Bushspeak

[Joe Pickett]

I agree with Grant Barrett that it is unfair to take politicians to task
for their verbal gaffes when speaking off the cuff, day in and day out,
after airplane rides and bus rides, hot dog lunches, and who knows what
else.

But I think we have also become used to exceptionally fine delivery, first
from Reagan, who was a master at delivering scripted statements (one of his
finest moments as president, in my view, was the statement he made after
the space shuttle Challenger blew up, with many thousands, if not millions,
of children watching) and then from Clinton, who is a superb off-the-cuff
speaker, with astonishing presence of mind and smoothness of delivery.  His
performance at those "town meetings" did much to win him the election in
1992, I think.

So I have some sympathy for W.  The things I notice most about his speech
(aside from his vowels) are -in' instead of -ing (his father does this too)
and his tendency to stress initial syllables, southern-fashion.  Note that
he said INsurance, not inSURance, the other night.

Christopher Hitchens has an article in Vanity Fair on W.'s difficulty
speaking (and reading). I think it is somewhat mean-spirited, but I'll post
it in another message so you can see what he says.

Joe