Real, Strange News

I didn't realize that was a cigar in Hillary's pants.

Kudos to Oddo! Now that's how a true New Yorker handles it!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a1iNH7W9SC8

Eric,
Inexcusable behaviour is still inexcusable. Oddo is not an "average" citizen of any place I know. If he is an "average" citizen of Staten Island, I hope he stays there, it's nowhere that I want to live or visit.

I think the Borat gimmick is pretty lame. Everyone looks like an ass except the star (who happens to be the only one in on the joke.)

It always struck me as a cop-out. An easy gag. And all the knock-offs it inspired. Ugh.

Oddo's the man! I just wished he could have cursed a little more. 16 f-bombs in under 2 minutes just isn't that impressive.

What gives him the right to treat his staff like that. Its one thing to curse out jackasses wasting your time, but he berates that guy "Chris" terribly. Disgraceful! Like its the interns job to know what Norweagan news shows are real and which aren't? Come on!
It says a lot about him if that's how he treats his assistants

Totally agree....the Borat thing is just stupid. Cohen should have made a few videos and sent them to a hack show like America's Funniest Videos. That's about as far as his "talent" goes.

He shut her down like Giuliani shut down strip clubs

yea the joke is definately getting played out. Hard to be original anymore. Maybe she could have exposed herself. That might have helped

Thank you James Oddo for standing up for your fellow Americans, Barak Obama, and Hillary Clinton to this unfunny piece of garbage. The stereotype that Americans are all idiots and more seems to have been in play here, thank you for recognizing it and responding appropriately with laudable NYC style. We are more than Democrats and Republicans.

What kinda example it set to be cursing like that? Kids go online and they see their councilman talking like a drunk rapper. He should be impeached.
And to the person who said he was acting like a normal citizen I wanna know where citzens go around talking like that normally? You must be crazy. Its vulgar.

C'mon guys. The entire thing was funny. Laugh it out and forget it.

I'll tell you this, he sure talks like a plumber from Staten Island

I hear Hillary clinton prefers to use pipes. As far as Obama goes I don't think we should elect a terrorist president

We need more politicians like him, even if he is a Republican. That was devoid of being politically correct, no ulterior motives, but brutal and honest disgust. Put him on the ballot for president, he'll have my vote. I'd much rather hear profanity than lies.

As for anyone who thinks no average person should respond like him, welcome to NY. Queens, born and raised.

Borat/Ali G is intelligent satire with a point. The questions are deliberately so stupid nobody should be fooled by them -- except people who think that 'foreigners' or members of the hip hop generation are that dumb and ignorant. That's how the show exposes people's inner racism or cultural bias.

This Pia chick was smug, not funny and trying to provoke for no reason. Oddo has a problem with his temper but he treated her with the respect she deserved.

Sorry, what Borat/Ali G does is not "satire." It's a ruse. A gimmick. He acts like an ignorant foreigner or an ignorant rapper and enters in discussion with a target under false pretense. (Some prudes would call it "lying.")

Some foreigners and rap fans are, indeed, ignorant. Some white males are ignorant. Cohen shows us nothing we don't already know, so it's a stretch to call it "intelligent."

I think Borat is some of the most brilliant satire around. He gets more truth out of these so called leaders than Mike Wallace or Wolf Blitzer.
On the other hand Pia is dumb bimbo who belongs on pole not a newsroom.

Beautifuly done by Oddo. Oddo is my hero. I would have done the exact same thing. :)

You're missing the point, CJ. In real life, nobody is that dumb or ignorant. But some of the interview subjects are willing to believe Borat/Ali G are that ignorant...why? is it because they're foreigners/rappers?

The point is not to show that some foreigners/rappers/white males are ignorant. It's to show how people's cultural stereotypes can make them suspend their judgement about what they're seeing and hearing.

Pure baloney. Not funny. Idiotic for so called humor. It also should not have been shown, including on You Stupid. When Oddo realized it was, what it was, he threw them out, and that should not only have ended the so called interview, but also because it was under false pretenses it was no longer an allowable "news" piece.

