A hickey from Kenickie is like a Hallmark card: When you care enough to send the very best

By Rachel on October 31, 2005 5:24 PM

That’s just one of the lines we learned from the movie “Grease” watching it slavishly for years and years and years growing up. Another line, delivered by Danny Zuko to Rizzo: “Sloppy seconds ain’t my style.” We repeated that without understanding what it meant for many years, until someone quietly pulled us aside and explained it to us. Oops.

We think that CBS White House Correspondent John Roberts probably knew what it meant when he said it in the White House Press Briefing today. Maybe he meant to say “second best” or “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” or even “not the President’s number-one choice,” but what he actually said was:

So, Scott, you said that — or the President said, repeatedly, that Harriet Miers was the best person for the job. So does that mean that Alito is sloppy seconds, or what?

On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to apologize for John Roberts’ unfortunate phraseology, unwitting or not.

There is, however, nothing unwitting about the inclusion of an explicit definition on Drudge. Come on Drudge, just keep your cool, now you’re starting to drool. Eh, fungool. You’re Matty D.

By the way, my favorite part of this story is Scott McClellan’s straight-on response to Roberts’ question: “Not at all, John.” Such a stoic, that one.

Roberts Apologizes, Calls Choice Of Words “Unfortunate” [CBS Public Eye]
Quotes from Grease [IMDB]