Speaking of Sloppy Seconds

John Roberts (the CBS White House correspondent, not the new Chief Justice) has posted this apology on the CBS News blog for letting his mask slip and blurting out this gem to Press Secretary Scott McClellan:

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

Now, I give CBS credit for having a real blog, one that allows comments, but the backlash they got in those comments prompted Roberts to issue an amplification of his mea culpa. Of course I have to take issue with a couple of his statements.

I can assure you that in no way did I intend to use the phrase 'sloppy seconds' in either a sexual connotation or a perjorative [sic] way.

Really, John? I'm confused. Could you use the phrase "sloppy seconds" in a sentence that isn't pejorative and doesn't have any sexual connotations?

Many posters seem to think that it is indicative of an 'agenda' or 'reveals my true thinking' about the White House. That is simply not the case.

I'm sure this is true. Everyone knows that the culture at CBS News holds President Bush and his administration in the highest regard. The Dan Rather forged documents incident was simply an aberration. And, of course, when John Roberts accused President Bush of cronyism, he meant it in the nicest way possible.

Again, the forum was informal and is never broadcast, so I my [sic] linguistic guard was down. I uttered a phrase that is used colloquially these days to describe a number of situations.

Good point. Just the other day I was taking communion and I told the pastor to make sure the wafers were fresh, because I didn't want any sloppy seconds.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

Update: Newsbusters explores Roberts' slip of the tongue in clinical detail.

RadioactiveChief points out that Roberts didn't really apologize for his words.

Ace of Spades out-Roberts Roberts with this Top Ten List.