# Does Teresa Heinz Kerry speak English? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 11, 2004, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510 "2004-07-11T02:03:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/21 "2004-07-11T02:55:41Z")
She’ll make a great first lady. She’s neither a calculating politician, nor a doormat. She’s a real character: people say that Edwards will outshine Kerry, but its his wife that outshines him. She doesn’t stick to scripts, she speaks her mind, she’s smart, she’s funny, she’s goofy in an endearing way, and charming. Also, she drives her political advance team batshit crazy. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/22 "2004-07-11T03:12:35Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > Who wants to take bets that she speaks French? You really are a tool, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/23 "2004-07-11T03:20:21Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > Who wants to take bets that she speaks French? Was…was that…was that a real, honest-to-goodness swipe at Kerry/his wife/the French using that…oh, that…thing, you know, that silly Freedom Fries/hate the French thing? All this time I thought it was all a joke! Naw, really? Naw, it’s a joke! HAHAHA, had me going there for moment though! I’m so gosh-darn gullible, but not THAT gullible. There aren’t REALLY people stupid enough to denegrate someone because of some kind of perceived “French connection.” That was all a bad nightmare of an Urban Myth, an example of how certain Americans _could_ be moronic and idiotic, if they so chose. HAHA, good one! (Must go check Snopes to see if there’s an entry yet…) ---
**Author:** ![Brandus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Brandus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/24 "2004-07-11T03:27:56Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I didn’t realize the thread had been wisely moved to the Pit when I posted. I started it here. [quote=Tell me, Brandus, how many languages do you speak, and does that qualify you for the role of First Lady?[/quote] Only one, but I would gladly do my best as first lady if my husband was elected president (unfortunately it wouldn’t be legal for me to marry him if Bush’ amendment goes through, though) ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/25 "2004-07-11T03:40:27Z")
Doesn’t Kerry speak a few languages too? Maybe he should debate Bush in Spanish. I’m assured by bilingual friends that Bush’s Spanish is even worse than his English. “So this couple asked me, ‘Are you bi?’ Well, I studied a _little_ Spanish in college…” – Steve Martin ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/26 "2004-07-11T03:51:03Z")
> [@Brandus](#): > > I started it here. Indeed, you did. I forgot I was reading the Pit, and not GQ. I do this so infrequently these days(read the Pit), that I posted on reflex. I was incorrect. You posted in the correct place. But, now…you said… > [@](#): > > Can a billionaire, camera-shy, non-fluent-in-english woman really represent the women of America? She isn’t fluent in English? Oh! You mean she has **an accent**. Suck it up! Laura Bush has an accent too. It’s even more grating to my ear than Theresa’s. Oh! You mean she talks _like a foreigner_? Suck it up. Or, come the revolution… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/27 "2004-07-11T04:45:56Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Just so you know what my post was that I deleted, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa\_Heinz\_Kerry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Heinz_Kerry) > > I was trying to give you a factual response as to why she speaks more languages that you or I. > > > [@](#): > > > > She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Romance Languages and literature from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She graduated from the Interpreters School of the University of Geneva (Switzerland) before moving to the United States to work at the United Nations as a translator. She is fluent in five languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, and her native Portuguese. > > I didn’t realize the thread had been wisely moved to the Pit when I posted. Wait… What? So you posted an answer to what you **thought** was a GQ thread and then deleted your post because the thread had been “moved” to the pit? “Factual response[s]” aren’t suitable for the pit, or what? But then you posted it anyway? Sorry, I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/28 "2004-07-11T04:46:35Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > Who wants to take bets that she speaks French? **milroyj** , would you care to explain what you meant with that? