Here comes the Bullshit

[vanilla]

Nothing!
ya see, hes an Honest politician…

[Fatwater_Fewl]

*Originally posted by Princhester *
**I admit I had not appreciated the subtlety that an ellipsis mark is four and not three dots at the end of a sentence. But I would make two points.

Firstly, an ellipsis is something left out. So an ellipsis mark shouldn’t be used to indicate a change in direction of thought, as such. I suppose it is used in that way because the change in direction of thought often follows a failure to complete the previous thought, but nonetheless…

Secondly, according to this site you are wrong about requiring a space between the last word and the ellipsis mark. They say that the reason there are four dots to indicate an ellipsis at the end of a sentence is that one is the period, which of course follows the last word of the sentence without a space.

Sorry about this complete hijack, Lib. But you have to admit, you participated, so… **

Your points are well taken. Of course, it is correct that an ellipsis should be used only if the change in direction follows an incomplete thought – otherwise, an em dash is the proper punctuation.

I stand corrected on the ellipsis ending a sentence. Seems a certain editor and I will be having a conversation…

Now, ummm, something at least tangentially concerning this thread’s topic.

Jacmannii said:

Today’s award for bullshit:

“We must rise above partisan politics and stand up for our values here at home, because family and faith and responsibility matter more than power and partisanship and privilege.”

Courtesy of Joe Lieberman, candidate for Prez '04.

I give it a 6.5 for incomplete alliteration (couldn’t he have come up with another f-word after “family and faith”? Freckles? Fries? Free beer?).

If I had been his speech writer, I would have gone with “family, faith and freedom.” Because I would not want to take the chance that anyone in the public might get the idea that word responsibility was in the candidate’s vocabulary and, at some point, call him on it in regard to his performance.

[heresiarch]

Lib, have you ever seen the movie Bulworth? The speech you said you’d like to hear (in your OP) could have been taken straight from that movie. Actually, Bulworth was even more recklessly forthright. It’s not a perfect movie - if you hate Warren Beatty or hate rap music you probably wouldn’t enjoy Bulworth. But I liked it and it might serve as a 2 hour reprieve from the bullshit.

[Liberal]

Well, I don’t care for Warren Beatty and I don’t like preachy liberalism, but yes, I did see the movie, and it was quite funny! I’d forgotten about it, though. Now that you mention it, the speeches were like that, and they were hillarious.

[…incredulous stare…] “Well, how much have you contributed to my campaign?..”

[Fearless_Freap]

I just dont want to see Howard Dean as president. I dont care if Stinky Weezleteets gets it, just not DEAN.

[pantom]

My wife doesn’t vote at all, on the grounds it would just encourage the politicians.
Oh, and Fatwater Fewl: come the revolution, you and the rest of you insufferable pedants will be lined up against the wall and…
Left there. To rot. Whilst complaining to each other about people who don’t know how to use an ellipse properly.

[Princhester]

Well actually I think you’ll find that myself, elucidator and fatwater are all insufferable pedants, so we all understand where the others are coming from.

[Fatwater_Fewl]

*Originally posted by pantom *
**My wife doesn’t vote at all, on the grounds it would just encourage the politicians.
Oh, and Fatwater Fewl: come the revolution, you and the rest of you insufferable pedants will be lined up against the wall and…
Left there. To rot. Whilst complaining to each other about people who don’t know how to use an ellipse properly. **

Pedant? I didn’t even use a footnote.*

*A footnote is when a pedant drops the other shoe.

[Dead_Badger]

Originally posted by ElwoodCuse
So who teaches me and everyone else? Private school isn’t affordable for everyone. Who enforces the law? Vigilante groups? Who keeps the road in good shape? Civic-minded citizens?

Well, the reason private schooling is expensive now is because it can only sell itself on the basis of superiority, as the public schools provide a basic level of education for free. If this is removed, there would be a vast market for cheap, adequate education. You’d also have more money to pay for it, because you’d be paying less tax. If the concept of only being educated to the level your parents can afford rankles, bear in mind that presumably the better schools would operate a scholarship system - after all, they’d want goodlooking results to keep applications up. I don’t necessarily think all this should happen, but assuming that the public sector would not expand to fill the gap left by the state is rather blinkered.