Friday, December 5, 2008

Shocking I Tell You, Shocking!

It's almost impossible for me to think about what has occurred in this country over the last eight years without becoming completely unglued. So I won't go there today.

I've been basking in the glory of Barack Obama's decisive victory a month ago and haven't written. I can't wait until January 20! It will be so refreshing to have a president who is SMART and who not only believes in science but who listens to scientists, who values the opinions of others, who will uphold the constitution, obey the Geneva Convention, stop illegal torture and extraordinary rendition, restore habeas corpus, close Guantanamo and............well you know how I feel about these things.

That's why it was so refreshing to receive the following from my sister Patty today. It is outstanding. I'm sorry I don't know the original source.



Obama's Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy
Stunning Break with Last Eight Years

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.