Here's a good example: somebody asked Michael Steele why it was bad for Obama to have a "delayed" reaction to the Christmas underoo bomber but OK that Bush had a late response to the shoe bomber. Here's his answer:
I think the timing was right in the moment because you can’t afford to go much further without being very clear the direction the administration wants to go on this matter.
OK, honestly, read that to yourself really slowly and carefully and take note that it is a total and complete non sequitur. He is literally saying nothing at all. I think it's kinda cute that Think Progress ignores this fact and tries, admirably I guess, to refute what they think he meant to say. Of course, now Michael Steele can easily respond, "That's not what I said," and he would be totally right! See how that works?
It reminds me of how Condi used to talk: she'd go on and on and on, really using a lot of words, but then when you'd try to parse what she was actually saying, it would all vanish in a puff of smoke.
It's good work if you can get it!
6 comments:
He's not capable of syntax you know, let alone context. It's the goddam x words, they get Steele all the time.
Republicans are the stupid magnets of our time. Sarah Palin won't back down on the death panels statement. Too lazy to research it for yourself? Sarah rocks! On and on they go--vacuuming up non-factoids for the vacuous.
In Steele's case, as in Palin's, it's just showing up to mount the obvious attack, entirely unsubstantiated, even garbled, that keeps the customers satisfied.
He's just using the idiom of "the streets and their environs," Pete! You're not down with the "hip-hop urban/suburban" kids like he is.
I just got back from Japan for a two week vacation. I went with a friend who is very much the japanophile and knew tons more than I did about their history and culture. He's a huge fan of both their traditional and contemporary arts.
So, he has a context for when he sees the names of various anime, which to me, when translated, typically look like four unrelated words put together for no reason I can fathom. Usually one word is Japanese.
So, I see these titles, like "Metal Suit Gundam Unicorn" or "Pickle Stripe Ikebana Grenade" and "Racecar Charlie Yoko Candyfloss" and I'm totally at sea with what it's trying to tell me.
That's a long way of saying that I think Michael Steele makes about as much sense to me as those titles. I'm sure there's a context to the titles and to what Steele says, but they're only accessible if you share context with the Japanese or, in the case of the latter, are Michael Steele
Mouthwash jukebox gasoline?
At least you can sing that in the shower. ^_^
The GOP like Steele because he's actually stupider than the rest of them, so he makes dimwits like Sarah Palin and Joe Scarborough seem downright brilliant.
Also, he's the best Uncle Tom they could ever hope to find.
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