State Comptroller Hevesi's foot, meet State Comptroller Hevesi's mouth! At the crossroads of bad introductions and bad commencement speeches, Alan Hevesi was number one - with a bullet - when he lamely tried to fete Queens College honoree Senator Charles Schumer by saying, "We really feel bad for poor Chuck, the U.S. Senator, the man who, uh, uh, how do I phrase this diplomatically, who will put a bullet between the president's eyes if he could get away with it. The toughest senator, the best representative. A great, great member of the Congress of the United States.'' You can believe if with your own ears by watching this video. And then when Hevesi realized he essentially called for the death of the President by way of NY State's senior Senator, he had to apologize to President Bush, Senator Schumer and Queens College students and called his speech "stupid" and "moronic," and adding, "What I intended to say is that Chuck Schumer is incredibly smart, courageous, willing even to stand up to the president of the United States on issues of public policy. What came out of my mouth is that Chuck Schumer is smart and brave and capable of putting a bullet between the president's eyes."
Senator Schumer's office told reporters that after Hevesi's apology, the matter should end. Well, to be entirely fair, the public loves to drive Bush-isms into the ground, so we expect this to linger in the air for a while. And Hevesi will probably still win re-election to comptroller this fall against J. Christopher Callaghan, since people probably talk about President Bush dying all the time (but aren't sure if they'd want it, because then it would be angry Uncle Dick). Hevesi is trying to fight for environmental matters in Brooklyn and Queens with the oil spill fund.
