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As a reporter, I often end up trudging through heaps of buzzwords and odd phrases. I’m not a linguist, so I’ve never thought any sudden prevalence of doublespeak constitutes an actual trend. But there are trends in language (and in how its interpreted), and there was a discussion of one on the radio today: word counting. Pundits of late have been playing pop psychologist by analyzing a speaker’s use of first person pronouns or the prevalence of imperative words in legislation.
This is how some observers have backed up their arguments that Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are narcissists or that the health care overhaul plan is too over-reaching. Geoffrey Nunberg cut such arguments down to size today in a commentary on Fresh Air.
George Will said that Obama was inordinately fond of the first-person-singular pronoun and described him as ego tripping when he used those pronouns 26 times in his speech to the Olympic Committee at Copenhagen.
But everybody uses those pronouns a lot. They account for around six percent of our everyday conversation. The question is whether Obama uses them any more than other politicians do. At the blog Language Log, the University of Pennsylvania linguist Mark Liberman compared the transcripts of Obamas press conferences with those of his three presidential predecessors. It turned out that Clinton and the two Bushs all used first-person pronouns anywhere from 50 to 70 percent more often than Obama does. And Obama used the pronouns even less frequently in the Copenhagen speech that Will saw as the peak of presidential preening.
Rush Limbaugh isn’t buying the St. Louis Rams anymore, but what do you think of the outrage over his bid?
Upset with the radio host’s statements on race, some players and fans said they wouldn’t support the team if Limbaugh had a share. Do you think that’s a reasonable thing to do? Limbaugh certainly has the right to buy the team, but everyone else has the right to boycott. I think this is what you’d call a free market solution.
Here’s an NPR story on the subject. It features an interview with my former boss Antonio French. He’s now an alderman, but I worked for his news blog in 2007.
Here’s what we reported on today:
The folks at WHAS worked with Federal News Radio (not affiliated with the government) to put out this update on the hanging of census worker Bill Sparkman in eastern Kentucky.
Federal News Radio’s Max Cacas was also able to sit down with OPM Director John Berry to discuss the situation.
“First and foremost, out thoughts and our condolences and our prayers go out to the family of this employee. This is a great tragedy and our thoughts are with [his] family, first and foremost. Second, is the law enforcement investigation is underway. The FBI is involved.”
Berry told Cacas that OPM takes any threat to any federal employee very seriously.
“Each and every day, federal employees have to operate in very tough environments. IRS workers enforcing tax collection. Our Customs and Border Patrol agents who deal with threats. Our, in this case, Census workers. Our court workers across the country . . . and their families regularly face threats.”
Berry said he is keeping a close eye on the situation as it develops.
“I can promise you this. I will be paying very close attention to the results of this investigation. We will be dogging it and if this is an assault on a federal employee the full force and weight of the federal government will come down on these perpetrators as hell hath no fury. By God it will not be tolerated. We will not stand for threats or violence against federal employees anywhere.”
WHAS’s Ted Werblin reports that census workers were told to be careful in that part of the state, where anti-government sentiment runs high.
If you’re tired of having an Ayn Rand character bind your property in leather, why not see the world through the eyes of John Galt?
A company is offering Ayn Rand walking tours of New York City.
“Skyscrapers of the Fountainhead,” a tour of Lower Manhattan sites that form the background of Ayn Rand’s novel, meeting at 1 Broadway, at Battery Place.
There are four total tours. If you’ve been on any of them, tell us how they were.
Here’s some more Rand Paul news for you.
Chris Cillizza writes that Texas Congressman and frequent Photoshop subject Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential bid may have aftershocks in the midterm election.
The financial network built by Paul during his presidential race has, somewhat amazingly, continued to produce for two men seeking to serve as the Congressman’s political heirs.
Rand Paul, who is running for the Senate in Kentucky and is the son of the Congressman, has already raked in $822,000 despite the fact that nearly the entire GOP establishment in the Bluegrass State has lined up behind Secretary of State Trey Grayson.
Peter Schiff, an economic adviser to Paul’s presidential campaign and a likely candidate for Senate in Connecticut, has raised $998,000 for his bid — despite the fact he has yet to officially declare.
While Kentucky–and many other red states–aren’t necessarily hotbeds of Paul’s brand of anti-government conservatism, the American right wing has been eclipsed by Tea Party-style politics. Party leadership has often been silent on some of the more extreme (birthers, violence, etc) messages displayed at the parties (and not officially endorsed by Tea Party organizers), but there hasn’t been any repudiation of the partiers’ public call for less government. It’s a frequent Republican party plank, but the Tea Parties have taken it beyond the Reagan/Goldwater style calls for scaling back. Many participants in Tea Parties are loathe to call themselves Republicans, but if this is the new face of conservatism, it’s not impossible to think that Paul and Schiff are the first serious candidates of the movement.
Here’s what we reported on today:
- Council Committee Grills Meloche Over Flood Evacuation
- Tyler Allen Files Paperwork For Mayoral Bid
- Some City Expenditures Posted Online
- Sheehan Speaks on State of Affairs
- Fire Department Adds Four ‘Pumper’ Trucks
- County GOP Chair Steps Down
Sorry, nothing about the new iPods.
Here is your holiday news:
The FTC is cracking down on robocalls–those pre-recorded messages that no amount of do-not-call registries can seem to stop. The calls are now essentially banned (the out-of-work robots can come work for me).
Ars Technica points out that many of the robocalls being made now are already illegal (your car warranty is expiring!) and the bill’s exceptions do little to stop those legally abusing the technology.
…the rule comes with a list of exceptions. Any call that delivers “purely informational recorded messages” will be allowed—a good policy, since it will allow dentists and airlines to make automated calls to patrons about appointments or flight changes.
Banks, politicians, charities, and telephone companies are also allowed to robocall away, even when asking for cash.
The rule change, then, will affect companies that can legally make telemarketing calls but are not banks, charities, telcos, or politicians. Such companies will need to obtain written consent from consumers before robocalling them.
While we do love robots, we’re not crazy about robocalls, and our coverage has focused on the political kind, which aren’t stopping anytime soon.
(Thanks to Page One for the link)
