Obama’s sentiment about sediment on 60 minutes…

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Chalk this post up to my interest in how the English language is used (and misused). I thought college linguistics was fascinating. I guess my fascination with presidential speech patterns is somewhat understandable.

Bear in mind that the last president particularly drove me to distraction with his misusing or mispronouncing about every thirteenth word that he uttered. I suppose I’m used to being hyper sensitive to listening to the chronic mistakes GW made.


I’m guessing most folk probably didn’t even notice this and if they did wouldn’t care but the other night (Sunday to be exact) on 60 minutes President Obama interchanged two words. He was talking about Guantanamo, Cheney and the creation of more anti American “sediment.” He clearly had meant to say “sentiment.” Many people mix those two words without realizing it, just take a look at the internet.
For the record: sediment is the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid, while sentiment is a feeling, emotion, attitude or opinion towards something.

However, that wasn’t the interesting thing… everybody makes mistakes and the rest of the interview was pretty coherent. Afterwards I listened to what the different station’s pundits had to say about the 60 Minutes segment and they varied from “it was awful he laughed inappropriately at the economic crisis” to “he was informative, sincere and spoke directly to the issues.” Of course no one mentioned the mistake because it’s not a very important one in the scope of a speech.

I had to laugh though because when I got to Rachel Maddow afterwards they had shown the clip where Obama misstated as part of a story on Cheney. When Rachel spoke about it she very clearly enunciated the word “sentiment” with a smile. I’m pretty sure she noticed the switch. So is that the jaws of the liberal/socialist/left leaning media monster that we keep hearing about being too gentle on Obama? So she’s mean to that nice, sweet hearted old Dick Cheney while she’s indulgent towards that contemptible, nasty Barack Obama. Mildly amusing. And not to be soft on Rachel but she was a Rhodes Scholar and has a doctorate in political science. I think she can take it.

If it had been Bush it would have just been simply another day, another speech, another mangled word, because after all George W was certainly our most “misunderestimated” president.
Wait what’d he say?

G’night,

Laura

The 90% Tax on AIG bonuses… Tragicomedy.

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Today the House passed a 90% tax on bonuses that would apply to those that take federal bailout money like AIG (and others) which apparently would also be retroactive. Passed House by 328 to 93 (two-thirds) vote.

Well of course this makes people feel better and maybe that’s what they were going for. Makes the reps in Washington look like they’re doing something effective. If you think about this a bit however I seriously doubt it can actually be done. Symbolically I suppose it’s a great public pleaser (addresses the outrage) but as a “law, bill or even a rule” it won’t work in this form.

Even though it's approved by the House, it likely won’t be approved by the senate, and even if it was approved by the senate it’s likely unconstitutional and won’t ever be put into effect.


It targets one group’s (even though they took money from the government) taxes to 90% (rather unprecedented) which though perhaps desirable or fair in this case, I don’t see how it could be enacted. If the government decided that in order to raise funds for the government they were going to create new 90% taxes or raise existing taxes like alcohol/tobacco 90% many people would be up in arms. Or how about if the government decided to repeal the tax exempt status of churches to raise money and be fair to all taxpayers… well, I expect all hell would break loose (pardon the expression) wouldn’t it? Whether it’s a good idea or not doesn’t matter because it wouldn’t happen. As far as I can see this 90% tax won’t hold up even if it gets through the Senate.


The Keystone Kops in charge of a national disaster. It doesn’t seem like anyone knows what they’re doing. Timmy G wanna weigh in on this?

The big question is whether Geitner should resign, or Obama should fire him, or maybe he should come up with some comprehensive plans that can be explained thoroughly to the public. The latter being the best idea.

Tragicomic.
Funny in a decidedly unfunny rather tragic way.

Off to watch Obama on Leno which I have mixed feelings about. I’ll decide after I see how it goes and what is said.

Later,

Laura
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Senator Chuck Grassley on AIG bonus checks.

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The great sound bites from our representatives just keep on coming. Look at the bright side if there wasn't an economic crisis we'd never really know half of the things most of them ever said. Though sometimes I think I felt better without all the noise from all sides.
So Senator Chuck Grassley republican from Iowa states:
"The first thing that would make me feel a little bit better towards them if they'd follow the Japanese model and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I'm sorry, and then either do one of two things--resign, or go commit suicide."

He did later back down from saying he really didn't want them to kill themselves... likely after someone said, "Uh Chuck Ole Boy, you can't recommend suicide as policy and you might just be offending some Americans out there. Please put out one of those disclaimers stating that what you said isn't exactly what you meant."

Awful lot of those disclaimers going around out there on all sides.
Not helping.
Not helping at all.

