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(Wall Street Journal)   Dear liberal media: If someone says "Where's Mandela? Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," he might be using what we adults call a "metaphor," and not referring to the original Nelson Mandela   (opinionjournal.com) divider line
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    More: Dumbass  
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10806 clicks; posted to Main » and Politics » on 21 Sep 2007 at 5:14 PM (15 years ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



330 Comments     (+0 »)


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stevecody
2007-09-21 4:25:36 PM  
If someone would only kill all the "metaphorical" Bushes.
 
fraboz
2007-09-21 4:33:50 PM  
OK, I'll bite: what's a meta for?
 
RockIsDead
2007-09-21 4:57:37 PM  
The media love to ask leading questions and then run with it when someone actually answers the 'lead'.
 
Shadowknight
2007-09-21 5:18:59 PM  
Yeah, except he didn't say "Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," subby. He said "Mandela is DEAD."

Big difference. I get what he was trying to say. I'm a smart guy, I could figure it out. But he still screwed it up, and it's another log on the "what a jackass" bonfire as far as I am concerned.
 
AdolfOliverPanties
2007-09-21 5:19:32 PM  
You can't blame the media. No one expects anything but the simplest of speech from Dubya.

This is a guy who says something, then says "in other words" and says the same thing again with one word changed.

The media must have got confused.
 
VitruvianMonkey
2007-09-21 5:20:03 PM  
D'oh! He fooled me AGAIN! I must stop misunderestimating him.
 
firefly212
2007-09-21 5:20:10 PM  
Or maybe... just maybe... he wasn't using a metaphor, he was mangling a perfectly good metaphor that someone else used. Seriously subby, if you came here to defend Dubya's oratorical skills, you've got a long, hard slog ahead.
 
badgerb
2007-09-21 5:20:57 PM  
AdolfOliverPanties

The media must have got confused.

No really? Not possible.

/ends snark
 
gshepnyc
2007-09-21 5:21:07 PM  
Ok, I have never missed an opportunity to slam Bush when I felt he deserved it but I am on his side on this one. He was making a very good point about something very probably true. He mangled the language, as usual, but he doesn't deserve the bash he is taking for this one.
 
lambelly
2007-09-21 5:21:11 PM  
It's not that Bush is stupid, it's that he's so goddamned brilliant that he appears to be retarded.
 
Bf+
2007-09-21 5:21:24 PM  
fraboz: OK, I'll bite: what's a meta for?

about five pounds.
 
Epsilon
2007-09-21 5:21:43 PM  
Mandela has a knife and he'll cut you three different ways: wide, deep, and frequent.

And he loves macaroni & cheese.
 
Headso
2007-09-21 5:22:27 PM  
firefly212: Seriously subby, if you came here to defend Dubya's oratorical skills, you've got a long, hard slog ahead.

I agree with the above statement.

I also agree with any statements that follow this post.
 
notq
2007-09-21 5:22:45 PM  
dvorak.orgView Full Size
 
LocalCynic
2007-09-21 5:23:30 PM  
B-b-but the Bible should be interpreted literally!

Dear James Taranto: when you can come up with a thought that wasn't implanted in your brain by the Republican Party, let us know. Otherwise, go back to the sandbox with the little kids.
 
notq
2007-09-21 5:23:53 PM  
prodigalsheep.comView Full Size
 
nobozo
2007-09-21 5:23:55 PM  
True, unless you consider the source.
 
Blathering Idjut
2007-09-21 5:23:55 PM  
Subby is correct. The president is a dumbass.
 
snowjack [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2007-09-21 5:23:58 PM  
Everyone knows Bush isn't capable of using metaphor; the liberal media's reaction was justified. As proved by his mangling of the statement in question. He tried, and FAILED.
 
Wolfmanjames
2007-09-21 5:24:39 PM  
firefly212: Or maybe... just maybe... he wasn't using a metaphor, he was mangling a perfectly good metaphor that someone else used. Seriously subby, if you came here to defend Dubya's oratorical skills, you've got a long, hard slog ahead.

