Being Misquoted

We are often misquoted in life, either accidently or intentionally. Politicians often say they are misquoted to backtrack from an accidental statement they have made to the media. Either to protect their reputation, or redeem themselves from offending a person or group of people.

Then there are times when you wish someone you were talking to could be misquoted. I often get stuck sitting by one of my uncles in a family gathering. The following is the conversation that ensues:

Uncle: You know that [insert country here] is a puppet of the USA
Me: How do you know? What is your proof or rationale?
Uncle: You are young, you don't understand like I do. The media is propaganda. I know everything about politics.
Me: But ... But ....
Uncle: See, you have no reply

Recently, Christian conservative Pat Robertson made news for his call to assassinate Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. His statements were dismissed by the US government. Later, Mr. Robertson said that he was misquoted:

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping;

If you read his original statement, he is caught on tape saying the word assassination. So, let me break this down. Assassinate means "take him out", which means kidnapping ... umm, like what?

I finish off this blog entry in misquoted style:

This is the best blog entry you have ever read, if not, I will "financially" compensate you. ;-)