Bush uses Joe McCarthy's slur in formal address to Congress dominated by those insulted

[DeepModem Mom]

President's Sin of Omission?
Dropped Syllable in Speech Riles Democrats
By Libby Copeland
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 25, 2007; Page C01


President Bush with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during Tuesday's State of the Union address, which included a fateful nod to "the Democrat majority." (By Rich Lipski -- The Washington Post)

The president in his State of the Union address Tuesday night left out a tiny little suffix that means a whole lot to some people. He did it so subtly you could have missed it. Just a little "-ic." What's in an "-ic"?

Bush started the speech on a bipartisan note, honoring the first Madam Speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and calling on the country to come together.

Then: "I congratulate the Democrat majority," he said, dropping the last two letters from "Democratic."

Bush does this a lot, and while it's hard to say if the omission was intentional in this instance, it is a semantic tactic that's been part of Republican warfare for decades. It's a little thing, a means of needling the opposition by purposefully mispronouncing its name, and of suggesting that the party on the left is not truly small-"d" democratic. The president's pronunciation was all the more striking because it was apparently not what Bush was supposed to say. The prepared speech that the White House distributed beforehand retained that precious "-ic."...

***

Dick Armey was fond of saying "Democrat Party." Commie-hunting Sen. Joseph McCarthy even used the phrase half a century ago. Bush used it Tuesday night even as he was calling for politicians to "cross that aisle," even in the context of a formal address and even as he addressed a Congress dominated by those he was insulting....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012402469.html

[cornermouse]

1. You expect George to understand grammar?

Why?

[MrSlayer]

2. No but he could at least read the statements as prepared.

It was an intentional shot.

[Bucky]

10. You expect George to read a teleprompter without error?

It was not an intentional shot. It was knee-jerk, the sloppy habit of a sloppy mind.

[hvn_nbr_2]

24. Read? You expect a chimp to read? :-) nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Bush I intentionally mispronounced Sadaam's name.

One way means a shoe, or sole of a shoe and the other way is the correct way. They did it intentionally, though, honestly, I never really committed to memory the correct way to spell his name.

[ClassWarrior]

22. Once again a DUer invokes the "stupid meme" to let Bush** off the hook.

NGU.

[ReadTomPaine]

3. So it was Joe McCarthy's slur originally, eh? That provides the best response to this yet.

Simply invoke that connection whenever it's said....

"Spoken like a true McCarthyite"

"I see the GOP is still the party of Joe McCarthy"

"Quoting Joe McCarthy? How appropriate, you're a lot like him"

etc.

Nice find, I was unaware that expression started with him.

[OnionPatch]

17. Great idea, thanks!

I will definitely use those.

[xchrom]

4. a duer her had a great suggestion -- some time back -- please note the spelling.

the republick party.

just start referring to it -- especially in writing as the republick party -- many here already do.

[MADem]

5. Repiglickans!!!

Actually, I am DELIGHTED at this article, because they're FINALLY talking about it.

Amazing what having the majority can do....all of those reporters are busy sucking up in order to curry favor with people they'll need off-the-record quotes from!

[w4rma]

6. I won't shorten their name to the honorable word: "republic". (nt)

[calimary]

8. There's always "republi-CON" ('cause all they offer is a CON JOB!!!)

Emphasis on the CON part.

I think fighting fire with fire is fair at this point. Have we ever tried that tactic before? Or has it always been to proceed as though one didn't hear it, to ignore it (because then it'll surely go away, or because one would rather not dignify such a slur by responding to it). Yeah. And how's that workin' for ya? How'd it work for John Kerry - to keep his powder dry while being swiftboated for days?

I prefer that we throw it back in their faces. Give 'em a taste of their own medicine. See how they like it. And remind them that we'll say their party's name correctly when they do likewise with ours.

Besides, as my husband would say - "WE say what the name of our party is. NOT THEM!!!" They don't have a horse in this race. The name of OUR party is what WE say it is.

[xchrom]

9. please note: republicK.

[mazzarro]

7. Better yet, spell it as 'republickkk' party -- n/t

[sandnsea]

11. republech, blech for short n/t

[ClassWarrior]

23. Sam Seder uses Rape-Publican.

It sounds a bit more subtle than it looks - but how accurate! The party that rapes the public.

NGU.

[salin]

12. Interesting that though this is only coming into corp media discussion

*after* the elections - even while those same writings always refer to how long the petty insult has been hurled.

I am glad to see these articles and columns showing up in various outlets - as it starts making the insulters look petty. Esp. in this case - it wasn't in the text, and he used it while ostensibly calling for bipartisanship.

[Sherman A1]

13. Maybe Yes, Maybe No....

This is after all a guy with considerable trouble doing the "public speaking thing"... It may have been deliberate, but he fumbles so many things, gosh it's hard to tell.

[formercia]

14. I prefer to call them the Republikud Party n/t

[opihimoimoi]

15. He is a Bully...the omission is intentional...imho

[flordehinojos]

16. remember to expect nothing other than mud slinging and pot shot throwing from the entire bush clan.

they don't know how to come up clean. ever!

[OregonBlue]

18. PUBLICANS=Vile tax collector of Roman times.

[Ninja Jordan]

19. Why does Bush expect bipartisanship when he purposely slurs the Democratic Party?

Oh yeah, it's because he is a SOCIOPATH.

[ruggerson]

20. FINALLY

the media is picking up on this.

To use this in a SOTU speech, in the context of extending the olive branch, is absolutely disgusting.

[Norquist Nemesis]

21. Simply Cons.

I've been calling them "Cons" since at least the 2004 campaign. Having to watch Bush LIVE! BREAKING NEWS! on the cables every time he got off the bus and passed gas made it very clear that he's a Con Man.

And as someone suggested yesterday, that way we have the Pros (Progressives) and Cons (Conservatives). :)

[driver8]

26. Good God -- Bush is such a f*cking asshole.

What a petulant little child.

This goes right along with him asking Webb, "How's your boy?".