Sep
19
2011

R

[pirate keyboard]

  • It's Talk Like a Pirate Day. Have at it, me hearties. Folks with a scientific bent will want to check out this convincing evidence that the decrease in pirate population over the years is causing global warming!

    Also Wired provides a handy chart of phrases in Somali. ("Where are the weapons?" is "hoobkaagee meyay?")

  • Damon Root notes the apology of Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Richard N. Palmer to Susette Kelo. As Root notes, one would only hope that Ms. Kelo will eventually get apologies from John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, David Souter, and Anthony Kennedy too.

  • Pun Salad has been shamefully ignoring "Barackrobatics", the word it made up to describe President Obama's rhetorical tics and evasions. Two examples today. First up is from Mr. Jonathan Last notes: "the time for X is over."
    For instance, in Detroit earlier this week, Obama said, "The time for Washington games is over." Washington games being pernicious, QED.

    This is a terribly lazy locution. Because it presupposes that, up until a short while ago, it was time for Washington games.

    Last month? Good for gaming in Washington. Last Friday night? Play away! But now? Oh no. The window has closed. Time to put those terrible, callow games away.

    Good point. A couple years ago, Obama announced that the "time for bickering is over." But not just bickering. Because also, "the time for talk is over." Earlier this year: "the time for putting party first is over."

    What else is over? Well, "the time for moping around is over." Also, (same speech) "time for hand-wringing is over." And "the time for delay is over." In addition, "The time for denial is over."

    When Barack says the time for something is over, it's a slightly obfuscated version of "Shut up and do it my way."

  • But the Indispensable One has spotted another tired phrasing that's popped up: "balancing the budget on the backs of X".
    Judging from President Obama's rhetoric in recent weeks, he seems deeply concerned about back pain among key voter demographics.

    Speaking before the American Legion's national convention in Minneapolis, Obama thundered: "We cannot, we will not, and we must not balance our budget on the back of military veterans."

    While visiting Johnson Controls in Holland, Mich., on Aug. 11, he said: "We're not going to balance our budgets on the back of middle-class and working people in this country."

    Other backs on which Obama would prefer not to balance the budget: the most vulnerable Americans; the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession; the poor and [again] the middle class; seniors; students.

    A nice alliteration, but it's a bit too obvious that he just wants to keep spending. And that would be "on the backs" of taxpayers, current and future.

  • Steve Landsburg has thoughts on the use of "compassion" as a political debating weapon. Check it out.