Re the Statue of Liberty. I'd like to have more than the soundbit given, but even so what she meant seemed clear enough.
I thought she was simply saying that the Statue of Libery should serve as a reminder to all of us what makes America so unique and exceptional. She used the word "warning", which is awkward, but I suspect she meant reminder. When people speak extemporaneaously, the verbiage is often garbled. Sometimes they catch it themselves and reiterate the idea. And she might even have done this. We don't know because we only have the soundbite.
I never have considered her a natural public speaker. By now, however, she has probably had lots of coaching. When I taught speech, the first lession on speaking extemporaneously was to go back and clarify any and all mangled statements. The reason being that the listener would rather a speaker stop, repeat, and clarify a statement than be left focusing on that mangled statement, i.e. trying to figure out what the speaker was trying to say. So she may have caught herself and offered more explanation in subsequent statements.
At any rate, I think the word 'warning' was just a mangled way of saying the statue serves as a symbol, a reminder, a carved statement (take your pick) of what made America great. Great being a destination country where people could come and be free to pursue their dreams, speak openly, practice their religion, and enjoy protections enshrined in law. I guess the socialism statement was her way of saying it would be folly for Americans to turn away from everything the statue represents by pursuing a socialist agenda.
What did you think she was saying that was so weird as to be worthy of poking fun at? Maybe I'm missing something. |
