It's that time of the year. Who was right and who was wrong? Below the fold, find some of the most stupid predictions and remarks of 2008. Feel free to add a few of your own in the comments. It's always fun to point out Republican and "talking head" stupidity and I look forward to many more of their ridiculous remarks in the new year..after all, the most stupid remarks of 2009 is just a year away!
"the fundamentals of our economy are strong," John McCain-September 15, 2008
You sure about that, Senator McGoo?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
"In what respect, Charlie?"-Sarah Palin , September 11, 2008
Sarah Palin pretending that she knew what the Bush Doctrine was...
http://www.youtube.com/...
“If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she’s going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her, then. … Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single Democratic primary. I’ll predict that right now.” —William Kristol, Fox News Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006
Poor Bill Kristol, he's always wrong! After Iowa, Kristol u-turned into another extreme, declaring that Clinton would lose New Hampshire and that “There will be no Clinton Restoration".
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/...
“Peter writes: ‘Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there?’ No! No! No! Bear Stearns is fine! Do not take your money out. … Bear Stearns is not in trouble. I mean, if anything they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t move your money from Bear! That’s just being silly! Don’t be silly!” —Jim Cramer, responding to a viewer’s e-mail on CNBC’s Mad Money, March 11, 2008
Six days after Jim Cramer made his pronouncement of certainty, Bear Stearns went belly-up.
http://www.youtube.com/...
“In reality the risks to maritime flows of oil are far smaller than is commonly assumed. First, tankers are much less vulnerable than conventional wisdom holds. Second, limited regional conflicts would be unlikely to seriously upset traffic, and terrorist attacks against shipping would have even less of an economic effect. Third, only a naval power of the United States’ strength could seriously disrupt oil shipments.” —Dennis Blair and Kenneth Lieberthal, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2007
Somalia on Nov. 15, 2008, anybody? Pirates in inflatable rafts hijacked a Saudi oil tanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude in the Indian Ocean.
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/...
“Anyone who says we’re in a recession, or heading into one—especially the worst one since the Great Depression—is making up his own private definition of ‘recession.’” —Donald Luskin, The Washington Post, Sept. 14, 2008
The day after Luskin’s op-ed in the Washington Post, “Quit Doling Out That Bad-Economy Line,” Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. This is why we always said that McCain economic advisor Luskin was “the Stupidest Man Alive.” ...right up there with the other McCain economic advisors, Phil Gramm and Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Boy are we lucky McCain lost!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
“
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will enter the Presidential race in February, after it becomes clear which nominees will get the nod from the major parties. His multiple billions and organization will impress voters—and stun rivals. He’ll look like the most viable third-party candidate since Teddy Roosevelt. But Bloomberg will come up short, as he comes in for withering attacks from both Democrats and Republicans. He and Clinton will split more than 50% of the votes, but Arizona’s maverick senator, John McCain, will end up the country’s next President.” –BusinessWeek, Jan. 2, 2008
Question: Which part of this prediction became true?
Answer: No part of this prediction from BusinessWeek’s “Ten Likely Events in 2008” turned out to be even remotely true.
http://www.businessweek.com/...
“The possibility of $150-$200 per barrel seems increasingly likely over the next six-24 months.” —Arjun Murti, Goldman Sachs oil analyst, in a May 5, 2008, report
Never happened. Oil prices stopped short of $148 and then tumbled to $43.70 as of today.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
“It starts with the taking over of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which has already happened. It goes on to the destruction of the Georgian armed forces, which is now happening. The third [development] will probably be the replacement of the elected government, which is pro-Western, with a puppet government, which will probably follow in a week or two.” —Charles Krauthammer, Fox News, Aug. 11, 2008
Krauthammer was miserably wrong on two counts and he followed this inaccurate forecast (Russia eventually agreed to a cease-fire and pulled out its troops several weeks later by predicting that Ukraine would be next on Russia’s hit list and suggesting that the United States station troops there.
http://www.youtube.com/...
“I believe the banking system has been stabilized. No one is asking themselves anymore, is there some major institution that might fail and that we would not be able to do anything about it.” —Henry Paulson on National Public Radio, Nov. 13, 2008
Unfortunately for Paulson, shortly after his vote of confidence, Citigroup had to be bailed out, too!
http://www.pbs.org/...
"If we all put our shoulders to the wheel between now and November, I'm confident we'll see John McCain as the next president of the United States.''- Vice President Dick Cheney, May 30, 2008
How'd that work out for ya, Dick?
http://gothamist.com/...
"They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."- Sarah Palin, September 12, 2008
Foreign Policy "expert", Sarah Palin...
http://abcnews.go.com/...
With an assist from:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/