Saturday, November 8, 2008

Let's do the time warp

Daily Kos, 2005:

John Roberts had just been confirmed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Senator Obama, who had voted against the nomination, stepped up to defend his Senate colleagues who had voted for Roberts from what could be described as an angry mob of Kossacks. A quote:

My dear friend Paul Simon used to consistently win the votes of much more conservative voters in Southern Illinois because he had mastered the art of "disagreeing without being disagreeable," and they trusted him to tell the truth. Similarly, one of Paul Wellstone's greatest strengths was his ability to deliver a scathing rebuke of the Republicans without ever losing his sense of humor and affability. In fact, I would argue that the most powerful voices of change in the country, from Lincoln to King, have been those who can speak with the utmost conviction about the great issues of the day without ever belittling those who opposed them, and without denying the limits of their own perspectives.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do not understand anything because I do not speak American English, only British!

Don Drennon said...

...sorry to hear that you continue to be seperated from us wretched colonial types by a common language.

I'm not certain if anyone has come up with a way to translate all the idiomatic nuances of our version of English.

For instance, I am convinced that the rules of cricket can not be translated into "American". In fact, I believe there may not be any rules to cricket: Everyone just dresses up and runs about and drinks Pimms for a day or so...

Oh, and about that thing with Boston Harbor and the tea: Sorry about that.