Posted on 07/26/2004 7:40:49 AM PDT by HalfFull
Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack, a key factor in John Kerry's primary sweep and the primetime convention speaker tomorrow, has derided blacks, southerners and easterners as bad speakers because she couldn't understand them.
In inflammatory columns for her local newspaper obtained by the Herald, the normally soft-spoken Vilsack tore into several minority and ethnic groups while lampooning non-midwesterners for regional dialects.
``I am fascinated at the way some African-Americans speak to each other in an English I struggle to understand, then switch to standard English when the situation requires,'' Vilsack wrote in a 1994 column in the Mount Pleasant News, while her husband, Tom, was a state senator.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bostonherald.com ...
Being from Boston, she'd love my wicked good English :)
Me too, but you're not supposed to SAY that, unless you're Bill Cosby.
Because the notion so often arises of the way Republicans are lambasted for their un-PC statements while Dems are given a free ride, perhaps we should create a new acronym -IARDT - "If a Republican Did That."
Translation: "Find I-95, head North. Now Git!"
Ya dun good unteel you mispelt talk, Dead. Everbidy noes it's TAWK!
``I am fascinated at the way some African-Americans speak to each other in an English I struggle to understand, then switch to standard English when the situation requires,''
Mexicans do that to me all the time 'cause I don't speak Mexican English. But I figure - hey, they're not talking TO ME, so "mei wenti".
Revised:
"Find I-95, head North, don't stop till you pass the Mason-Dixon Line. Now Git!"
Great parody, dead.
This can be seen in the relative ease with which actors transition from one to the other. Think of Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind. It also works the other way 'round. A striking example would be John Hillerman, a native of Dennison Texas who played the upright English major-domo Higgins on Magnum PI. Hillerman sometimes played Higgins' Texan cousin Jim Bob during the series. Jim Bob's Texas drawl is in fact Hillerman's natural speach, while Higgins' pseudo-Oxonian is a put-on.
LOL! Even I can't understand those Southerners! Sheesh
and people of FR wonder why we southrons so dislike damnyankees??????
free dixie,sw
Pallleeeeze, she is an ELITIST BIGOT nothing more nothing less. The "rep" knew her audience. Talk to Bill Cosby, she should not have done that, held to a higher standard.
" ``When I ask for directions, I can't understand the slurred speech of southern Americans, who are so polite and eager to please,'' Vilsack said. "
Hey Ms, Vilsack, we southerners are always polite to a fault, even to idiots. But in reality, it is just civil discourse and a facade to try and prevent unpleasant confrontations, even to those we intensely dislike.
Soyutherners say, "ain't that nice" so we don't have to say. what a total bitch you really are.
Or like my old Airedale from decades ago. Normally the most pleasant and mild mannered dog one could ask for, always ready for a romp and play with other dogs. But, If the another canine should show aggression, he was a terrible sight to behold. He knew no fear, would go to fighting unconcerned as to wounds inflicted upon him until he got a death grip on his opponent. If not then literally pried off with a stick between his jaws, the other dog was killed. He did it twice, once to a big German shepard, and then to an even larger malamute in Alaska.
So miss priss, don't be deceived by the apparent overt politeness of others, you may be in for a rude awakening.
I was once stopped for speeding by a Mississippi State Trooper. We had to communicate in sign language. Guy was black, but I think anyone with a thick enough drawl is hard to understand.
Maybe Southerners like it that way. :)
We don't care how you talk up north, Yankee.
CD
If they had to look back ten years to find something bad to say about her - she must be a pretty decent person.
It has nothing to do with their accents, Christie.
Nah, she's not clueless. She's absolutely right. That's why we shouldn't elect Kerry (an Easterner) and Edwards (a Southerner). Works for me! :-)
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