Obama’s Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy

[galtgulch]

>>>"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' "Sixty 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."<<<

Whoops! It is a quote and not mine. I posted it earlier and have no idea where I found it. Sorry! galt

Edited November 23, 2008 by galtgulch

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I think...

Well...

You know...

Right.

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

Now, if only he would stop saying the wrong things.

--Brant

[Mike11]

roflmao

Nice find GG

[Philip Coates]

Very clever, Galt! BTW, Is this a quote or your own writing? If the latter, very impressive.... I particularly like your use of subject and predicate together in the same sentence.

If the former, can you cite the source?

Else we might accuse you of Plagiariistery. And Michael Stuart K is very much a Sticklorist about that....

[galtgulch]

Very clever, Galt! BTW, Is this a quote or your own writing? If the latter, very impressive.... I particularly like your use of subject and predicate together in the same sentence.

If the former, can you cite the source?

Else we might accuse you of Plagiariistery. And Michael Stuart K is very much a Sticklorist about that....

I googled and found that the whole thing was originally to be found at The Huffington Post by Andy Borowitz. There were 895 links. I didn't find it there. Someone had posted it elsewhere.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowit...e_b_144642.html

galt

Edited November 23, 2008 by galtgulch

[syrakusos]

>>>"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.

Huffington Post

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.

Original article here.

“I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead,” Mr. Obama said, his voice slow and controlled. “Some of the choices that we make are going to be difficult. And I have said before and I will repeat again: It is not going to be quick and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in.” -- Chicago, November 7, 2008

Barack Obama's campaign bloopers

Some of the same; some different

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEIzEfm6N6Q

Sen. Barack Obama without his teleprompter

[Philip Coates]

On a more serious note, this whole thing of making fun, finding syntactical errors in the Republican not the Democrat is an old trick. Too bad, even Oists are not savvy enough to avoid accepting it at face value.

Bush has a slip of the tongue and once mispronounced the word "strategy" and "strategery" becomes a source for comics ten thousand times. Obama has a slip of the tongue and it is buried.

Same with Sarah Palin. She said many shrewd and intelligent things in the campaign. (BTW, if you haven't actually followed this carefully and have simply "skimmed" whatever the press wants you to believe, you don't get to have an informed conclusion.)

[Mike11]

Wasn't Palin a creationist who wanted to go witch hunting in Africa?

[BaalChatzaf]

Wasn't Palin a creationist who wanted to go witch hunting in Africa?

When did she ever say she wanted to go witch hunting anywhere?

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Roger Bissell]

On a more serious note, this whole thing of making fun, finding syntactical errors in the Republican not the Democrat is an old trick. Too bad, even Oists are not savvy enough to avoid accepting it at face value.

Bush has a slip of the tongue and once mispronounced the word "strategy" and "strategery" becomes a source for comics ten thousand times. Obama has a slip of the tongue and it is buried.

Same with Sarah Palin. She said many shrewd and intelligent things in the campaign. (BTW, if you haven't actually followed this carefully and have simply "skimmed" whatever the press wants you to believe, you don't get to have an informed conclusion.)

Not only syntactical errors, but also errors of proNOUNciation (ha). For instance, it was frequently noted that Palin pronounced the word "nuclear": noo-key-ler, as does President Bush. And we all know how stupid Pres. Bush is, ergo Palin is a moron, too. Q.E.D.

Yeah, right.

My liberal friends do NOT appreciate it when I follow up their ridicule of Bush and Palin by pointing out that the most noble and wonderful, intelligent and moral man ever to sit in the White House (at least since FDR)--namely, Jimmy Carter--ALSO pronounced the word that way. And he worked on a nuclear submarine!!

Actually, that's more evidence of "ominous parallels" between Bush and Carter, to go along with how they both managed to oversee a serious tanking of the economy.

REB

[BaalChatzaf]

My liberal friends do NOT appreciate it when I follow up their ridicule of Bush and Palin by pointing out that the most noble and wonderful, intelligent and moral man ever to sit in the White House (at least since FDR)--namely, Jimmy Carter--ALSO pronounced the word that way. And he worked on a nuclear submarine!!

REB

You mean an nukular submarine, don't you?

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Philip Coates]

> You mean an nukular submarine, don't you?

Don't be an nukulhead. That's a bad strategery. :-)