It might not have been instant, but the bad karma a former British tabloid editor got calling President Bush "an idiot" for falling off a Segway in 2003 got him four years later as he broke three ribs when he accidentally hit a curb driving a - wait for it - Segway (h/t Say Anything via Glenn Reynolds).
As reported by Access Hollywood on August 21 (emphasis added):
Piers Morgan may be a great judge of "talent," but clearly, riding a segway is not one of his own.
The "America's Got Talent" judge broke several ribs this weekend as a result of a Segway accident, and may not be able to appear on tonight's season finale.
Hysterically, on June 14, 2003, the tabloid Morgan was then editor for, the Daily Mirror, ran a headline "You'd have to be an idiot to fall off, wouldn't you Mr President," along with a rather disparaging article with these pictures of Bush's accident (emphasis added):
THE makers promise it will never fall over...
So even George Bush should be able to use the Segway personal two-wheel transporter without tumbling off.
After all, it's kept upright by some of the most sophisticated gyroscopes known to man, linked to a series of computers to detect the slightest movement.
But if anyone can make a pig's ear of riding a sophisticated, self-balancing machine like this, Dubya can.
The President climbed on, stumbled a bit, then crashed off the other side - before it had actually gone anywhere.
And this is the man who used to fly fighter planes.
Cue John Lennon: Instant karma's gonna get you. Gonna knock you off your feet.
Adding insult literally to injury, when Bush had a mountain biking accident in 2004, Morgan's tabloid called him the Presidunce.
Who's the dunce now, Mr. Morgan?
I'm verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves.
