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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Why I Pay No Attention to Politics

This morning I encountered a headline in the Columbus, Dispatch blasting out, "GOP blasts mailings; Democrats blast spending."  Who can take seriously people who communicate via blasting?

Of course, the politicians in question didn't blast their opponents.  This is merely the editor's effort to drum up interest in his/her reporter's story.  Still, the story did refer to "dueling media events."  Did the politicians brandish swords or is this simply more media drivel?  More media drivel.  But the fact is that political discourse has dwelled in the muck for many years now, going back at least to the time of Nixon.

In the story in question, we get more blasting combined with the funniest thing I have seen in politics in years, a Republican complaining about "irresponsible, disrespectful untruths" from Democrats.
House Republican leaders blasted recent Democratic mailings, which Rep. Matt Huffman of Lima, the House GOP campaign chairman, called a “pattern of irresponsible, disrespectful untruths.”
Forgive me for telling the truth here but Republicans began the dirty tricks in politics with their vicious attacks on Dukakis (if not sooner)until finally the Democrats started fighting back.  Not surprisingly, it was Clinton who did so, thanks to the advice of James Carville who argued that no charge should go unanswered for even a day.

In my opinion, Obama has made a mess of his Presidency.  I beleive he may really have believed his election presaged a new day in politics where reason would replace rancor.  Silly duck.  And now his Presidency is circling the drain.  Only a huge Republican screw up can save the Democrats in November and in two years.  The Republicans are fully capable of that.  They are, after all, the party of tea parties and Sarah Palin.

As long as there are Republicans there will always be irresponsible, disrespectful untruths.

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21 Comments:

Blogger Susan said...

Oops. I wouldn't say anything, but since you are the language guy and all, you'd better proofread that last paragraph.

2:28 PM

 
Blogger Full Metal Attorney said...

"As long as there are Republicans there will always be irresponsible, disrespectful untruths."

You mean, as long as there are political parties. Or 24-hour news networks.

It's good to see you blogging a little bit again.

And Susan, I'm not sure to what you refer. It would seem natural to put a comma after "Republicans", but I don't think it's necessary. Was it something else you meant?

11:53 PM

 
Blogger Rita said...

Honest media does try to get a handle on what is actually going down in regards to politics. Of course, it comes down to a matter of perspective.

It is my perspective that the different parties do occasionally "blast" each other.
I will be covering the Art Robinson/Peter Defazio debate on the 18th of this month. Will there be "blasting?" I don't know. I do see where the term might be appropriate.

I find it very annoying when people take offense over the placement of commas or other trivial grammatical errors.
ARGH!

12:54 AM

 
Blogger Unknown said...

i was looking for my friend blog about how to get your ex boyfriend back and i bumt your blog.

1:02 PM

 
Blogger  said...

"Silly duck," most amusing.
You may dig moi's latest, as of this date, blog postin'.

Stay on groovin' safari,
Tor

10:30 PM

 
Blogger The Language Guy said...

Outstanding, Tor. A cousin had a dog he named, "SESOB" Thor. Not your name exactly. Wouldn't say what "SESOB" meant but years later confessed it was "sad eyed son of a bitch."

9:58 AM

 
Blogger concerned citizen said...

Language guy...are you still around? I would like to hear from you.
This probably sounds silly but I owe you a lot.

1:12 AM

 
Blogger The Language Guy said...

I'm still hanging around. Thanks for your kind comment. Maybe I will post again.

10:24 AM

 
Blogger Full Metal Attorney said...

LG, I thought you'd be interested to read this: http://wondermark.com/socrates-vs-writing/

It's part of an ongoing discussion of sentiments against technological change. This particular discussion is about Socrates and his attitude against the written word, as well as sentiments about the telephone versus the telegraph and texting versus phone calls. It's very good reading!

2:34 PM

 
Blogger Rita said...

Sorry Kelly, but looking at your link..."curmudgeon" & "whippersnapper", both of those words have negative connotations, are you aware of that?

12:13 AM

 
Blogger Full Metal Attorney said...

Of course I am. In the context, I'm not sure what your problem is with it.

1:41 PM

 
Blogger Anonnymouse said...

Hi Language Guy/Mr Geis,

I'm not sure if my last message made it to you or not...I just wanted to let you know that I found much (all?) of the content of the original Hammer's Life Lessons blog in the Wayback Machine repository. I really regretted not downloading it when I had a chance...but here it is again!

Just type www.mlgeis.com into the search bar at http://www.archive.org/web/web.php and click on "take me back"

Congratulations on getting back your (very funny, very useful) articles!

1:45 PM

 
Blogger The Language Guy said...

Oddly enough, I just found these Life Lessons recently too. Your reminder tells me I need to get them re-posted. I had lost them due to losing rights to my web site quite some time ago. Of course, I had not made back up copies.

5:19 PM

 
Blogger Anonnymouse said...

Yes, *please* do repost...and hopefully add to them from time to time? I'ts been years since I last read them but they were sorely missed and I'm very glad to be able to read them again.

7:52 AM

 
Blogger The Language Guy said...

Check out http://thelanguageguybackup.blogspot.com/

10:35 AM

 
Blogger Full Metal Attorney said...

I'm sure you've already heard about this, but it's interesting: Phonetic Clues Hint Language Is Africa-Born.

12:50 PM

 
Blogger Full Metal Attorney said...

I'm sure you've already heard about this, but it's interesting: Phonetic Clues Hint Language Is Africa-Born.

12:51 PM

 
Blogger hassan said...

nice post

9:02 AM

 
Blogger hassan said...

It is a very interesting topic that you’ve written here.
The truth is that I’m really related to this, and I think this is a good opportunity to learn more about it.

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3:06 AM

 
Blogger Full Metal Attorney said...

So . . . after almost two years, I take it you will not return to blogging.

2:42 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good post.

10:35 AM

 

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