There is a difference between being inarticulate and being a shipdit. Bush is inarticulate. The people harping on this possible verbal flub assume he's a shipdit. Those people are probably nowhere near as clever as they think they are.
 
notq
2007-09-21 5:24:45 PM  
burmeisterconsulting.comView Full Size
 
Bloody William
2007-09-21 5:25:05 PM  
I agree. If you say "Mandela's dead," you might just be botching a metaphor during a speech.

And if someone says, "If you don't do well in school, you could get stuck in Iraq," you might just be botching a joke during a speech.

/John Kerry hates the troops and George Bush killed Nelson Mandela
 
Ace Frehley's Ghost
2007-09-21 5:25:29 PM  
lambelly: It's not that Bush is stupid, it's that he's so goddamned brilliant that he appears to be retarded.

Kind of like he's gone so far into smart that he came out the other side?
 
lhclubs
2007-09-21 5:25:44 PM  
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
 
fuzzycuffs
2007-09-21 5:26:16 PM  
Bush is dumb like a retard on percocet.

See, conservitards? That's a simile.
 
ivanmarsh
2007-09-21 5:26:20 PM  
Ironically Mandela was locked up for most of his life by an opressive government for expressing his unfavorable views.
 
Bf+
2007-09-21 5:27:09 PM  
Mark this one up as yet more evidence that bush is showing clear signs of dementia.
 
ippolit
2007-09-21 5:27:28 PM  
Best of the Web Today is always quoting posts on blogs or even just the feedback on sites by left-wing nutjobs and then using it as an example of how "Democrats" are out of touch. It's a concerted effort to associate far-left organizations like moveon.org with the Democratic party.
 
notq
2007-09-21 5:27:50 PM  
[image from digitallyarranged.com too old to be available]
 
Indis
2007-09-21 5:27:57 PM  
Wow, author is such a moron. The article in question comes out of South Africa, where there was actually some concern about this. You know, hero-of-the-country being called out as dead raises concerns.

The rest were making fun of Bush.

And BTW - any English majors out there? Doesn't a metaphor compare two distinctly different subjects, as in "Bush is a dim bulb"?
 
carmody
2007-09-21 5:28:02 PM  
You have to forgive the media. They're not used to the idea of Bush speaking in any abstract sense, except utter nonsense.
 
bobs9895
2007-09-21 5:28:45 PM  
Shadowknight: Yeah, except he didn't say "Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," subby. He said "Mandela is DEAD."

Big difference. I get what he was trying to say. I'm a smart guy, I could figure it out. But he still screwed it up, and it's another log on the "what a jackass" bonfire as far as I am concerned.


Well, perhaps you're not as smart as you think. Because he did say that. Here is the actual quote:

"I heard somebody say, where's Mandela? Well, Mandela is dead, because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas."
 
soy_bomb
2007-09-21 5:28:52 PM  
img217.imageshack.usView Full Size

It's a metaphor!
 
FlashLV
2007-09-21 5:29:11 PM  
Now, how did Reuters get the story wrong? There are, it seems to us, three explanations:

Stupidity. The reporter was so bone-headedly literal-minded that he simply did not understand the rhetorical device Bush was employing.


Laziness. The reporter wasn't actually at the press conference and didn't bother to check the context of the quote.


Dishonesty. The reporter knew full well that Bush was speaking metaphorically and deliberately twisted his meaning in order to fit the stereotype that Bush "has a reputation for verbal faux pas."

This remind me of Fark Liberals.
 
jakomo002
2007-09-21 5:29:12 PM  
Comedy Central ought to be paying the Bush Administration for all the great material they give them.
 
Hobodeluxe
2007-09-21 5:29:13 PM  
boy the conservative is really spinning hard on this on trying to make Dumbyah appear less ignorant aren't they?

Must be nice to have Murdoch as a lapdog.
 
king_nacho
2007-09-21 5:30:02 PM  
Bush isn't a great speaker, but I don't see how he messed this one up.

If you cut out the part where he talks about somebody Asking where is Mandela, then sure, his response doesn't make sense. But because the first part simply stated Mandela, the second part was fine.

