Assorted reactions to McCain's Op-Ed, from myself an an unnamed compatriot
Tuesday, 22. July 2008, 05:58:15
The Op-Ed is published on CNN.
In this Op-Ed, McCain talks about Obama a lot. He writes about Obama much more than he writes about himself, actually, and after a while my eyes got tired of looking at the words 'Senator Obama'. I didn't know that could happen.
The other thing that struck me, and My-Unnamed-Compatriot, was that this piece is rather grammatically incorrect. It isn't just rather grammatically incorrect for something submitted to a newspaper, something submitted to a newspaper by a high profile person, or something submitted to a newspaper by a high profile person who has a staff who ought to make sure that things are grammatically correct. Oh no, it is grammatically incorrect in general. As if to add insult to injury, the parts which aren't grammatically incorrect have tortured syntax.
Are these the communication skills we want representing our country? What about face to face meetings that have real consequences? If this is what McCain gives us when he's had a chance to proof read it and run it by (or have it written by) a staff, I have no hope for his extemporaneous communication skills.
You know, it occurs to me that I don't have a staff. My-Unnamed-Compatriot doesn't have a staff either. We write papers where our sentences spring from our brains fully formed, able to be parsed, and grammatically correct. We do this on the first try, no less! Proof reading and revision is for style, not syntax. Given his age, I suspect that at some point McCain attended a school where grammar was taught as its own subject. I can't speak for My-Unnamed-Compatriot on this point, but I know that none of my schools did this. We were left to absorb what we could through osmosis.
He uses quotes a lot. McCain puts things in quotes even when they are only one or two words; this is very thirteen year old girl. This is the kind of thing you're supposed to grow out of in junior high.
I wouldn't submit this for a writing assignment in a 0-- level elective class.
My-Unnamed-Compatriot: "He sounds like Dr. Evil. He's totally becoming Dr. Evil! Every day he looks more like him."
The refusal to resubmit is childish. Especially, it is unfair to people who are interested in an articulated piece about his perspective on Iraq, including why said perspective doesn't involve timetables.
Again with the unnecessary quotes! I am forced to conclude that those are either scare quotes, or no one working for McCain can figure out a way to restate 'very dangerous' so as to avoid plagiarism. My-Unnamed-Compatriot has this to offer: "total improper use of a colon - that's horrible."
My-Unnamed-Compatriot, again: "Oh my god and the last paragraph is so ridiculous ... barely a conclusion."
I couldn't have put that better. McCain seems to have really odd ideas about winning and losing in the context of war, and the significance of each. This is insultingly and dangerously superficial at best.
More on the last paragraph by My-Unnamed-Compatriot: The last paragraph is a "last fluttering gasp - grasping at all these scary words."
In this Op-Ed, McCain talks about Obama a lot. He writes about Obama much more than he writes about himself, actually, and after a while my eyes got tired of looking at the words 'Senator Obama'. I didn't know that could happen.
The other thing that struck me, and My-Unnamed-Compatriot, was that this piece is rather grammatically incorrect. It isn't just rather grammatically incorrect for something submitted to a newspaper, something submitted to a newspaper by a high profile person, or something submitted to a newspaper by a high profile person who has a staff who ought to make sure that things are grammatically correct. Oh no, it is grammatically incorrect in general. As if to add insult to injury, the parts which aren't grammatically incorrect have tortured syntax.
Are these the communication skills we want representing our country? What about face to face meetings that have real consequences? If this is what McCain gives us when he's had a chance to proof read it and run it by (or have it written by) a staff, I have no hope for his extemporaneous communication skills.
You know, it occurs to me that I don't have a staff. My-Unnamed-Compatriot doesn't have a staff either. We write papers where our sentences spring from our brains fully formed, able to be parsed, and grammatically correct. We do this on the first try, no less! Proof reading and revision is for style, not syntax. Given his age, I suspect that at some point McCain attended a school where grammar was taught as its own subject. I can't speak for My-Unnamed-Compatriot on this point, but I know that none of my schools did this. We were left to absorb what we could through osmosis.
He uses quotes a lot. McCain puts things in quotes even when they are only one or two words; this is very thirteen year old girl. This is the kind of thing you're supposed to grow out of in junior high.
I wouldn't submit this for a writing assignment in a 0-- level elective class.
My-Unnamed-Compatriot: "He sounds like Dr. Evil. He's totally becoming Dr. Evil! Every day he looks more like him."
The refusal to resubmit is childish. Especially, it is unfair to people who are interested in an articulated piece about his perspective on Iraq, including why said perspective doesn't involve timetables.
During the course of eight visits to Iraq, I have heard many times from our troops what Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of coalition forces in Baghdad, recently said: that leaving based on a timetable would be "very dangerous."
Again with the unnecessary quotes! I am forced to conclude that those are either scare quotes, or no one working for McCain can figure out a way to restate 'very dangerous' so as to avoid plagiarism. My-Unnamed-Compatriot has this to offer: "total improper use of a colon - that's horrible."
My-Unnamed-Compatriot, again: "Oh my god and the last paragraph is so ridiculous ... barely a conclusion."
I couldn't have put that better. McCain seems to have really odd ideas about winning and losing in the context of war, and the significance of each. This is insultingly and dangerously superficial at best.
More on the last paragraph by My-Unnamed-Compatriot: The last paragraph is a "last fluttering gasp - grasping at all these scary words."
