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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage

The first debate gets an ObAUE-ing

Having skip-read the transcript of last night's debate at www.nytimes.com (free registration required), my eye fell on a few ObAUEs. And, yes, of course most of them from Bush, but Kerry was far from word perfect and even the moderator had a disastrous moment when delivering what was presumably a written question.

Here goes:
1. "I'll never give a veto to any country over our security, butI also know how to lead those alliances. This president has left them in shatters across the globe" ( Kerry)
"In shatters"? Shouldn't that be "shattered" or "in tatters"?
2. " radical Islamic Muslims" (Kerry)

Yeah, but what about the Hispanic Latin Americans?
3. "People out there listening know what I believe. And that'show best it is to keep the peace." (Bush)
Like, how worst can you get?
4. "The enemy understands a free Iraq will be a major defeat intheir ideology of hatred. That's why they're fighting so vociferously." (Bush)
You mean US troops are being dissed to death?
5. "a pre-Sept. 10 mentality" (Bush)

Try also "prior to before 9/11" or "in advance of the eve of 9/11".
6. "As president, what would you do specifically in addition toor differently to increase the homeland security of the United States than what President Bush is doing? (Moderator)

Prepositions, we go 'em!
7. "there are a long list of things" (Kerry)

And one of those things are..
8 "I think it's worthy for a follow-up if you don't mind" (Bush)

... or even suitable of one.
9. "core convictions" (Bush)

Hi, Mickwick!
10. "I've got a good relation with Vladimir." (Bush)

A shared cousin?
11. "By consoliding power in a central government"

(Bush it's corrected in the transcript, but it's what he said.)
Summing up: the best Bushism of the lot was actually from Kerry those pesky "Islamic Muslims".

Ross Howard
  

Top answer

[nq:1]Having skip-read the transcript of last night's debate [/nq] Thus displaying a degree of community spirit which I fear an elaborate education has failed to instill in me. [/nq] Well, that shows he's got what it takes to do the job. Mike.

  • [nq:1]Having skip-read the transcript of last night's debate [/nq] Thus displaying a degree of community spirit which I fear an elaborate education has failed to instill in me.
  • [/nq] Well, that shows he's got what it takes to do the job.
  • Mike.
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136 Answers
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[nq:1]Having skip-read the transcript of last night's debate [/nq]
Thus displaying a degree of community spirit which I fear an elaborate education has failed to instill in me.
[nq:1]Summing up: the best Bushism of the lot was actually from Kerry those pesky "Islamic Muslims".[/nq]
Well, that shows he's got what it takes to do the job.

Mike.
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[nq:1]Having skip-read the transcript of last night's debate at www.nytimes.com (free registration required), my eye fell on a few ObAUEs. ... president has left them in shatters across the globe" ( Kerry) "In shatters"? Shouldn't that be "shattered" or "in tatters"?[/nq]
C'mon, you know where to find a dictionary:
Main Entry: 2 shatter
Function: noun
Date: circa 1640

1 :
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[nq:2]Having skip-read the transcript of last night's debate at www.nytimes.com ... Kerry) "In shatters"? Shouldn't that be "shattered" or "in tatters"?[/nq]
[nq:1]C'mon, you know where to find a dictionary: Main Entry: 2 shatter Function: noun Date: circa 1640 1 : FRAGMENT, SHRED usually used in plural [/nq]
OK. A pondial difference, perhaps.
[nq:2]2. " radical Islamic Muslims" (Kerry
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[nq:1]Having skip-read the transcript of last night's debate at www.nytimes.com (free registration required), my eye fell on a few ObAUEs. ... president has left them in shatters across the globe" ( Kerry) "In shatters"? Shouldn't that be "shattered" or "in tatters"?[/nq]
Depends. If you regard JFK as obsolete (which he increasingly seems to be, IMHO) or a speaker of dialect, it's OK. Or he's
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Ross Howard filted:
[nq:2]Did we ever have a discussion about the pondal attitudes ... sign of a genuine human being. To a certain extent.[/nq]
[nq:1]When did that change, though? With Reagan, perhaps? The two previous "presidents of the people" that spring to mind FDR and JFK were both renowned for their i-dotting and t-crossing oratory, weren't they?[/nq]
Pre-Reagan, I think...When a
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[nq:1]Ross Howard filted:[/nq]
[nq:1]Pre-Reagan, I think...When a man taking the oath of office states his given name as "Jimmy", that's a signal that you're not going to get a lot of high-falutin' oratory..r[/nq]
So, it was when we enter the "new-kee-ur" age?
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Ross Howard wrote, in part:
[nq:1]2. " radical Islamic Muslims" (Kerry) Yeah, but what about the Hispanic Latin Americans?[/nq]
There are non-Hispanic Latin Americans...

SML
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[nq:1]Did we ever have a discussion about the pondal attitudes towards public speaking? Americans find very fluent speakers to be somewhat slick and phony, and find garbled sentences and mistakes to be a sign of a genuine human being. To a certain extent.[/nq]
Do we? I don't. The few times I've seen Tony Blair debating in the House of Commons, I've wished American politicians were that articul
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[nq:2]Yeah, but what about the Hispanic Latin Americans?[/nq]
Seems to be that's okay. There are Latin Americans who are mostly descended from the Spaniards, there are millions of others who are Indios, and yet other millions who are of African descent.
Isn't "Hispanic Latin Americans" a useful term for distinguishing the ones of Spanish descent?
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[nq:1]Ross Howard wrote, in part:[/nq]
[nq:2]2. " radical Islamic Muslims" (Kerry) Yeah, but what about the Hispanic Latin Americans?[/nq]
[nq:1]There are non-Hispanic Latin Americans...[/nq]
Yes, I know. Well, in theory, at least. Most Paraguayans, for example, are not of Spanish descent and don't even have Spanish as their first language. Yet for all practical purposes, I think they'

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