Sorry, but if you folk up there use that type of language, and that often, you need to go someplace and relearn how to speak, without vulgarities- which simply are the signs of a weak mind and incapability to speak properly.

The questions the interviewer asked weren't very intelligent, especially when you compare her style to Colbert or Stewart. But Oddo should have been smart enough to know he was being taped and kept his mouth shut like a good politcian. He's obviously in the spotlight and should have practiced some restraint before releasing the f-bomb. However, he was smart enough not to start bashing Hillary like most Republicans are doing these days. Kudos to him for restraint in that sense. The video does not deserve that many hits on YouTube-it's not THAT funny and we already know politicians can be extreme anyway. His reaction was just over-the-top and based too much on his emotions.

I have never in my life thought that I would be proud of Staten Island, but thanks to James Oddo I now am. The way that Pia fake reporter from Norway provoked Oddo to try to make him out to be some sort of racist is just wrong. The power of the press should be used to help people and inform them on what they need to know, it should not be abused to get some laughs. We have comedians for that.

It's clear that this act is dead in America, Norwegian producers should choose a different country to target next time.

funny as hell

@Daniel, If It Feels Good Do It ("Hedonist" would suffice), and Eric

Are you for real? "You folk up there"?

Your overall points are well taken, dropping the F-bomb is rather boorish behavior. However, making conditional (if...then) generalizations about a group of people based on limited information not only admits a tendency for ignorant speculation, it is extremely rude. It is exactly what Pia was trying to draw Oddo into doing.

Over-generalization and ignorance are the weaknesses that lame jokers like Pia play on. Your moral outrage is misplaced, akin to throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water.

There are plenty of good people in NYC (even in Queens, Dan :) ) who have a cultural propensity to drop the F-bomb (particularly when they are riled up) and plenty that don't. I invite you to come to NYC as my honorable guests, I will introduce you to some of the good people I know, and we can learn from each other. I want to believe you are interesting people and I would like to show you hospitality and some grace despite your unfortunate comments. I also hope that you will show me some grace with respect to the fact that I realize that I may sound like a lecturing, pompous jackass. Please consider my point and sincere offer to visit. Pia, not so much.

We are more than the generalizations that divide us: North/South, East/West, Democrat/Republican, racial divisions etc., we are better than that. I am not better than you.

It was funny.

To the person who wrote, "Inexcusable behaviour is still inexcusable. Oddo is not an "average" citizen of any place I know. If he is an "average" citizen of Staten Island, I hope he stays there, it's nowhere that I want to live or visit."

.... Staten Island doesn't want you to "live or visit" anyhow you narrow minded S.O.B.! For you to say that it is "inexcusable behavior and say that Oddo is not an average citizen" just proves that you are probably one of those push overs who let people step all over them! Oddo didn't do that and more power to him! Most New Yorkers (not specific to Staten Island) would have done the same!

Now there's a Republican with family values.

Given that the interviewer was baiting him in front of cameras as if he had an IQ of 65, she got in return on the level that she gave.

Plus look at what he did: lobbing word grenades, the councilman got Ms. Condescending Smarty and her crew rounded up and out his door in under a minute, without having to call the cops, and without wasting time arguing. He also stopped the interview cold: she could run that recorder as long as she wanted, all she'd get is F-words on tape.

Yanking off the jacket at the end was a great touch: "You've heard the verbal bombs, now here comes the real one..."

They picked up speed as they trotted out.

I'd give the Councilman an A on word power suited to the people he was dealing with at the moment.

Well, Oddo gets a grade A and you are all "proud of Staten Island"? Seems like it not only Oddo who is provoked here.

For a country who invades different parts of the world to gain oil - y`all seem to have a lack of self-irony and humor.

I just wish to point out that her segment of the show is not about political satire at all.

