Modified fisking
Since my tranlation of Ari Fleischer-speak into Ebonics the other day I've noticed similar translations to everyday-speak have been popping up. This may be a good thing; we've had Republican extremists translating events into NewSpeak for years now. Bring things back to earth, keeping it real, may be a partial antidote to the toxic political and economic ideas that have brought the nation to these straits.
CenterPoint
I disavow responsibility for any action of a Cabinet Member - I only appoint them, I do not tell them what to say.
When a Cabinet Member screws up, his action stands on its own merit. I refuse to take responsibility for any indiscretion committed by a Cabinet Member.
But once he 'fesses up to his own stupidity, I am privileged to announce I have ultimate faith in him, and that closes the matter. It makes us all look invincible. It is a simple matter of reciprocal bootstrapping. He certifies I did nothing wrong, by thrusting himself on the sword, as any loyal soldier would - and I parry any criticism of him by asserting my continual confidence in him. It is the ultimate confidence game.
[paraphrasing] President George W. Bush (2003)
Liberal OasisEveryone seems to have caught Tenet�s thinly veiled F-You to Condi at the end of his statement:
�[CIA] officials who were reviewing the draft remarks on uranium raised several concerns about the fragmentary nature of the intelligence with National Security Council colleagues.
[Translation: my team tried to push back on Condi�s team]
Some of the language was changed.
[and we got a weak concession]
From what we know now,
[I�m maintaining I wasn�t fully in the loop at the time]
Talking Points MemoRisen has other sentences that capture the essence of the situation with equally grand understatement.
The legalistic defense of the phrasing seemed to signal a shift in the focus of the White House's strategy in dealing with the political fallout over Mr. Bush's public use of evidence that was based in part on fabricated documents and in part on uncorroborated reports from abroad.
(Dr. Jones' fitness to practice medicine has been called into question since his qualifications were based in part on a forged diploma and in part on long, probing study of Marcus Welby, MD.)
posted by Prometheus 6 at 7/14/2003 12:36:34 AM |
Posted by P6 at July 14, 2003 12:36 AM
| Trackback URL: http://www.prometheus6.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1231
