The only thing that is incoherent to me is why anyone would think that what she is saying is difficult to understand. William Jennings Bryant she is not and never will be, but I can understand what she’s saying perfectly fine. Why can’t you?
You keep telling me it’s incoherent, but it’s not. I am reading it and comprehending it just fine.
You know, it’s not a binary condition, either incoherence or “Harvard English.” Believe me, there’s a wide range in between there, and Palin falls somewhere in the middle. If she turned that in to me as a speech for a high school senior-level speech assignment, I’d have marked it up similarly. Is that acceptable for you coming from a governor? It’s not, to me. YMMV.
Yes, I think Republicans are equally capable of being mindlessly partisan regardless of which of the 57 states the represent.
I know you do, you’re a school teacher. So what’s your point?
I agree with you that some of its content is ironic considering the reason she was delivering it. But I don’t see anything that is incomprehensible.
Blinded by partisanship? Pshaw, I have no love of Sarah Palin past that I thought she was hot in her Sex in the City wardrobe. It’s just amazing that a second rate politician from a backwater state raises this much ire in people. That’s what blows me away. If it’s really about a love of intellectual rigor how come I never see Maxine Waters being pitted around here? That woman’s every bit as dumb as Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman, but you just don’t see it around here do you? Why? Because she’s a Democrat of course.
Whatever, she’ll get her show on Fox News soon enough.
Well I can’t understand what other reason someone would have for saying it’s incoherent when it’s not. If someone finds it incoherent then they must be a real moron right?
Right, you guys are as low as the Republicans you despise, wonderful argument, makes me proud to be an American here in the lower 55. :rolleyes:
No, but the point is calling it incoherent when it’s not incoherent. Poorly written yes, but whatever.
I lean Republican, as you’ll see from both my profile and the current thread about independents. There’s nothing in-group about it.
Palin may be a perfectly nice woman, but in terms of being able to state a clear idea, to possess intellectual curiosity, or to accept criticism, she really is unsuited for the job she recently held and especially the one she might have had. That’s just reality; and reality is outside the scope of partisanship.
I agree, and there is nothing controversial in that statement. It’s just the petty nastiness that is another Palin thread every five minutes around here.
All I have to say is 1 down thousands more to go from both parties.
How could you, who are so much less stupid than I am (according to you) miss my point? When I read vapid, poorly written crap, regardless of the context, I want to mark it up. Apparently the editors of Vanity Fair felt the same way, but to you, that’s petty. Fuck the English language-- cut poor Sarah a break!
One person in this thread said it was incoherent. ONE. So maybe you could back off on riding that particular adjective into the ground like it was some universally delivered condemnation, eh?
Did you forget that, if the Republicans had their way (and they’re still bitching about it now), this second rate politician would be an old man’s heartbeat away from the Presidency? When she writes lame crap like this, we can all feel collective relief that she LOST. OK? That’s the difference between Palin and Maxine Waters. I can’t believe I need to lay this out for you.
They must be using a bit of hyperbole. A real moron? No, I wouldn’t say that, because hurling insults in this thread seems to be your gig.
Oh my god, quit freakin’ whining and deliberately missing my point. Politicians are scrutinized and mocked. This is no more petty or over the top than anything else. Stop making such a big deal over it. Jeez.
Dunno, I haven’t seen any other politicians who seemed less suited to the job at that level. I assume there have been plenty of single-term governors/senators/congressman who were of equal ability–but I don’t generally pay all that much attention to politics so she’s at the bottom of the heap for me.
::gasp:: Heaven forbid anyone read, be intellectually curious, or, evil of all evils, attend Harvard.
Was it the impulse to save the English language or the impulse to fuck with Sarah Palin that was the real impetus. Come on now, be honest. 
LOL, yes Ms. Rubystreak. 
Yes, I recognize that, but meanwhile Maxine Waters is voting on legislation. If John McCain had not died while in office that would have meant that during the 8 years people were bitching about having an airhead bimbo from Alaska for the Vice President Maxine Waters would have done far more significant damage than Sarah Palin. You have already breathed your collective sigh of relief. This isn’t about relief, this is about hate.
:rolleyes:
Except that people talk about Sarah Palin day in and day out. There are thousands of other politicians in both parties being just as stupid. You’re not correcting their speeches now are you?
I’ll take that as a no. You probably haven’t been reading Lacan. 
Do you mean William Jennings Bryan or William Cullen Bryant? She’s neither an orator nor a poet, of course, but it’s nice to know the difference. Or do you come from the Palin school of “Hey, gimme points for making an effort–I came real close to expressing my ideas!!”
Please don’t change text in quote tags. Thanks.
Well, yes, they are for style. But how well would memorable speeches hold up if they were not produced with style in mind?
“December 7, 1941, a day we will remember.”
“Eighty-seven years ago, our relatives established a new country here.”
“Don’t ask for things from your country, go do something! You know, like all patriotic-like things.”
As Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
Seward was Lincoln’s Secretary of State, and continued as Johnson’s after Lincoln was killed. The purchase of Alaska happened during Johnson’s term. So Palin appears, unlike you, to know in whose cabinet Seward served, but not when the purchase of her state happened.
I think most people, even most English teachers, would acknowledge that there are many dialects in English. Standard Written English is important, but it is not the sole form of English.
And the “Redneck Yokel Illiterate” dialect is preferred for Alaskan Governors.
[moderator tiara on]
This has gotten way too heated for MPSIMS – I’m going to switch jurisdictions over to Great Debates.
[/moderator tiara off]
Speaking as a poster – and as a professional editor – the “problem” with that text is that it was the transcription of remarks made without a script. If any of us – including those of us who make our livings through our skills with the English language, like editors, writers, and teachers – spoke extemporaneously for five minutes and then read the transcript, we’d be appalled: there would be sentence fragments, incomplete thoughts, lack of agreement between subject and verb, redundancy out the wazoo, etc. That’s what oral speech is.
And that’s why most politicians and others making public pronouncements write their remarks out in advance and read them.
It’s Palin’s failure to do that that is the mark of her … (stupidity/lack of understanding of the role of the politician/disrespect for Alaska/disrespect for the American people/fill in the blank) … here, not the fact that a transcript of off-the-cuff remarks needs numerous fixes to bring it in line with Standard English.
Shouldn’t she have a better grasp on grammar, considering she has a degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism?
At this point, Palin is a living, breathing joke. She’s a walking caricature for the Republican party. She quits office and fervently denies being a “quitter.” Someone should at least buy the poor woman a dictionary so she can look up the definition of the word.
People made that argument in favor of “ebonics”, to the derisive hooting of conservatives.
It is petty. However, the shallow little twat decided to spend pretty much her entire time in front of a microphone picking a fight with every media outlet imaginable. So, someone pokes back at her. How terrible! How unforgivable!
Don’t pick a fight you can’t win. Apparently lil’ Sarah doesn’t realize that. Must not be part of that country learnin’ she’s so proud of.
-Joe