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Why can't our politicians speak English anymore?
The Week ^ | September 28, 2016 | Pascal-Emmanuel Gorby

Posted on 09/28/2016 7:28:54 AM PDT by C19fan

Ater Monday night's presidential debate, most pundits are focusing on who won, who lost, and what it all means for the future of the country. But the only thought that keeps asserting itself in my mind is this: These candidates are terrible at speaking English.

I mean that in the most literal sense possible: They're bad at formulating complete, grammatically correct sentences that effectively carry meaning. And this isn't just a petty complaint about "style" or "form" — it says something bigger about America, and this dumpster fire of an election we're in.

(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...


TOPICS: History; Society
KEYWORDS: rheoteric
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Used to be an educated person would have to master rhetoric but those days are long gone. UK politicians would run rings around our politicians with their rhetorical skills.
1 posted on 09/28/2016 7:28:55 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

The people we elect ‘look’ like us. Thats always been the way of it.


2 posted on 09/28/2016 7:32:06 AM PDT by 556x45
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To: C19fan

Because they don’t want to be understood and be held to any specifics.


3 posted on 09/28/2016 7:32:48 AM PDT by NonValueAdded (#DeplorableMe #BitterClinger)
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To: C19fan

I could wish this was the worst problem our politicians had. This situation is not so bad that one cannot perceive what they mean.


4 posted on 09/28/2016 7:33:28 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: C19fan

The general public can’t speak English either. There is no incentive for would-be leaders to speak it correctly.

In fact, what is “correctly”? Is there a standard any more?


5 posted on 09/28/2016 7:33:40 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Lying Media: willing and eager allies of the hate-America left.)
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To: C19fan

Properly used, English is a very precise language.

The last thing a politician wants is to be pinned down to an exact meaning.


6 posted on 09/28/2016 7:34:56 AM PDT by null and void (America is sick. We will find out if the disease is fatal come November.)
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To: I want the USA back

This wasn’t really a debate. Hillary and Donald were tweeting at one another :-)


7 posted on 09/28/2016 7:35:11 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: C19fan

What you said. Yeah.


8 posted on 09/28/2016 7:41:24 AM PDT by Mr. Douglas (Today is your life. What are you going to do with it?)
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To: NonValueAdded

Bingo.


9 posted on 09/28/2016 7:41:46 AM PDT by piasa
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To: C19fan

“dumpster fire of an election”

HA! Good one.


10 posted on 09/28/2016 7:42:40 AM PDT by bluejean (The lunatics are running the asylum)
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To: C19fan

I have much more sympathy for someone who speaks fractured syntax but conveys meaning, unlike every professional politician on the face of the planet.


11 posted on 09/28/2016 7:43:35 AM PDT by MortMan (Moderate muslims, please identify the specific prohibitions against violent jihad in the koran.)
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To: I want the USA back

In fact, what is “correctly”? Is there a standard any more?


Agree. Notice that.

Should, you know, like, do it good or just shut up. What I say!


12 posted on 09/28/2016 7:44:13 AM PDT by Mr. Douglas (Today is your life. What are you going to do with it?)
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To: NonValueAdded

Bingo! Toss a couple of focus group tested words and phrases out there and let the audience think it all means something when it doesn’t at all.

Politicians are professional liars. that is their only skill.


13 posted on 09/28/2016 7:45:30 AM PDT by Starboard
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To: C19fan

We can tell how amazing uk politicians are by the nation they created....


14 posted on 09/28/2016 7:47:01 AM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up....)
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To: C19fan
These candidates are terrible at speaking English.

This came from The Onion, right??


15 posted on 09/28/2016 7:48:51 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: I want the USA back

“In fact, what is “correctly”? Is there a standard any more?”

Any adopted usage is ‘correctly”. And no, and there never was. English has grown to become the global language precisely because there is no Acadamie Franciase setting rules and words.
English is fast, and adapts to new technologies and cultures with astounding speed. Prigs wishes notwithstanding, there really are no “rules” of English. Think wild west, or internet circa 2001.


16 posted on 09/28/2016 7:51:00 AM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up....)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

lol


17 posted on 09/28/2016 7:51:55 AM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up....)
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To: C19fan

> And, of course, Barack Obama is a talented writer with a gift for turning a sentence, even on the spot.

When his teleprompter goes down he trails off into nothing until his minders turn it back on.

And his book was written by Bill Ayers.


18 posted on 09/28/2016 7:52:22 AM PDT by fluorescence
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To: null and void
Properly used, English is a very precise language.

The left has been stealing the language for quite some time. It's a tactic.

They don't want precision. They want to limit thought by limiting the language, by redefining the meaning of words.

19 posted on 09/28/2016 8:01:08 AM PDT by Madame Dufarge
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To: Madame Dufarge

“This act of stealing is a tactic.”


20 posted on 09/28/2016 8:03:13 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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