It's ironic to me that Dr. Fiona Hill poignantly describes her accent as "working class" in England to illustrate the cultural barriers there because coming from an impoverished white background in Texas, her accent would have sounded elitist to us. Accents are fascinating.
— Charlotte Clymer🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) November 21, 2019
"I'm an American by choice," Fiona Hill says.
— ABC News (@ABC) November 21, 2019
"I grew up poor, with a very distinctive working class accent. In England, in the 1980s and 1990s, this would have impeded my professional advancement. This background has never set me back in America." https://t.co/3BHb2I9OBT pic.twitter.com/KtNfD4SzDs
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Her reference to George Washington was funny. Before I clicked on the video I was thinking she looked like George Washington without the powdered wig...
She's really more of a Severus Snape
Northern England, by the accent. Not oxonian by any means. Love the british manner of speech.
"the witness has a fascinatingly beautiful accent"
If true, whatever beauty you perceive ends right there.
Dr. Hill: "I come from the same region George Washington's ancestors came from."
90% of Americans: "Who's George Washington?"
:(
Eliza Doolittle!
Trump can get her talking American.
I was wondering what happened to Todd Rundgren...
I started watching BBC regularly around 1980 and all the newscasters spoke RP (received pronunciation) or the Queen's English. Now, you hear all sorts of British accents on the BBC and anyone speaking pure RP would be considered a snob/elitist. Even the Queen no longer speaks the "pure" English that she did a few days ago.
Hill's working class accent is not all that strong. A Harvard education will do that.
"I was wondering what happened to Todd Rundgren..."
Ha ha. I thought she was one of The Kinks.
And I mean that in a nice way. I love The Kinks.
Correction, that should be decades instead of days in last line of the 1st paragraph.
So.....she will be given deference because she’s “an American by choice” just like Vindman was given deference because he was a military guy. Of course, she may not deserve the deference but the media will fawn all over her.
And we see how that turned out. Vindman and his brother were yukking it up outside the WH making sure everyone saw them, reveling in the attention. He’s the one that leaked to the whistleblower IMO because Schiff was covering for him big time. People like that deserve no respect.
Might as well throw out the requisite George Bernard Shaw quote: "It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him."
So.....she will be given deference because she’s “an American by choice”
Precisely right. There are no non-Americans. Only pre-Americans.
Now that rehajm has mentioned it, she does look quite a bit like some of the paintings of George Washington.
That aside, what does any of this clip have to do with Trump and the Ukrainian situation?
The Kinks are great!!
Alan Rickman as Snape was also my first thought.
Nothing says lower-class American quite like calling a lower-class English accent "classy."
Though Rundgren made spit my coffee.
These impeachment witnesses -- supposedly an elite crew -- are a peculiar bunch.
Vindman and his brother are Ukrainian.
Hill is British
According to Wikipedia, Yavanovich's parents were Russian emigres...to Canada, where she was born.
American foreign policy is yet another job that Americans won't do!
"I come from the same region George Washington's ancestors came from."
A tone-deaf attempt at grandstanding and virtue-claiming: doesn't she know Dems now despise Washington and that his ancestors were genocidal white supremacists?
Anyway, these hearings raise the question, is every deep-stater who works on "foreign policy" a weasel or an a**hole?
Why can't we get Americans do engage in our foreign policy?
Something tells me it's not the best idea to having people with dual loyalties engaged in our foreign affairs.
The Kinks are great!!
Favorite Kinks' song?
My vote would go for Lola.
She is definitely north of England lower middle class - probably from Yorkshire. Her accent is slightly refined (she has worked at it) but she cant hide the Yorkshire touch to it. Britain is such a class oriented society where your accent defines you. You cant hide away from it and unfortunately people will define you from it. She made a good decision to move to the US. There have been plenty of studies done in the UK showing that it is very difficult to move up the class structure. I think accent plays a big role.
I was born in England and spent the first 12 years of my life there. My mother who had more of a North American background really worked to make sure I had a proper accent. Her best friend who was very upper class and close to royalty helped. She knew it would be important for my future. At age 12 we moved to Bermuda where my mom was from and that was the end of my proper accent! I was teased unmercifully about it and it disappeared quickly.