Then we move on and get this beauty of a Grassley clip about AIG-



Thanks Chuck for putting that image in the minds of everyone that heard it.
Eeewww, I feel like I need a shower.

Intriguingly Rush Limbaugh doesn't seem to be bothered by this extreme capitalism and the bonus checks. He turns the whole crisis into an attack on capitalism and the basic tenets of our country.


I'm beginning to think no one really knows what to do, the rules just keep changing and people like Barney Frank and John Boehner keep talking ad nauseam.
Makes my head hurt.
Martha Stewart goes to jail, Madoff finally goes to jail, and AIG folk get bonuses for f**king everything up. Awesome.
Wow, I bet lots of small businesses would have loved to get bailed out when they were failing.
I still would have rather they bailed out the taxpayers rather than the banks and wall street.
Sigh.

G'night,

Laura
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Jon Stewart's Daily Show: The all Jim Cramer edition... not exactly a battle.

Wow, watching last night’s Daily Show was like the complete discomfort of having to sit through a six course dinner with a dysfunctional married couple who in two days are going to announce they are getting divorced or one of them is a pedophile. I never expected the whole show to be dedicated to the Cramer/Stewart dispute.
Jon truly tore into Cramer and it was more like a bizarre talk show exposé-slash-beatdown than a regular Daily Show installment. There were a few jokes made at CNBC and Cramer’s Mad Money’s expense as you would have expected. It just didn’t have any realistic aura of good natured humor or comedy.
It was fairly harsh, now maybe Cramer deserved it, but it was almost unsettling to me to watch as it unfolded.

Cramer was rather subdued, nervous, and looked almost like he wanted to cry once or twice.
He was so totally not wild or even “mad.” A decaffeinated toned down quieter version of himself.
To give him credit he sat through it all and short of the cross, he was crucified but not set on fire. Ouch.
It surely won’t help his Mad Money career at all.

Jon took Jim to task for things he said in the past and pretty much for not exposing the banks/stock market’s greed. Which isn’t completely fair (and it doesn’t have to be) but it’s based in a valid point of fact. It felt as if it went on for way too long. We got it (the point) after segment one and if not, most assuredly by segment two… but then there was segment three. So, I guess it was good um, investigative reporting by a entertainer/comedian, which is an odd forum for that sort of thing.
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Stranger than fiction.

At the site http://www.thedailyshow.com/ They’ll post the episode if you missed it, or if you want to watch it again because you still are wondering wtf exactly happened.

They shook hands and Jim was contrite but damn… he apologized numerous times over different things looking a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. A tranquilized deer at that.

It will be interesting to see how NBC reports on this and I wonder what FOX will have to say (because FOX always has something to say).
I don’t know why Cramer went on the Daily Show, he really didn’t have to.
If it was to show he was a good sport or could admit a mistake, he did do that I suppose but-
it was in a far more submissive way than I really wanted to see.

Let’s go back to the regular, less bitter tasting, usually very funny Daily Show now for a bit. Please?

Jon’s clip of Cramer on the Martha Stewart Show beating up dough with a rolling pin talking about Jon Stewart was amusing since she was convicted and jailed for her false statements, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in relation to a stock sale.

Again just stranger than fiction!!!

G’night,

Laura
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And on the seventh day she rests...

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I know Sunday is supposed to be the traditional day of rest but I take Saturday if I can.
I mean that I take a day of rest from the news.
Well, I do watch some news on Saturdays especially if something is going on but I keep it to a minimum otherwise.
Sunday has "Meet the Press," "Hardball," "This Week," and "Face the Nation" to start with...

So on this day of rest I clean or go shopping, write, read or some other pastime.
Okay so maybe rest is a misnomer...
Today it was Lasagna dinner, and movie with son #2 along with two of his friends.
We saw "Taken." Really enjoyed it too.
I've said before that I love action adventure movies and this was a good one.
Liam Neeson was great, the dialog was all right and it kept fairly suspenseful all the way through.

If you don't like action, violence, car chases, things shattering, guns, things blowing up, etc.- you won't like it.
Needless to say I loved it. Oh sure it was a little unrealistic but I really liked it, then again I loved "Live Free or Die Hard" so don't take my word for it. I do know what I like anyway.

We were lucky it wasn't a really long movie and that I have a new battery in my car because we were running late and I left my headlights on low the whole show. Which is odd because I never leave my headlights on. Oh well. Turned out fine.
We walked in only a minute after the show started and nothing happened early in the movie it was all mostly set up.

Want to see "Push" next and eventually "Star Trek" (of course), "Land of the Lost," and maybe "Inkheart." I've all ready seen "Underworld: rise of the Lycans" not a surprise right? lol.

So g'night,
I'm just finishing up Cross Country by James Patterson and I believe it's technically Sunday now.

Laura

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