And if you still didn't get it, the third part included the plural form so everybody would know.

This isn't just the liberal media at work here. Everybody likes it when somebody screws up some words, and like it even better if they can take it out of context so the people don't consider the actual message and concentrate on the speaking problems.
 
notq
2007-09-21 5:30:33 PM  
[image from img443.imageshack.us too old to be available]
 
raymondmarble
2007-09-21 5:30:33 PM  
A valid criticism of the botched metaphor that I haven't really seen addressed is that even if the metaphor were not botched, it's a stupid point to make.

Bush, who presided over this disastrous invasion, has set in motion a military action that may have also killed many Mandelas (to continue his metaphor).

Total hypocrisy.
 
Adolf_Hilton
2007-09-21 5:30:55 PM  
ippolit: Best of the Web Today is always quoting posts on blogs or even just the feedback on sites by left-wing nutjobs and then using it as an example of how "Democrats" are out of touch. It's a concerted effort to associate far-left organizations like moveon.org with the Democratic party.

Yes, the Democrats are doing a wonderful job of distancing themselves from MoveOn (new window)
 
TheGreyPiper
2007-09-21 5:31:07 PM  
"I heard somebody say, Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," [Bush said].

I understand it just fine.

"Now, how did Reuters get the story wrong? There are, it seems to us, three explanations:

Stupidity. The reporter was so bone-headedly literal-minded that he simply did not understand the rhetorical device Bush was employing.


Laziness. The reporter wasn't actually at the press conference and didn't bother to check the context of the quote.


Dishonesty. The reporter knew full well that Bush was speaking metaphorically and deliberately twisted his meaning in order to fit the stereotype that Bush "has a reputation for verbal faux pas."


Stupid. Lazy. Liars.

Nothing is too low for the press, as long as they can slam Bush.
 
notq
2007-09-21 5:31:49 PM  
img293.imageshack.usView Full Size
 
soy_bomb
2007-09-21 5:32:15 PM  
ippolit: Best of the Web Today is always quoting posts on blogs or even just the feedback on sites by left-wing nutjobs and then using it as an example of how "Democrats" are out of touch. It's a concerted effort to associate far-left organizations like moveon.org with the Democratic party.

The Democrat Party is beholden to far-left organizations like MoveOn. That's why almost all Democrat Presidential candidates attended YearlyKos. If the Democrat Party does not want to be associated with groups like MoveOn, don't take their political contributions. It's Hsu easy...

/Yes, I know that word irritates Democrats
 
Adolf_Hilton
2007-09-21 5:32:36 PM  
"There is no God." - Psalm 14:1
 
bobs9895
2007-09-21 5:32:37 PM  
Did anyone read TFA?

'Cause he didn't botch the metaphor or mangle the language in this instance. Actually, this time, he got it right!
 
oldebayer
2007-09-21 5:32:53 PM  
I would like to know how this same page got linked in the same day with two different headlines. See link above this one about Ken Burns' WWII series, which is from the same farking page. WTF is going on here?
 
DistendedPendulusFrenulum
2007-09-21 5:32:59 PM  
Dear Santa Claus:


.
 
notq
2007-09-21 5:33:43 PM  
[image from img278.imageshack.us too old to be available]
 
xmasbaby
2007-09-21 5:34:23 PM  
I'm one of those fiscally conservative/socially liberal types. I don't like to see my money wasted and I think you should be able to do what you want if you're sane and not hurting anyone else.

I'm pretty well educated and try to think and understand the things I hear. I will admit that I was completely caught off guard by Bush's comment. I know what a metaphor is, but I really thought he was saying that Mandela was dead. It seemed like a nonsequitor and unnecessarily harsh, but it never occurred to me that it was a metaphor.

I honestly don't think a head of state should use metaphors anyway. No good can come of it, and a great deal of confusion can result. Even Kennedy's "I am a Berliner" was, well, weird.
 
trippdogg
2007-09-21 5:34:26 PM  
img.villagephotos.comView Full Size
 
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