Afghan Hound
That's a man, baby!
The Foreign Service of the USA has been populated by arrogant, pompous and ignorant people. They are the primary reason why the USA has consistently been involved in foreign adventures since the beginning of our Nation. They view it their mission (religiously) to fix all of the World's problems. It is a throw-back to when the British dominated the World. We are far more superior goes the ruling meme. Such thinking and attitudes are endemic to all previous cultures and empires - like: Egypt; Greece; Rome; British and now the USA. It always ends in disaster. People just will not put up with such arrogance.
Dr. Hill: "I come from the same region George Washington's ancestors came from
=====>>>> And he is now address USA via Hogwarts Portal
Favorite Kinks? If we restrict the answers to their own recordings, then Low Budget; but the greatest version of anything they ever did is You Really Got Me as covered by Oingo Boingo.
These impeachment witnesses -- supposedly an elite crew -- are a peculiar bunch.
American foreign policy is yet another job that Americans won't do!
And when an American (like Trump) interferes ... Impeach!
Why are these idiots always telling us about their stupid resumes? We really don't care what low level foreign service bureaucrats have to do for their government paycheck. You fuckheads are trying to negate the votes of 63 million citizens. So, Yes, we are skeptical.
"J. Farmer said...
The Kinks are great!!
Favorite Kinks' song?
My vote would go for Lola."
Lola, or A Well-Respected Man
It was handy to have an American accent in the UK, so as to be out of their class system, although I would trade it for my grandfather's Scots brogue.
My fair lady gets a job in Ukraine where it rains on the plain. Somebody should write a Broadway Musical.
Not quite an American.
The"Dr." (PhD,history, Hahvahd) seems still driven by cuntessentially British status anxiety. Sad!
Ms. Hill wrote an oped for WaPo in 2015 arguing against lethal aid to the Ukraine. And in the past she worked with - wait for it - Christopher Steele. I need a drink...
Howard said...
Afghan Hound
You know what, Howard? When you're right, you're right. I thought the same thing.
"Ha ha. I thought she was one of The Kinks."
More Ray than Dave.
This little 2 minute rocker convinced me...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3kNuSUQcdE&list=RDY3kNuSUQcdE&start_radio=1
Who'll Be the Next in Line 2:05
Dr. Hill’s accent reminds me of my paternal grandmother, who left Doncaster, England for America in 1913. A very lovely woman who never lost that accent before passing away in 1974.
I recall her expressing feigned annoyance at us kids every now and then, with a “dirty little buggahs”. It wasn’t until many years later that I came to understands she was callings us “buggerers”, lol...
I must be missing something : Americans are easier scam with any accent from Europe, don't have to be Oxbridge.
Diplomacy is scam art after all. $$$=>con selection.
Wasn't it her picture on the "Lola" 45 jacket?
While her accent is decidedly not-UC, it is nonetheless pleasant.
The Kinks?
Celluloid Heroes. Live. Off One for the Road.
Not flat-out Geordie, but not "elitist" either. Ignorance is fascinating.
Bloomberg and CNBC load up their shows with british accents.
Gives economic and market stories more import.
she was a protégé of the late Richard pipes, who had a very solid grasp of Russian history, she doesn't seem to be,
She's from Bishop Aukland. It's in County Durham, a bit SW of Newcastle. Very depressed area economically, it was highly dependent on coal mining - and I suppose her Dem fans are all just fine with that being driven out of business. It also has a very well preserved Roman site with ongoing excavations. Very well preserved bath house.
TW
From the Babylon Bee: Impeachment Inquiry Canceled After 5 Episodes Due To Low Ratings
Fiona looks like a bit like a man and I believe Charlotte is a trannie
She's a Harvard grad. That's all you need to know.
The American government would be better off with fewer people from the Ivies in it.
We’re so catty...but we mean it in a nice way.
"...in Texas, her accent would have sounded elitist to us."
I'm dubious that most Texans are that clueless.