Exploring the stupid blonde stereotype to the full, utilizing the opportunity to ask un-PC questions, she often uncoveres shocking attitudes towards different issues (women, race, disabilities and so on) because the "victim" (usually a person in power who has a regarded public image) feels he/she has to answer the stupid questions in a way that she (being a really stupid blonde) understands.. Don't be fooled by the acting, she's actually quite smart and eloquent :)

Altough she was busted in this segment and Oddo completely avoided the shocking or hillarious answers, his condescending attitude towards his intern is in sharp contrast to the public image he otherwise tries to convey and thus warrants the broadcast of the interview.

BTW as long as we are comparing this to other "weird interview" shows; They too has tons of interviews that go wrong, fail to be funny or like this segment; where the interviewer is busted they just does not show them.

Oh.. One more thing:

quoting the article;
"but there is "nothing funny" about mocking Barack Obama's race."

Does he really not get that what se tried to do was to get his HONEST opinion on race in politics and not to mock Obamas skin color?

Just to add: Pia Haraldsen, the reporter is Norway's version of Paris Hilton. A girl only known for her ability to throw big parties... and now act as a "stupid" blonde...

Pia and her show is stupid. I am Norwegian and have watched her show a few times. It's silly and someone ells tells her what to say in an earplugg.
I wish Norway had this kind of "No-nonsense" politicians like James Oddo. Sorry to say we don't.

You are all getting this wrong. The joke's on ms Haraldsen, thats the point of these interviews. It's (supposed to) get funny when the subjects realize what a total idiot she is, and starts wondering if she's for real. In my opinion she doesn't try to "reveal" anything but the baffled faces of her targets.

The racist issue is also simply off the mark. She misunderstands "african-american" to mean someone from Africa with American roots, and consequently, a person without an American citizenship. Translated directly into Norwegian it makes some kind of weird sense, and that makes it funny to Norwegians.

To those of you who have seen the interview and didn't find it funny: Get a sense of humour, will you? The interview is hilarious! :-)

Anyway, how come mr Oddo (the politician) doesn't manage to keep cool even when he KNOWS he's being filmed by a cameracrew? Dropping the f-bomb all over the place, threatening people and shouting like a maniac over an innocent gag like this in front of a camera is just sad.

Dear James Oddo, if you don't like being made fun of in a case like this, then just ask the interviewer and the cameracrew to leave in a polite manner. No harm done with this approach.

Or, you could ofcourse behave like a complete jackass by swearing like there's no tomorrow while threatening people, just to really make SURE you end up on Youtube looking like an illtempered raving maniac instead of a respected politician. Not really a smooth move when you think about it, now is it?

I am an Norwegian, and I want to tell You what it is, that is so funny about this video. First of all, it is common knowlegde, (In a humorous way) that Americans do not know anything about the world around them, exept about their own city. Sometimes they do know about their own state. And some even know about their country. But the rest of the world? Nope. So what Pia Haraldsen did, was asking similar questions that American ( U.S ) reporters do when they are in Europe. That is why it is so funny!

She is trying to act as a dumb blond, she is not racist. If you have seen her other interwiewes you would get the humor of it all. But that politician has really got a bad temper..

Thats only the part of the interview where he snaps, earlier he was very uncomfortable cos he didnt know about the laps, small people with funny hats and reindeer in the north. all she wanted to end the interview was for him to go mental, so she succeeded

I dont think he knows much about anything, MEH. Exept Staten Island. He said he acted like one from there. He really showed the world. didnt he?

Don't be so sensitive. Do never forget that you Americans have the majority of the western population on your side. Ofc there are some morons who criticizes anything you do no matter what it is, but that comes with the territory.

This prank has been played for years in Europe, but there never, ever I must add, has been threats of physical violence before. And she is ofc not mocking Americans or any other race. She got known in Norway for being a blond, bimbo (cousin to some Norwegian royalty) and she plays a role.

