I agree! I have quite enjoyed the SNL skit of the vice presidential debate. The skit was so well done that Italian news showed a piece of it! Italians are quite gung-ho about McCain, except here in Bologna the Red. This place has been governed by communists for a loooong time. Anyway, Mary, I hope you've seen that skit. It's worth two chuckles and a guffaw.
"they're also forced, from time to time, to answer questions, and their answers often resemble the rambling nonsense, obfuscation, and grammatical insanity that many of us would produce when put on the spot.
Yet surely, more than most of us, politicians need to be able to think on their feet, to have a brain that works quickly and rationally under pressure."
And yet, sometimes (key word: sometimes) I think that smart and qualified people aren't always great talkers. Politics demands fancy speech, which a lot of times allows them to make something look good or okay when it isn't. So I guess once in a while I'm okay with an awkward sentence - especially if it was made before having time to think completely through the issue. For me, sincerity and honesty trump grammar.
But yes, I think if you're going into politics, making sense when you speak is a huge plus. And you being a rhetoric person and all, I can see why this caught your attention. :)
And SNL has been amazing lately. My favorite is still the Palin/Clinton one.
I'm experiencing a deep failure to understand how the title relates, unless it's a brutal sarcastic dig. I'm gonna say it's 'cause I'm autistic. . .? Wait, unless it's all you could have hoped for in stuff to diagram? For your diagramming hobby?
If it is a brutal sarcastic dig, I weigh in that I am much in favor.
1. 28 Dresses Later a high-adrenaline zombie-bridesmaid thriller. When one dress too many turns the minds of the perpetual bridesmaid, they roam post-apocalyptic London, tearing to shreds everyone with well-manicured nails and biting them with their recently-whitened teeth. 2. I wake up, groggy, bed-headed, pajamaed. Lying next to me, fully dressed on top of the bed is Gregory Mankiw, the economist. "You're Greg Mankiw," I intelligently remark. He springs out of bed and stands up. "Would you like to discuss consumer surplus and tariffs?" "Why are you here?" I ask. "Don't you remember the Make-a-Wish Foundation?" 3. I was going to throw my tiara, but it turns out to be made of popcorn. "What a cheap groom I have," I think. He's already changed into jeans by the time his extensive family starts playing a traditional game of "here kitty, kitty," around the equally extensive reception grounds. I have no idea why we...
Mary Leah Hedengren recently passed away due to natural causes. For example, a heart attack. Lots of people die from heart attacks, very suddenly, and sometimes without any previous medical symptoms. Or a brain aneurysm. That's another good one. She could have died from a brain aneurysm. Anyway, the point isn't which natural cause it was, but that is was a natural cause. Totally natural. Au naturel, as the French would say. Natural as could be. More natural than the produce section in a hippie co-op. That natural. Nothing suspicious about it at all. Just your run-of-the-mill, completely possible, however tragic, naturally occurring natural causes. Ms. Hedengren lived an entirely normal, not suspicious, totally safe life. She was born on September 11, 1984 in Provo, Utah, didn't do anything that might cause chagrin to any unsavory characters, and served a full-time mission for the LDS Church. She loved laughter, writing, and not getting involved in over her head in dangero...
I flew in to Minneapolis yesterday--my plane arrived at 12:00, I got to my hostel by 1:15--but my conference doesn't start until noon today, which means I have a little bit of time to do what I will. I hit the grocery store and then... THE MALL OF AMERICA. I had a really great time, but I'm glad I'm a short girl instead of a tall swarthy man because otherwise riding such rides as Jimmy Nuetron's Atomic Collider and Backyardigan Swing Along (hey, I love the giant swings) because, otherwise, I would have really come across as a creeper. I went shopping at H&M, and I guess there were some other stores there (psh...I guess!) and I had a grand old time. I got home too late to visit the Institute of Art, but too early to go to bed but that was perfect for... TALKING TO HOSTEL FOLK. (Which is very different from talking to hostile folk.) A Swede. A Welshman. An Australian. A Tamil Indian. And me. I told them I was the boring one, but actually, talking to them, I'm no...
Comments
"they're also forced, from time to time, to answer questions, and their answers often resemble the rambling nonsense, obfuscation, and grammatical insanity that many of us would produce when put on the spot.
Yet surely, more than most of us, politicians need to be able to think on their feet, to have a brain that works quickly and rationally under pressure."
And yet, sometimes (key word: sometimes) I think that smart and qualified people aren't always great talkers. Politics demands fancy speech, which a lot of times allows them to make something look good or okay when it isn't. So I guess once in a while I'm okay with an awkward sentence - especially if it was made before having time to think completely through the issue. For me, sincerity and honesty trump grammar.
But yes, I think if you're going into politics, making sense when you speak is a huge plus. And you being a rhetoric person and all, I can see why this caught your attention. :)
And SNL has been amazing lately. My favorite is still the Palin/Clinton one.
If it is a brutal sarcastic dig, I weigh in that I am much in favor.
Sarah Palin honestly frightens me.
Interesting article, though. :)