GBFan
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Hockey players are known for spitting out profanities on the ice. On Monday, that characteristic rubbed off on Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who let fly with an f-bomb during a rally celebrating the hometown Kings' Stanley Cup championship.
Having shed his usual pinstriped suit for a hockey jersey, Garcetti stepped in front of the TV cameras and a full house at Staples Center, where the Los Angeles Kings had defeated the New York Rangers to win the NHL title for the second time in three years Friday evening.
"There are two rules in politics," Garcetti told those celebrating the victory. "They say never ever be pictured with a drink in your hand. And never ever swear.
Then he added dramatically: "But this is a big [expletive] day. Way to go, guys."
Within minutes, Garcetti's remarks were trending on Twitter and appearing uncensored on YouTube, just as Fox Sports West was apologizing for letting them get on the air.
"He said that?" Thomas Hollihan, an expert on political discourse, civil society and contemporary rhetorical criticism at the University of Southern California, asked The Associated Press incredulously.
This was, after all, not some drunken musician accepting an award somewhere. Nor was it a celebrity caught up in a silly dispute captured by the cameras for TMZ. This was the mayor of the nation's second-largest city, gleefully shouting it to the masses.
"When you're an elected official, people have a higher expectation for your speech, your conduct and context than they would if you're an entertainer," said Hollihan.
He added he hoped Garcetti, whose public persona is normally about as mild as his city's weather, wasn't trying to boost his hipness cred.
Although the F-word's shock value is declining, Hollihan said, it's never smart for a politician to toss it around in public, even in front of a crowd of screaming hockey fans.
"The little old ladies in the valley are going to hear this too," he said, referring to the city's more conservative San Fernando Valley, where Garcetti grew up before moving to the hipper Silver Lake area. "As are the church people in neighborhoods where they are not hockey fans, but they care a lot about conduct and character."
Having shed his usual pinstriped suit for a hockey jersey, Garcetti stepped in front of the TV cameras and a full house at Staples Center, where the Los Angeles Kings had defeated the New York Rangers to win the NHL title for the second time in three years Friday evening.
"There are two rules in politics," Garcetti told those celebrating the victory. "They say never ever be pictured with a drink in your hand. And never ever swear.
Then he added dramatically: "But this is a big [expletive] day. Way to go, guys."
Within minutes, Garcetti's remarks were trending on Twitter and appearing uncensored on YouTube, just as Fox Sports West was apologizing for letting them get on the air.
"He said that?" Thomas Hollihan, an expert on political discourse, civil society and contemporary rhetorical criticism at the University of Southern California, asked The Associated Press incredulously.
This was, after all, not some drunken musician accepting an award somewhere. Nor was it a celebrity caught up in a silly dispute captured by the cameras for TMZ. This was the mayor of the nation's second-largest city, gleefully shouting it to the masses.
"When you're an elected official, people have a higher expectation for your speech, your conduct and context than they would if you're an entertainer," said Hollihan.
He added he hoped Garcetti, whose public persona is normally about as mild as his city's weather, wasn't trying to boost his hipness cred.
Although the F-word's shock value is declining, Hollihan said, it's never smart for a politician to toss it around in public, even in front of a crowd of screaming hockey fans.
"The little old ladies in the valley are going to hear this too," he said, referring to the city's more conservative San Fernando Valley, where Garcetti grew up before moving to the hipper Silver Lake area. "As are the church people in neighborhoods where they are not hockey fans, but they care a lot about conduct and character."
