I see nothing wrong with expecting a president, whose job after all requires him to make a lot of speeches, to be able to speak in a semi-literate manner. That a person who can't do this can be elected president is a symptom of a the increasing stupidity of American life. (See, the wild popularity of reality TV shows etc., etc.) The man isn't an intelligent person dealing with a learning disability -- of course, many people are in this situation -- he's someone who has been described by many of his own colleagues as completely anti-intellectual and uncurious; he's smug and superior about his stupidity, wearing it as a badge of his populism. That people like him and identify with him because he isn't interested in ideas and can't speak well is a political and social problem to take seriously, not something to politely ignore because we don't want to seem "elitist."
Liza
> From: Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu>
> Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 10:27:13 -0600
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: SOTU ("Drink! Drink! Drink!")
>
>
>
> budge wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> how many times did he say nu-ku-lar? jeezus.
>>
>
> Look, having fun with Bush's english (a) doesn't do anything to stop the
> war and (b) _does_ help build up the presuppositions and cliches that
> terribly hurt a lot of people whose huanity _and_ intelligence is not
> measured by their sophisticated command of language.
>
> I strongly recommend Patricia A. Dunn, _Leaning Re-Abled: The Learning
> Disability Controversy and Composition Studies_, Boynton/Cook Pub.,
> 1995. There is a certain incoherence involved in on the one hand endless
> wailing about "Leninist" elitism and on the other hand inability to
> resist the temptation to sneer at the intellectual capacity of others,
> whether they are presidents or conficts.
>
> Carrol
>