People outside the us don't care how many times he uses the f-bomb, but we find it disturbing that you Americans don't at all react to the threats of violence which REALLY should be the matter in this discussion.

Try to see things from a neutral side every once in a while. That is NOT the way to respond to a joke, even though one didn't like it. :)

He's the fool of the world today. Those who disagree should really take a look at it from a neutral point of view.

the reason Oddo (over???) reacted as he did is that the interviewer was implying that he is a racist simply because he is: 1) an american and 2) a republican. i would would have been pissed off by that myself and hopefully would have had the guts to throw her out also.

I think you have to see the movie again, mark. Its just humor, and he reacted as a baboon from N.Y. No manners at all!

I think they found him in a bar

One the one hand, good for Oddo. They probably picked him thinking as a white male Republican he'd trash out Obama and/or Hillary. Instead they got the sound blast they deserved.

On the other hand, how excited should you get about a bunch of Norwegians? This is a country that is most famous for (a)citizens who go abroad and drink like fish because liquor taxes are so high at home, resulting in a bad rep for Norwegian tourists as belligerent drunks; (b) lutefisk - if you've had it, you know how disgusting it is, and if you haven't, no words will suffice; and (c) Vidkund Quisling - interesting that the best known Norwegian in history is the Nazi Norwegian puppet, so notorious that the name Quisling is second only to Judas for one who betrays.

And these are the people who get self- righteous because Oddo tossed them an F-bomb? Gimme a break!

I am a Norwegian who lived in the U.S for a couple of years. First, to Otis: I was hoping the most famous Norwegians to Americans would be Leiv Eiriksson who may have discovered America or Jan Stenerud, the NFL Hall of Fame kicker. That being said, we do have high taxes (too high) and I totally agree with your sentiment about this clip. The lady doing the interview is not considered funny by most Norwegians, I was extremely embarrassed watching her. One, for her comedy skills, two for her the way she behaved in this interview specifically. This was like an idiot trying to impersonate Borat. But being a Norwegian abroad, she was probably drunk. On behalf of a fellow Norwegian (unfortunately), sorry.

You Americans must be STUPIDEST people on earth.
The rest of the world is laughing at you and this Oddo incident makes it even more obvious how little self-irony you really have. He made you an even bigger laughingstock.
You are a reflection of you Prez...STUPID!

I can not belive how sensitive some americans are!
Who do u think u are?

to the point response !

If Americans are "stupid" and don't understand irony or humor, why was Borat such a huge hit? And how about Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert? And if you honestly can't see the difference between Colbert and these witless morons, you're stupid.

Oddo should have handled the situation better. He was totally caught by surprise. As a politician, he should be well prepared for all kinds of situation and he was not. Shame on him for screaming profanities at his employee. He's obviously a very unpleasant person to work for and if I were his employee, I would be laughing at him behind his back. Serve him right! It's really a satire on ignorant Americans who ask stupid questions when they are abroad. The Norwegians are taking revenge!

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. How is it a satire on dumb Americans asking stupid questions? I thought Europeans were supposed to understand satire. This was just an attempted cheap shot -- one that backfired.

Thank you for your site. I have found here much useful information...

I love how the writer for this article added their own colorful descriptions of this "Republican Senator." I am fairly certain that if he were a Democrat, it would been a sympathetic article saying he did the right thing.

First off, he has a job to do, and does not have time to lolly gag with people who want to waste his time. Maybe he should not have used language, or so much of it, but he still had every right to be upset. State Senators are very busy people, I know because I work for one in Florida. For them to take time out of their day to be fooled into this is horrbile.

And I am sure he truely was upset about the racist comments being made, as well as the overall immaturity posed by the reporter in doing this.

Kudos to Senator, and I hope he just uses less language in the future.

fuc-ing nor Europeans have no sense a humor. It shows. Stick to hockey and vodka.

I love to see a politician who can smell a rat and respond appropriately. Yes, the language was coarse, but that is just a quirk of New York culture.

