It’s official: Britain’s Plain English Campaign has given its “Foot in Mouth” prize to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. And I quote:

Rumsfeld, renowned for his uncompromising tough talking, received the prize for the most baffling comment by a public figure.

“Reports that say something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know,” Rumsfeld told a news briefing.

“We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

Wow. I’ve got to admit, that makes my own incoherence sound strangely coherent…