Public Speecher

Warning: If you’re offended by the “F word”, don’t watch these videos or read this post.

Since I’ve been away for a bit, I imagine you may have already seen New York City Councilman James Oddo losing his cool on a “reporter” from Norwegian comedy show Rikets røst (rough translation, “Voice of the Nation”). “Voice of the Nation” bills itself as a Norwegian version of The Daily Show, and “reporter” Pia Haraldsen plays a “dumb blond”, who asks inappropriate questions, leaving marks to react in unpredictable ways.

As I said, you may have already seen this latest viral vid, but if you hadn’t, or if you just want to see follow-up videos, as the real story unfolded, I’d like to make this a sort of “Get the fuck out of my office!” mega-post.

On with the show, here’s the clip that lead to a week of mainstream media follow-up coverage:

This next video doesn’t come in the form of a YouTube clip, but a link from HotAir.com to a local NBC affiliate who interviewed Oddo, regarding his explanation for his having gone nuclear on that “news crew”. He’s sorry (mainly to his mom) about the language.

And not to be outdone, Norway’s own Pia Haraldsen hit back in this interview on Fox & Friends. Okay, she doesn’t really “hit back”, she essentially just looked hot and got a big plug for her show, but watch anyway:

The next clip is from a radio interview Oddo did, still reacting to the prank, in which he blows the lid off the whole thing! He claims that the original clip is heavily edited down, and his anger built over 15 minutes of idiotic questions, before he blew his lid:

This clip seems to confirm Councilman Oddo’s claims, at least to some extent. It’s not the full 15 minutes, but it certainly is longer than the popular clip that’s been making the rounds:

Here Oddo explains how he was duped:

Evidently he found it odd that a TV station in Norway would want to interview a NYC councilman on United States presidential politics. They eventually convinced him that it was just to get a Republican’s perspective. The whole thing was odd, but he didn’t really flip out until the reporter asked a question about Barack Obama being “African-American”, and thus not American, and ineligible to run, followed by some comment about Hillary Clinton and a cigar.

Oddo felt the Obama question was an accusation of racism, in that it implied Obama being black might prevent him from running. Also, the cigar comment was likely a reference to President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

Now get the f*ck out of my blog! Wait, NO! Stay, I was just kidding!

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Here’s an oldy but a goody (well, 6 months old.. but that’s an “oldy” in internet time). Sometimes being a “public speecher”, isn’t about screwing up while you’re talking… it can be what you’re doing or what’s happening around you, as you try to maintain a professional appearance.

Poor Kathleen Cochrane, reporter for Fox affiliate WJW Fox 8 in Cleveland Ohio, was trying to get through her report while holding a cat that has clearly never heard of politely saying “no comment”:

Less entertaining (and less than honest, in my opinion) was the follow-up the next night. After the clip got national attention, the anchors and Kathleen chose to address it on air. Am I the only one not buying the “I wasn’t crying, I was laughing” line?

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