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/29 "2004-07-11T04:57:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Does rictus-grinning, stick-up-her-ass, stepford-wife Laura Bush represent the women of America? Cripes, I hope not. Speaking as a bona fide ('scuse my French) Ovaried Murkin, I’ve never remotely considered _any_ First Lady as anything beyond a person who happened to be married to the President. Some of 'em have used the unofficial position–and that’s what it is–as a bully pulpit for particular interests, but none of 'em should be slammed either way. The more realistic expectation, IMO, is whether the individual can withstand the crap and fallout associated with the position while handling the unavoidable ceremonial tasks with reasonable grace. Oddly enough I rather regard Bess Truman as the nadir for First Ladies, simply because she made her loathing of the position obvious to the point of simply walking away from it as often as possible. My sole reservation about Nancy Reagan, she of “The Gaze” fame, was her public pissing match with Raisa Gorbachev. (I think it was PJ O’Rourke who dubbed them “catty clothes horses.”) And that was a minor blip. I don’t vote for 'em and the most I expect is that they handle the public hostessy aspects with due care. AFAIK Laura Bush has conducted herself just fine. Can we get a grip here? Like it or not, they’re still people behind the glare of public scrutiny and microscopic dissection. Four years, much less a potential eight, are a helluva span for any family. IMO Laura Bush has made an honorable job of the amorphous position, and so would Teresa Kerry. Their styles are different, but I emphatically reject the implication that the ability to communicate across languages is anything but admirable. No lifemate should be faulted for balancing actual family concerns beyond the minimal ceremonial demands. But regarding facility in other languages and cultures with suspicion is just plain hateful, unforgiveably parochial and stupid. That attitude is _comtemptible_, **milroyj**. Veb ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/30 "2004-07-11T05:12:17Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > Who wants to take bets that she speaks French? Indeed she does, as well as Spanish, English, Italian, and Portuguese, her native tongue. How many languages do YOU speak **milroyj**? Besides Asshole? **Mr Moto** -don’t forget-she also used to be a Republican. 😉 (how quickly they forget!) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/31 "2004-07-11T05:20:06Z")
Hey…Rosalyn Carter has an accent…maybe we should check her passport. Didn’t Hillary Rodham Clinton has a lite southern accent when she & bill launched their projectile to the white house? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/32 "2004-07-11T05:34:44Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > **Mr Moto** -don’t forget-she also used to be a Republican. 😉 (how quickly they forget!) I remember it well. I was one of the few active Pittsburgh Republicans, before I joined the Navy and moved away. I worked for a time with then-Congressman, now-Senator Santorum, too. Theresa Heinz Kerry was once a Republican, true, but she was never a conservative Republican. Her politics haven’t shifted much, by any account. She became more vocal in them after Senator Heinz passed on. That’s a political observation, though, and is hardly a criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/33 "2004-07-11T06:12:38Z")
Am I getting this right? Laura Bush as a “rictus-grinning, stick-up-her-ass, stepford-wife” is A-OK, but mentioning that Theresa Kerry has an accent or maybe speaks foreign languages makes you an _asshole_? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/34 "2004-07-11T06:53:34Z")
No, implying that there’s something wrong with being able to speak French makes one an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/35 "2004-07-11T07:09:29Z")
I’m sorry but it seems to me that calling a relatively benign person such as Laura Bush a “rictus-grinning, stick-up-her-ass, stepford-wife” is a much more egregious insult than saying Theresa Kerry probably speaks French. But I’ve seen no recriminations in that regard. This seems to speak more of partisan bias than of actual assholism, it seems to me. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/36 "2004-07-11T07:10:44Z")
If God didn’t hate the French, he wouldn’t have put them next to the Germans. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/37 "2004-07-11T10:26:37Z")
Jesus Christ…give me a gaybashing racist over a conservative French-hater any day. They make more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/38 "2004-07-11T10:34:37Z")
Incidentally Theresa Heinz Kerry isn’t quite a billionaire. She does have over $600 million, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/39 "2004-07-11T10:52:03Z")
You know, when I wrote my post (#6, for those keeping core at home), there was a nagging thought in the back of my mind that I was taking an excessively cheap shot regarding the whole French-bashing nonsense, and that the conservative Dopers were too rational a bunch to actually believe in that kind of idiocy. And then along comes **milroyj**. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510/40 "2004-07-11T11:01:27Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > I’m sorry but it seems to me that calling a relatively benign person such as Laura Bush a “rictus-grinning, stick-up-her-ass, stepford-wife” is a much more egregious insult than saying Theresa Kerry probably speaks French. But I’ve seen no recriminations in that regard. This seems to speak more of partisan bias than of actual assholism, it seems to me. Oh you poor Republicans, always getting picked on and nobody will stick up for you! Life is so unfair; can you see your house from up on that Cross? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-teresa-heinz-kerry-speak-english/254510.md?page=3)