TelePrompter lets Commander-in-Chief Down as He Mispronounces 'Corpsman', Mangles French

Big Journalism ^ | February 6, 2010 | Michael Walsh

[This Just In]

TelePrompter lets Commander-in-Chief Down as He Mispronounces ‘Corpsman,’ Mangles French

Posted By Michael Walsh On February 5, 2010 @ 5:20 am

Surely, the White House has someone on the staff who can teach the President how to pronounce the word “corpsman.” It would also be great if someone in media knew what a corpsman is, but the Harvard-educated press’s knowledge of anything having to do with the military is limited to the phrases ”baby killers” and “exit strategy,” so there’s probably not much hope there.

And maybe somebody else could point out that the Haitian Creole word for America — transliterated here as “Etazini,” but more commonly spelled “Zetazini”– is derived the French les États-Unis, and not from an Italian recipe for stuffed pasta shells.

Here’s the transcript of the TOTUS-assisted speech at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday:

One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world — Navy Corpsman Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: “Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,” she said, “I will pray for that country.” And in Creole, Corpsman Brossard responded, “Etazini.” The United States of America.

And here’s how the Harvard-educated President delivered those remarks:

Isn’t this the same man who said that more Americans should learn a foreign language — even though he doesn’t speak any himself?

It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is merci beaucoup, right?

Speak for yourself, Mr. President.

[This Just In]

“Put anotha shrimp on tha barbie”

[lacrew]

I think he honestly believed there were corpse men in the military...carrying dead women and children around in wheel barrels. Frank Marshall Davis probably taught him that.

[Inyo-Mono]

Remember how everyone in the media (and many on here) slapped their heads every time GW said Nuclear? The way he pronounces the word is no different than a million others in Texas and other parts of the South.

Remember how the press went nuts when Bush pronounced Nevada as "ne-vawh-da" (like Easteners do) instead of the correct "nev-ad-a?"

[angcat]

LOL