Taking Bush Serious(ly)

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:28 AM -0500 3/4/02, sagehen wrote:
>   Robert Fitzke wrote:
>>Another Bush-ism I've read about is his use of the phrase "not over my dead
>>body" in reference to a tax increase. I expected some comments about this
>>use but have seen none. Wouldn't the appropriate phrase be "over my dead
>>body"?
>>
>>Bob (a lurker)
>~~~~~~~~
>Maybe this one was so ridiculous  that it left people speechless. I never
>even heard any of the usual spinners that follow in the wake take this one
>on.  Probably holding their breaths hoping it would just fade away.
>A. Murie

Here's another interesting theory, from a letter to the editor of the
N. Y. Times the other day:

The New York Times
January 8, 2002, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
Section A; Page 18; Column 6; Editorial Desk

To the Editor:

Re "Bush, on Offense, Says He Will Fight to Keep Tax Cuts" (front
page, Jan. 6): Actually, the president said, "Not over my dead body
will they raise your taxes." This might represent his normal muddled
syntax, but on the other hand it might be a clever get-out clause for
later use, because inasmuch as it means anything, it seems to mean,
"If they raise your taxes, it won't be over my dead body."

LEE CHILD
Pound Ridge, N.Y., Jan. 6, 2002