Oddo is obviously fair-minded with respect to minority groups and his political opponents, and it would seem he is also a decent American whose sense of patriotism was seriously offended by this ridiculous Norwegian woman's insinuations.

If I were a New Yorker, this man would get my vote for mayor or governor.

Oddo just reinforces the stereotype of New Yorkers as being brutish, uncivilized, ignorant, dimwitted criminals. His behavior was not that of an educated man, but that of someone either straight out of jail or somebody who should be in jail. A skilled intelligent man in the public eye would always watch what he says. Even in private. Compare him to Ron Paul. They might as well be from different planets.

Enough of your wimpy european comments. Otto was insulted and defended himself against obvious insults. Something europe needs to learn. By the way there is a popular American expression that we like to ask eurpoeans when they visit the states: What part of Europe are you from? The part we saved or the part whose ass we kicked.

I'm Norwegian, and I think most of you are missing the point of the interview. Pia isn't trying to expose others' ignorance and racism, it's just supposed to be funny that she works as a news correspondent while being an amazingly stupid blonde. The joke is on her, not the person being interviewed.
That said, her and her show is god-awful (as you can probably understand from the explanation above); lowest common denominator-humour of the worst possible quality. Cheap jokes that play on ridiculous stereotypes (one other correspondent on the show is in a wheelchair. And that's it. THAT'S what's supposed to be funny about him)
So, while THIS show is a horrible piece of crap, don't think that we Norwegians have no sense of humour. We make some good stuff too (check out the surrealist masterpiece Svidd Neger if you don't believe me), and you Americans make your fair share of un-funny stuff too, no? (According To Jim and suchlike)

I'm Norwegian, and I think most of you are missing the point of the interview. Pia isn't trying to expose others' ignorance and racism, it's just supposed to be funny that she works as a news correspondent while being an amazingly stupid blonde. The joke is on her, not the person being interviewed.
That said, her and her show is god-awful (as you can probably understand from the explanation above); lowest common denominator-humour of the worst possible quality. Cheap jokes that play on ridiculous stereotypes (one other correspondent on the show is in a wheelchair. And that's it. THAT'S what's supposed to be funny about him)
So, while THIS show is a horrible piece of crap, don't think that we Norwegians have no sense of humour. We make some good stuff too (check out the surrealist masterpiece Svidd Neger if you don't believe me), and you Americans make your fair share of un-funny stuff too, no? (According To Jim and suchlike)

Americans are strange. If they are upset about his behaviour it's because he used the f-word. Europeans couldn't care less. (most of us don't find Pia funny at all either). But what we do find surprising is that a politician throws his jacket and threatens to beat up people. That's not ehm.. very grown up. And just helps to build up the aggressive image americans allready have.

Well, obviously, most of the posters here have a sense of humour which doesn't grasp anything more subtle than Everybody Loves Raymond or the embarrasingly lame Jon Stewart. Pia H wasn't trying to goad this assh*le into making racist slurs or slighting the Democrats. She was simply enjoying making him squirm in response to her own 'stupid' act. Nothing more sinister or complicated than that. Lighten up, you dumb posters supporting this guy - do you realise how pathetic you seem with your 'Yeah, that showed 'em how we do it it Queens/Brooklyn/wherever' act? Start viewing your politicians with suspicion, not this dumb admiration just because the guy can swear fluently. In sophisticated countries, we vote for politicians who can think, not just swear. You're doomed to forever end up with people like Bush if manic temper tantrums like this are viewed as a positive display of character.

