Did the shrewd movie character talk all dopey like Bush and look like a scared squirrel for a sec when asked a question?
This is not a "verbal stumble," it is conceptual: It is proof he is too simple-minded to be president, unless it's a joke.
"A surplus means there'll be money left over. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called a surplus."
The sheer profusion of this sort of comment is of concern to me, too, though they could be called "verbal stumbles." There are hundreds of them, hundreds and hundreds. This is not "from time to time," Neocon. And they will continue for four years and be quoted all over the world:
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."
"Actually, I — this may sound a little West Texan to you,
but I like it. When I'm talking about — when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me."
"Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is
sometimes until we get an objective analysis."
"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case."
"We want our teachers to be trained so they can meet the obligations, their obligations as teachers. We want them to know how to teach the science of reading. In order to make sure there's not this kind of federal — federal cufflink."
"Ignorance is great, long life to ignorance."
"I understand small business growth. I was one"
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
This is of concern, because it's conceptual:
"... I've been talking to Vicente Fox, the new president of
Mexico... I know him... to have gas and oil sent to U.S.... so we'll not depend on foreign oil..."
as is this, which repeats, and, alarmingly, appears to confirm, a specific confusion on his part:
"...more and more of our imports are coming from overseas."
Continuing with conceptual:
"This campaign not only hears the voices of the entrepreneurs and the farmers and the entrepreneurs, we hear the voices of those struggling to get head" (the omission of the 'a' in 'ahead' is verbal; the rest is conceptual.)
So is this:
"This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve."
And this:
"The important question is, how many hands have I shaked?"
And this:
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program." |
