[Orwn Acra]

At first I thought the questioning of his mental health was unwise, a way to excuse a wretched heart, but now I think he's both terrible and mentally compromised. Here he is on the healthcare bill. BTW, there is no senator in the hospital and if there were it wouldn't affect the vote:

“The health-care bill didn't go down. We have the votes, but reconciliation is a disaster. But as you know, it ends on Friday. So we don't have enough time, because we have one senator who's a 'yes' vote — a great person, but he's in the hospital. And he's a 'yes' vote. So we can't do it by Friday. So we have the votes.”

“We have the votes to get it done. You can't do it when somebody is in the hospital.”

“I just wanted to say, though, on health care, we have the votes for health care. We have one senator that's in the hospital. He can't vote because he's in the hospital. He can't vote because he's in the hospital. We have two other votes that are coming and we will have them, but the problem is we can't have them by Friday because of reconciliation ends on Friday, so we'll have to do it in January or February. But I feel we have the votes; I'm almost certain we have the votes. But with one man in the hospital, we cannot display that we have them. Plus, some people want to go through a process just to make themselves feel better. That's okay.”

“But on health care, we have the votes, we can't do it now because we have somebody in a hospital and we have great respect for that gentleman, by the way, he's a fantastic man. He was a yes, that's right.”

“He can't come here and vote. In other words, he can't come here and vote because he's in the hospital. So here's the story. Wait, wait, yes, in the hospital. So we're going to do it in January or February because, as you know, we have the votes but can't go longer than Friday.”

“You know, we're only one off, maybe two, but we can't vote now, John — you probably didn't hear me — because as you know, one of our yes votes is in hospital. I can't take him out of the hospital.”

[Jayne Osborn]

I made myself a rule never to get involved in political discussions here - and I'm a Brit anyway, so I can't even name many US politicians - but I've broken my rule today.

Jim's YouTube link in the opening post on this thread made me laugh; it's highly entertaining and I enjoyed it, ...but then the reality kicks in when you read what Walter just posted above, or similar Trump nonsense.

That is seriously worrying, and not funny or entertaining at all. If I heard a friend or a member of my family repeating gibberish like that over and over, I wouldn't be in much doubt that they had mental health problems.

Heaven help us

Jayne

[Andrew Szilvasy]

Walter, I haven't looked at the transcript, but this is almost like a rendition of a Gertrude Stein poem from Tender Buttons that's so bad it's almost good.

Originally Posted by Orwn Acra

At first I thought the questioning of his mental health was unwise, a way to excuse a wretched heart, but now I think he's both terrible and mentally compromised. Here he is on the healthcare bill. BTW, there is no senator in the hospital and if there were it wouldn't affect the vote:

“The health-care bill didn't go down. We have the votes, but reconciliation is a disaster. But as you know, it ends on Friday. So we don't have enough time, because we have one senator who's a 'yes' vote — a great person, but he's in the hospital. And he's a 'yes' vote. So we can't do it by Friday. So we have the votes.”

“We have the votes to get it done. You can't do it when somebody is in the hospital.”

“I just wanted to say, though, on health care, we have the votes for health care. We have one senator that's in the hospital. He can't vote because he's in the hospital. He can't vote because he's in the hospital. We have two other votes that are coming and we will have them, but the problem is we can't have them by Friday because of reconciliation ends on Friday, so we'll have to do it in January or February. But I feel we have the votes; I'm almost certain we have the votes. But with one man in the hospital, we cannot display that we have them. Plus, some people want to go through a process just to make themselves feel better. That's okay.”

“But on health care, we have the votes, we can't do it now because we have somebody in a hospital and we have great respect for that gentleman, by the way, he's a fantastic man. He was a yes, that's right.”

“He can't come here and vote. In other words, he can't come here and vote because he's in the hospital. So here's the story. Wait, wait, yes, in the hospital. So we're going to do it in January or February because, as you know, we have the votes but can't go longer than Friday.”

“You know, we're only one off, maybe two, but we can't vote now, John — you probably didn't hear me — because as you know, one of our yes votes is in hospital. I can't take him out of the hospital.”

[John Isbell]

There was a little book that came out of Rumsfeld quotes laid out as free verse.

Cheers,
John

[Roger Slater]

Andrew, what's most remarkable about the quotes you've served up isn't the tortured syntax, but the fact that no senator was actually in the hospital.

[Jennifer Reeser]

Originally Posted by John Isbell

There was a little book that came out of Rumsfeld quotes laid out as free verse.

That thing was hysterical. I highly recommend it.

Jennifer

[Andrew Mandelbaum]

Now play this video of a general in the Airforce academy dealing with racial slurs from cadets yesterday. The drop-off from this speech, that is simply showing just the basic levels of human decency, to the present White House communications (with or without the stammering gibbon) is sobering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfjZ1otkS3o

[Jim Moonan]

John W. --"Oh come. If we are to be taken to task for the grammatical construction of what we say, then who shall scape whipping?"


"We "? It astounds me that you see it that way. You, a highly regarded poetic communicator. You, who demands high quality from your peers here on the sphere. You, who understands like few others the importance, meaning and power of words. I'm really flabbergasted.

Your specious argument that "no one is perfect" when the leader of the free world fails more often than succeeds in being grammatically correct and therefore dangerously (yes dangerously) incoherent astonishes me.
You skills as a poet are impressive, but your political views are jaundiced.

You can defend his politics all you want, but this thread is focusing on his ability as president of the U.S. to formulate language that effectively communicates and helps us navigate through some pretty difficult times. Do you really take so lightly the ability of someone in his position to speak and think clearly?

Btw, Jimmy Carter was (is) a "nice", good, honest man who could speak in coherent sentences.
Gerald Ford, for that matter, was, too. (He just had trouble putting one foot in front of the other).

[Jim Moonan]

Walter, your excerpt from his recent words on the healthcare vote are, horrifyingly, just a typical -- not extraordinary - example of what comes out of his mind/mouth every day.

[Jim Moonan]

Andrew M: "The drop-off from this speech, that is simply showing just the basic levels of human decency, to the present White House communications."

That is it exactly. The only reason why I still entertain a glimmer of hope that things will be salvaged is contained within this video clip of the air force general. That's the way you communicate.

-------

Coming back just to say that, in the speech by the air force general, the most powerful moment in it was when he said, "keep these words". Magnificent.