Ok, for all you humourless Yanks, I'll explain it. She wasn't trying to trick him into saying something racist or slighting the Democrats. She was simply trying to make him squirm in reaction to her 'dumb blonde' act. You'd probably understand it better if you'd seen the Danish film 'The Idiots' (which you haven't, of course, because you're American). He didn't understand, because he's American, and has had all his irony wiring worn down by endless reruns of King of Queens and everybody talking about how the schoolboy 'humour' of Jon Stewart is sooo clever.
To all those who have come out with, 'Way to swear, Oddo, you da man, big up from Queens/Brooklyn/wherever' (That's my approximation of your language, which you so touchingly refer to as 'English'), I say: if you find that level of intelligence admirable in a politician, then you certainly got what you deserve in Bush. Over in Europe, we judge politicians on their smartness, sensitivity and other such traits - not whether they can swear fluently. Any moron can lose his temper - that doesn't qualify him for public office.

The black man is the illegitimate bastard of an African national. He is not American, he is merely an "Obamanation."

The Whre of Babylon whose name makes me 'hilarious' laughing at the thought that she -in any way- is a fit candidate for the office of being the "Little Father" of this land, is completely a tool of the Zionazis, who helped her buy her way into the Senate, only because the occupants of the Oval Orifice bowed and scraped to their masters in proper goyim fashion.

Otto is a vulgar, stupid, grossly profane exemplar of why caricatures of Sicilians are made- because they are true!
He should resign from public office, and frankly, the entire city of NYC be flushed out to sea. What a perverse city 'beyond the pale' that one is!

Come the rEVOLution, when santity is restored, all such will be tried at the court of public opinion, and put where they can do the most good- like picking lettuce in Barstow!

Funny as hell!!! ROFL!!
Oddo has an IQ like bag of hammers!!!
Typical NY Italian-sawed-off-little-sh8t!

I think he went a little over board, but it was still pretty funny mone the less. They wanted to get a reaction out of him and thats what they got....

To Staten Island | October 12, 2007 03:49 PM

USA loves war. They LIE so they CAN go to war. US is the worst terorist in the world. HOW can u americans sit back and watch while your own country suffer from this? Do u REALLY know the price u pay? Guess not. Bush and his propaganda stops that from happening.

After world war 2:

Korea
1950-54
Iran
1953
Guatemala
1954
Costa Rica
1950
Libanon
1958-84
Indonesia
1965
Haiti
1959 and 1994
Cuba
1959
Irac
1963 and 1980 and 1991 and 2003
Brasil
1964
Vietnam
1964-73
Kambodia
1955-70
Laos
1965-73
Zaire/Kongo
1961
Dom. republic
1965
Greece
1967
Bolivia
1967
Uruguay
1969-83
Chile
1970-73
South Africa
1960-80
East Timor
1975
Angola
1975-80
Honduras
1980
Nicaragua
1978-90
Grenada
1983
Libya
1981-89
Panama
1989
Afghanistan
1979-
El Salvador
1980-92
Mexico
1990-
Sudan
1998
Colombia
2000-

Pia was know in Norway a long time before she became a "comedian", due to her relations to the Norwegian royal family (I think her adoptive father is the nepheu of our Queen) and a relationship with some european prince. After some misforunate media appearances it became a rather common perception that she was a "stupid and shallow blonde girl"(Sorry, Pia!). What some of you doesn't seem to understand is that the person Pia Haraldsen is making fun of is herself..

She wasn't trying to make this Oddo guy say something racistic, nor was she trying to imply that americans are racists, she was just playing stupid, as she has been doing in loads of other interviews, with politicians and experts on politics from many countries before.

When heard that Pia was going to work for the TV show "Rikets Røst"/"Voice of the Nation", my first thought, was that the program was reaching a lower standard than ever before (I wasn't really a fan of either the show or Pia). After I had seen the first of Pia's interviews, I completely changed my mind(about Pia, not the rest of the show, I still think that is crap). Yes, she is kind of predictable, and fake interviews have been done by many peoples before. But still, I find her interviews (in general, not this one in particular) hillarious, and i am usually laughing at Pia, not the person she interviews.

And for those of you saying that she is just a bad copy of "Borat", her interviews cannot really be compared to Borat's. Cohen is playing the role as Borat, who knows nothing about western culture Pia is playing the role as herself, a political commentator not knowing anything about politics and history.