Posted on 11/12/2001 2:00:37 AM PST by GretchenEE
The recent speeches made by Clinton and Bush have been dissected on FR, but the angle of the personal pronoun use emerged as a distinct issue in revealing what these two men are about.
Source URL for Clinton's November 7 speech is Clinton Speech at Georgetown U, November 7, 2001;
Source URL for Bush Speech is: Bush Address to United Nations, November 10, 2001
How many times does a man have to say "I" to become a big man? Conversely, how many times can he avoid saying "I" and show he is already a bigger man than the narcissistic megalomaniacs in his midst?
The two recent speeches by Ex-president Scumbag Clinton and the honorable President George W. Bush define the issue numerically and rather graphically. What we always knew about Ex-president Scumbag Clinton is now provable by a mere word count.
While (gackingly) reading my way through Clinton's address to himself, in which he allowed the students and faculty at his alma mater, Georgetown U, to listen in, I was smacked in the face by how many times blubba used the word "I" in just the first paragraph. I did a word count and was aghast.
I decided to compare blubba's use of personal pronouns to Bush's. Here are the results.
CLINTON SPEECH, NOVEMBER 7, 2001 AT GEORGETOWN
Total word count: 7,375
(what a gasbag!) (I didn't have to locate and subtract any use of the word "Applause")
Number of times Clinton used the following personal pronouns
I =.., 91
me = 10
my = 15
---------------------------------
BUSH SPEECH TO UNITED NATIONS, NOVEMBER 10, 2001
Total word count: 2,979 minus 35 uses of the word "Applause" =
2,944
Number of times Bush used the following personal pronouns
I =.. 12
me = 3
my = 4
Now, one must take into consideration the disparity in total word count in order to make a fair comparison. Ex-president Scumbag's speech had two and a half times more words than President Bush's, so here are the numbers in Bush's speech times two and a half:
Multiplying Bush's total words by 2.5 = 7,360 (close enough for me):
I = 12 x 2.5 = 30 compared with blubba's 91
me = 3 x 2.5 = 7.5 compared with blubba's 10
my = 4 x 2.5 = 10 compared with blubba's 15
But something tells me that's not the half of it.
I am also impressed at the disparity in word counts of the speeches. President Bush, speaking to the assembled nations of the world, uses far fewer words that X42, speaking to some students at Georgetown.
Clinton likes to talk, and that is also demonstrated by your study. Of course, just because you LIKE to talk doesn't mean you are good at it. (I like to sing, but you will notice I am not performing at the Met.)
One can only imagine (and shudder at the thought of) what his book will be like.
All thru' the day, I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
All thru' the night, I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
Now they're frightened of leaving it
Ev'ryone's weaving it,
Coming on strong all the time,
All thru' the day I me mine.
I-I-me-me mine,
I-I-me-me mine,
I-I-me-me mine,
I-I-me-me mine.
All I can hear, I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
Even those tears, I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
No-one's frightened of playing it
Ev'ryone's saying it,
Flowing more freely than wine,
All thru' the day I me mine.
I-I-me-me mine,
I-I-me-me mine,
I-I-me-me mine,
I-I-me-me mine.
All I can hear, I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
Even those tears, I me mine, I me mine, I me mine.
No-one's frightened of playing it
Ev'ryone's saying it,
Flowing more freely than wine,
All thru' your life I me mine.
Difference 4,431 - 79 - 7 - 11
Clearly, the difference between the word count of the Clinton speech and that of the Bush speech is half again the size of the Bush speech itself. And that difference includes more than six times the "I" and twice the "me" and "my" count of the Bush speech. A total of 97 additional self-references, above that of the Bush speech's 19--five times as many as the Bush speech itself.
Nice work!
LOL! Thanks for the ping, Gretchen!
I could hardly believe how billyjeff went on and on, about nothing except me my I my administraiton how hard I worked to save the Everglades I I I I I I, and how Bush took his time to use far fewer words that were full of meaning and substance. And he didn't even slur his words, a la Bill Clinton.
Someone mentioned on Howlin's post of blubba's bleary-eyed exercise in self-absorptive remembrance at Georgetown that the lack of quality in this speech showed how much clinton was propped up by speechwriters while in office. We're getting a deeper peek into that black, befouled heart that Monica saw and it's becoming easier to understand how he could relate to someone so many decades younger than he!
While Clinton blamed the Septmber 11 atrocities on the sins of pre-civil war America, George W Bush delivered an speech which was inspiring, yet didn't pull any punches.
Clinton made/makes me ashamed to be an American sometimes, because the citizens of many countries think that all Americans have the moral deficit of that scumbag.
George Bush makes me proud to be an American, because he reflects all that is good about this great nation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.