Isn't Charlotte Clymer one of those pain-in-the-ass tranny activists?
That's another big diff between the Britain and America. In the UK, I'd probably get a visit from the local constabulary for disrespecting Charlotte Clymer on the internet.
I hope Ms. Hill appreciates that, too. Plus the right to bear arms. Ha, who am I kidding?
Btw, echoing BAG at 1:06, was there some point relevant to impeachment embedded in Hill's little ramble?
The Brits overdo the accent stuff but we underdo it.
Bernie Sanders has a terrible accent, one he should have gotten rid of years ago.
Public individuals who speak poorly are as arrogant as those who dress poorly.
They give the finger to the rest of us with every utterance.
back in the early 80s, Richard pipes and Edward rowny were dismissed by super expert strobe Talbott (who curiously showed hill a copy of the steele dossier) because they weren't nuanced enough, to understand soviet foreign policy,
seems she doesn't have any better understanding now,
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1197604636628279298?s=20
Is this another PhD who insists on being called 'Doctor'?
If so, I don't care what she has to say, be it good bad or indifferent.
Hill: "I come from the same region [of England that] George Washington's ancestors came from..."
A bald-faced lie.
Hill was born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, in [northeastern] England, bordering the North Sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Hill_(presidential_advisor)#Early_life
During the early 1500s, George Washington’s five times great grandfather, Lawrence Washington moved from the Lancashire village of Warton [far away from Durham, boarding the Irish Sea] to Northamptonshire [in the midlands of England] in search of fortune.
...After working as a servant to the rich, including the brother of Queen Katherine Parr, Lawrence married widow Elizabeth Gough and inherited her deceased husband’s wool dealing business.
His influence in the area continued to grow and in 1532 he became the mayor of Northampton. Clearly the ability to rule was in the Washington bloodline.
The Washington’s continued to prosper in the area until the outbreak of the English civil war in 1642.
https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/read-this/george-washingtons-surprising-connection-to-northamptonshire/
The Washington immigrant ancestor and great-grandfather of President George Washington was John Washington, who was born in Tring, Hertfordshire, England, in 1631 and arrived in the Colony of Virginia in 1657 after being shipwrecked.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestry_of_George_Washington
Hertfordshire...is one of the home counties in southern England.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertfordshire
All this reminds me of the 1940's movie, George Washington Slept Here:
"Manhattanite Connie Fuller (Ann Sheridan) secretly acquires a dilapidated house in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania, without her husband Bill's (Jack Benny) knowledge. The couple were forced out of their New York City apartment after their dog damaged the carpets. The house Connie buys is believed to have served as George Washington's temporary home during the Revolutionary War."
"...They uncover evidence that it was not Washington who had slept there, but Benedict Arnold."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Slept_Here
Fiona Hill comes across as having the earmarks of a Benedict Arnold.
Is this another PhD who insists on being called 'Doctor'?
If so, I don't care what she has to say, be it good bad or indifferent.
I once interviewed someone for a job who got a PhD in "mental health counseling" from a diploma mill. He referred to himself as "Dr. Jim," and even had it as a vanity license plate. I didn't call him back.
As John Derbyshire has remarked any number of times, a British accent (even if not oxonian) confers immediate authority in most American bourgeois precincts.
Is this another PhD who insists on being called 'Doctor'?
At the huge corporation where I was chained to the oars, we had a young guy with a PhD in our group. Company policy was that he be addressed as Doctor. Our response to this, as benighted non-PhDs, was to address one another as Doctor. There was nothing in Company policy to forbid this. Eventually it stopped.
Fiona Hill comes across as having the earmarks of a Benedict Arnold.
I resemble that remark! Hey, Benedict Arnold I, first colonial governor of Rhode Island, is on of my ancestors and was great grandfather of Benedict Arnold, the traitor [not my ancestor].
One of, not on of. Of course.
robother said...
As John Derbyshire has remarked any number of times, a British accent (even if not oxonian) confers immediate authority in most American bourgeois precincts.
