presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) held up a pie chart to illustrate his point about a bloated Pentagon budget—during a debate that aired only on National Public Radio.

About Leland Gregory:

Formerly a writer for Saturday Night Live, Leland Gregory coauthored the New York Times best-seller America's Dumbest Criminals and eight other AMP humor titles including: Hey, Idiot; What's the Number for 911?; Idiots in Love; Am-Bushed; and Stupid History. A tireless promoter, he has made hundreds of radio and television appearances, including Good Morning America and The Today Show.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Contact: Christina Martin, (800) 851-8923, ext. 6685, cmartin@amuniversal.com

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