(Someone sent this to me today and it gave me a chuckle. Hope you enjoy it.)
In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.
Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.
But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring.
According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota , some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a president who speaks English as if it were his first language.
"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."
The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate -- we get it, stop showing off."
The president-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska .
"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.
(Andy Borowitz is a comedian and writer whose work appears in The New Yorker and The New York Times, and at his award-winning humor site, BorowitzReport.com. )
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Comments: 60
Everyone appreciates the fact that Sarah Palin is no longer in our face. Thank you for posting anything Obama to Sarah Palin Watch and or Sarah stuff because it brings so much laughter into our lives. click here
Very funny Carla The Activist there. Perhaps Ms. Palin would prefer having a turkey slaughtered there in that background (wink, wink) as Obama speaks there.
Better?
Excellent article, at least GWB has been good for a certain amount of humor!
Does Palin actually think most people relate to the way she talks, LOL. Youbetcha! And why in the world did she dis Tito and Joe like that? That's like saying the American people aren't very smart - maybe she thought so.
http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/
Sentences AND prose..............confidence, humility and humanity! Makes ya want to skip down the street throwing flowers in the air!
We may all be moved to clean up our own lazy speech.........not HERE cause this is just between friends! LOL
The Media first started covering up for Bush, editing what he really meant to say, that didn't last long.
It is truly an end to an error.
Palin: "My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars."
Cavett: "At the risk of offending, well, you, for example, I worry about just what it is her hollering fans see in her that makes her the ideal choice to deal with the world’s problems: collapsed economies, global warming, hostile enemies and our current and far-flung twin battlefronts, either of which may prove to be the world’s second “30 Years’ War.”
..."May I confess that upon first seeing her, I liked her looks? With the sound off, she presents a not uncomely frontal appearance.
But now, as the Brits say, “I’ll be glad to see the back of her.”
I love it! Thanks, Sheryl!
Thank Sheryl for the Dick Cavett link, it was good to read someone else's corroborating opinion...
"The president-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska."
LOL!
Welcome to the English language!
P.S. Who else can't wait for the inaugural speech?
Unfortunately, Rita, it isn't only the younger generation. Adults on Gather make fun of people who ask them to use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. They claim a "right" to butcher the language and whine when others rate them low for doing so.
Ms Palin, on the other hand, is her own highly (wink wink) original grammariteerian uh self.
Guaranteed that Obama shall write this one himself -- GUARANTEED!!!
There is NO speechwriter that can touch Obama's brilliance and intelligence -- NO!
Not one!
Even more shameful our language is changing because the younger generation can't learn correct English.
It is so true. It is perfectly acceptable to speak a particular language -- a street language, a rap language, or Ebonics, this is true. However, it is -- in my opinion -- acceptable ONLY if you understand how to speak the common language that is spoken in this country.
No one, repeat NO ONE speaks Standard Written English, and NO ONE speaks "The Queen's English" -- neither of these to perfection, however there is a standardized common language, and the Young Ones should know it, and speak it in the proper environment(s). Is that too much to ask. No ones asks them to be a sell out.
I believe this is one reason that some are so surprised that Obama is articulate. Why should so many be surprised? Well, look at "W". Yes, just look at him. But other than that, they expected Obama to speak with "y'alls", excluding "g's" . . .I understand what was expected.
SURPRISE!!!
Darned if you (there's one) "ya" instead of "you". I do get it.
"Aw, you just tryin' to act White."
(No, I'm trying to be me.)
Then, the other side:
"Uppity, elitist N________"
(Not true, either.)
Obama need not be concerned. THE WHOLE WORLD LOVES HIM JUST AS HE IS.
Again, I was in a store this evening, looking for one thing, and saw Special Edition magazines reserved behind the counter. When I told the proprietor (rather, nearly blew his eardrums out), screaming, "I want those!", he went ahead and sold them to me, even though they were the only ones he had left, reserved for himself, because I USED the fact that I worked diligently on the campaign.
I just can't wait for his inaugural speech !!! duh
Obama can't say a complete sentence without the "Uhs," and the "duhs."
I understand there is already one comedian doing great satire on, " You can check me out, duh, uh, that is, uh, about flip flopping on the duh taxing of the duh rich."
Obama duh is gonna' be a lot of fun !! as we watch him butcher this Enlish language. uh
George may not have said "nuclear" right a few times.... uh, but Obama burtchers every point he tries to make with his "Uhs," and "Duhs," after about every four or five words. uh a A radio host kept count the other day and Obama used the "Uhs," and "Duhs," 25 times in a few minute talk. uh
Now THAT is distracting, duh