This simple sentence put together using catch phrases means nothing, promises nothing, and explains nothing, but someone would swear it did because of what is read into it.
Another one is “I have no intention ....”
He’s like a pullstring doll. That would also help explain the puppet strings
Reminds me of an old rhetoric chart from the 70s ...
pick a word from column 1, add a word from column 2, then select a word from column 3, and you get a nice sounding rhetorical phrase that means absolutely nothing.
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Similar examples:
The Instant Buzzword Generator
http://www.merrydowncontrolware.co.uk/mcl/mfun01001.html
The Shakespeare Insult Kit
http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/shake_rule.html
Saw this on a blog once:
“Impressionists, cartoonists, and even historians rely heavily on identifying and amplifying the physical and verbal idiosyncrasies of public figures, especially presidents.
Their constant presence in the media means that their pet phrases and mannerisms become familiar to all (even against our will) as the inevitable caricatures demonstrate.
There was Reagan’s “Well...” and a shrug of the shoulders, GHWB41’s slow-motion karate chops on the top of the lectern, Clinton’s raised index finger, etc.
Obama is a special case, however, as he rarely has anything to say of substance (or truth, if you like) beyond the verbal window dressing.
His “Let me be clear...” has already passed into legend for its annoying frequency of use and its contradictory nature - for what he says after rarely contains one iota of clarity.
Less frequent - but more insidious - is Obama’s reliance on the pet phrase “I’ve said repeatedly.” He occasionally changes it to “I’ve said in the past” or “I’ve said all along” but it is his go-to phrase especially in one-on-one interviews.
It sounds harmless enough until you realize several things:
1) He will claim to have said something in the past when no evidence of same can be found.
2) He believes that use of this phrase somehow confers a continuity of purpose, philosophy, policy or action when we know full well this is not the case.
3) He believes that an inherently wrongheaded idea or plan somehow gains validity if it exists for an extended period of time.
4) He uses it as a sort of after-the-fact clairvoyance. When the market dips, when home prices fall, when jobs are lost, Obama will claim to have “said repeatedly” that action X, Y or Z should have been taken. Of course, he never gets round to identifying or taking that action BEFORE negative consequences occur.
At the risk of drawing further attention to the more maddening aspects of this intellectual lightweight, I have reached the breaking point with this particular verbal trip hammer of his. It is his umbrella, his shield, his front porch. Count (if you can stand it) the frequency and quantity of “I’ve said repeatedly.” This man cannot stand to be in the wrong. And if he is in the wrong (that is to say, most days), he will claim to have been in the right, safe in the knowledge that nobody within a 100-mile radius of the White House has the nerve nor the initiative to challenge him on the most rudimentary of facts.”
Let’s not forget ,”I won’t rest until ....”, and the latest Obama platitude .... “I have no patience with .... “.
He has been using this telepromptering technique since 2006, at the very least.
This is SEO speech. Key words with emotional content, leading the intellectually gullible (and intellectuals) to imagine they heard what is already in their head.
This is the triumph of incandescent bullshiite over reason. Tra-la-la is not really a lyric!
Why has not one elected Republican asked exactly why this mysterious charlatan was asked to leave the Bar of the State of Illinois?
Maybe he got tips from Jay Carney . . . can anyone say so much without saying a thing?
A string of platitudes, a tired cliche, an empty slogan . . . hey, maybe Clint Eastwood is right, and there is an empty chair in the oval office!
Don’t forget the ever eloquent “whole buncha stuff”. Sickening.
Empty rhetoric.
Ether has more substance than 0bama.
“Some will say that...”, “some will argue”, “must be no delay”...and the one that makes me cringe the most...”because it’s the right thing to do”.
How so many were duped is beyond me. Surrounded by stupid sheep.
Remember when G. Ford was ridiculed for “W.I.N.”?
My favorite is "social justice", which is used freely without definition.
Obama's "my first priority" ranks among the highest.
His frequent use of colloquial “bunch of” says everything one needs to know about the man’s eloquence. I’ve never heard a lawyer speak this way.
We must endeavor to persevere.