Ferdinando, Lord Strange ([info]fearful_syzygy) wrote,
@ 2006-11-01 10:18:00
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Hard(l)y har
See, what I don't get about Kerry's recent gaffe, is that whichever way you understand it, it's not particularly funny. I mean, he's speaking to a bunch of college students, encouraging them to make the most of their education, and citing George W. Bush as an example of what'll happen if they don't. But Bush went to Yale and Harvard! Surely he's an argument against an Ivy League education rather than for one?

What we need is some sophisticated political humour around here, that's what I say.

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[info]anogete
2006-11-01 04:04 pm UTC (link)
I've seen quite a few polititions put their foots in their mouths during the build-up to this election. Sheesh. I always thought Kerry looked like an Ent from Lord of the Rings.

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(Anonymous)
2006-11-02 05:02 pm UTC (link)
Re your citing Bush's academic pedigree:
One can get a bad education at a good school, to be sure. But the sense I get is that Bush's problem isn't a lack of intelligence; it's a lack of intellectual curiosity, which (even) Harvard and Yale can go only so far in instilling (though I bet Columbia can handle without even breaking a sweat). That would be the polite way to put Bush's problem; a more cynical way would be, "He's close-minded." Either way, his mind is made up about certain things, or it has been made up for him by his advisors; contrary evidence and alternative points of view are put forth by well-meaning but ultimately misguided or even naive people; compromise and negotiation and revisiting past decisions on contested matters are tacit admissions of weakness. That sort of thinking respects no political categories, alas.

As for Kerry's gaffe, the odd thing to me is that this seasoned speaker so badly screwed up his extemporaneous paraphrase of his written text that he created this confusion in the first place. Bad timing all the way around: bad comedic timing, bad political timing.

John B.

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[info]wissachu
2006-11-02 09:20 pm UTC (link)
I was almost sure that would be a "toothpaste for dinner" plug.

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[info]fearful_syzygy
2006-11-07 07:03 am UTC (link)
It almost was.

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