I don’t suppose we have a link to an audio file anywhere?
Err. No. Lets try this again. “Rictus-grinning, stick-up-her-ass, stepford-wife”
is a more egregious insult than saying someone can speak French…because saying someone can speak French is not an insult. Implying that it is makes you an asshole because it’s…just so dumb. That’s what the recriminations have been about.
What potential first lady deserves insult is not currently the issue…although I supposes if you want to defend Laura Bush against chages of rictus grinning or find something igenuinaly insulting to say about Theresa Kerry, just to even things up, you could.
Just one more brick in the wall of “them and us” that makes up a very important, albeit covert, part of the campaign for Bush & Co. By innuendo, if Mrs Kerry speaks with an accent, if she speaks a foreign language, then she is different and by extension Senator Kerry is different and not at all like us God fearing, church going, English only, %100 red blooded ‘mericans. Yes, I know the President speaks some Spanish, but he is saved by the fact that he doesn’t speak it very well.
It is just part of the politics of divisiveness that is a mainstay of the President’s reelection campaign. It is done because it works. It works because some people really are xenophobic and at the gut level hate and fear foreigners. Bush’s supporters know he needs every vote he can get and are determined to either get that vote or at least deprive Senator Kerry of that vote by any means, fair or foul. The President will not point out that Senator Kerry speaks French or that his wife is foreign born but his toadies, running dogs and wind-bags side kicks sure will.
For people who can’t see the difference between electing the President and electing the Homecoming King of East Harness Buckle High this sort of cheap shot can make a difference.
Indeed, one could argue that it’s Theresa who’s been steadfast in her Republican principles, while the Republican Party has veered hard right away from the party that embraced Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater (and, I assume, Senator Heinz as well). I grew up in the '50s and '60s in a Republican family, and what passes for Republicanism these days, at least what’s in control of the government, is a far cry from what the party was like then.
Actually, I think Bush speaks Spanish better than he speaks English.
Well, there you go again, Lib – damning with faint praise. 
[sub]Guess I’ve used up today’s allotment of catchphrases, huh?[/sub]
Oh, yeah. Any minute now, someone will be along to tell me that I’m reciting the GOP talking points. 
Hmm, hello?, milroyj, are you answering or what?
¿Como se dice en español “nuclear”?
milroyj, perhaps you misread the sign. This board is about *fighting * ignorance, not glorifying it. The ability to speak and understand other languages is a *good * thing. What the hell did you think?
Oh, I so agree with you on this!
I think she talks purty!
“Nuclear” 
Depends on whether he’s speaking or reciting, in either case. He can be a decent reciter. As a speaker, oh vey.
Kerry’s main problem is that he speaks too MUCH English… at a time.
Without being accused of currying favor of Moderators, can I say that this was one of the finest statements in defense of a group of individuals ever to grace this board? Beautiful job, TVeb!
Who knows? Maybe it was just a rookie mistake. I don’t get it, either, but he doesn’t seem interested in explaining further.
Don’t you mean Mexican?
“Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican.”— Dubya, declining to answer reporters’ questions at the Summit of the Americas, Quebec City, Canada 4/21/01 - an oldie but still a goodie.
It was a lame crack, is all. Not really sure why everyone is so up in arms about it. And I have to agree with Starving Artist. Two mods and an admin have posted to this thread, with barely a passing comment on:
but a French joke makes me a contemptible asshole? Huh?
P.S. Before Ale or anyone else makes insinuations about my not replying in a timely fashion, I am going out to enjoy my Sunday, and won’t be able to respond until later this evening.
You’re right milroyj. That post didn’t make you a contemptible asshole. You already were one.
Martin Van Buren (8th president of the United States) spoke Dutch as his first language.
Also, if I am not mistaken, most of the “founding fathers” were Francophiles and spoke French (even in correspondence to other English speakers!), especially Adams and Jefferson. Besides, even if you dislike France, many native French speakers on this planet are not “French” at all.
Anyway, I think its egregious to suggest Teresa Heinz-Kerry speaks poor English. Most people seem to understand her just fine, and she seems to have a better grasp on English grammar than certain American born political figures. Yes she does have a “foreign accent” (i.e. influenced by non-English phonetics), but so do millions of native-born Americans; including many between New Orleans to East L.A. - or those from the upper reaches of New England or the southern end of Florida.
Then again while bonehead Republicans bash Teresa’s accent, some bonehead Democrats tried to say the same thing about Arnold Schwarzenegger not pronouncing California correctly and other such nonsense. Its silly.
Except Alexander Hamilton, he loathed France and was an Anglophile. Yet another one of the sticking points in his relationship with Jefferson.
To do him justice, it’s worth noting that Mexican Spanish is highly dialectal (actually, several different dialects) and he could have been aware of that, having been Governor of a neighboring state with a fair-sized population of Mexican-Americans. I have a hunch that’s not correct, but fairness suggests giving the man a break occasionally, and assuming the best, when it’s not a matter of rights or such.