11/21/19, 2:31 PM
In her book "A Hole in Our Soul", Martha Bayles writes that Chuck Berry was inspired to write "Roll Over, Beethoven" because of childhood memories. He was annoyed because his sister took classical piano lessons and their middle class parents considered that more important than the pop and jazz stuff he preferred so she got to hog the piano.
But no reporter ever asked Berry about Beethoven. They asked the Beatles, though.
She gets her comeuppance from Mike Turner during today's hearings.
"YOU GUYS WANNA BE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF HISTORY?" Mike Turner on Impeachment Hearing Day 5
A LONDONER Explains How to Speak COCKNEY (London accent)
She does have a bit of that Lincolnshire Poacher thing going.
My nephew is organizing a garage band called The Little Vindmans.
Who says nothing good can come out of this impeachment nonsense?
Ray, but with Dave’s hair c. 1968.
Days, Waterloo Sunset, Autumn Almanac, Animal Farm, Shangri-La, Celluloid Heroes ... I could go on. Marvellous group.
Her accent is not at all posh.
That is a very "trans" picture.
I did not see the hearings.
Was she played by Jeffrey Tambor?
Or was this role Felicity Huffman's community service?
She certainly does look trans.
Our response to this, as benighted non-PhDs, was to address one another as Doctor.
Our? I think we know who the instigator was.
“ Favorite Kinks' song?”
For me, it’s probably “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” but I’ve got a special thing for “Apeman.”
Did Mr. Holmes pronounce the L in his name?
Some of those Northern English accents sound as if they're only pronouncing the first half of every word. Then they throw in slang, like "ta" for "thanks."
Um, I grew up poor and American and I am not dullwitted enough to find English accents indistinguishable from each other.
Since I think it's futile to pick a favorite, I'll just go a different direction.
Pulls pin and lobs.
"Ducks on the Wall"
For me, it’s probably “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,”
That's one of my favorites, but I like the later version with Ray Davis singing lead. Below is a very good live version with the added irony of the crowd singing the chorus in unison.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFkYoT5Gezo
Thank you Michael the Magnificent!
That video was fabulous!
“Though Rundgren made spit my coffee.”
I dunno... I’m thinking a younger Charlie Watts.
Favorite Kinks' song?
“Powerman”... in fact, Lola vs. the Powerman is their finest album!
“Waterloo Sunset” is a very close second.
Holmes is Foreign Service. Hill is a political appointee. There is a distinction, but how much does it matter? The political appointees are usually retreads from previous administrations. Not sure that's a terribly bad thing either. Somebody needs to have some kind of experience.
The egos on these people.
The self-importance has to be a red flag to all those watching who actually work for a living.
For me, it’s probably “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” but I’ve got a special thing for “Apeman.”
"Apeman" is on my iPod playlist. I was listening to it last month while on the treadmill. It occurred to me that the song could not be made today. The SJWs would have a fit.
Is this another PhD who insists on being called 'Doctor'?
Hey! Mathematicians were entitled to be called “Doctor” back when surgery was something barbers did in their spare time. :-P
Oh, yes, I am so, so authentic! I would never ever even think off puffing myself up as anything less than a 100% humble, down-to earth mid-level Bureaucrat! btw, did I tell you the story of my burning pig-tails??
America's class mobility has floundered in recent times (thanks to worsening income inequality, open borders, globalization and mechanization). We have a rigid class structure too. Probably much worse than England's. Just consider the ugly way elite liberals talk about Trump's base. Heck I'm a Republican and I tend to think of Trump's base as "trailer park trash." Seriously, aren't you a bit delusional if you're poor White trash and you're voting Republican? Anyways, even the NY Times was aware of how crude this language was. After the election, the Times encouraged its readers (and Democratic politicians) to reach out to Trump supporters in a "spirit of empathy and contrition"! That was hilarious!!!!
I heard just a bit of her on radio. What I heard was, "This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. How dare you!"
Apeman. Mebbe Low Budget. They’re all pretty damned awesome.
Favorite Kinks' song?
My vote would go for Lola.
I'm not the worlds most masculine man, but I would vote for Lola, too.
Her accent is a bit of a hybrid. There's a cut glass clarity in her t's d's and s's that some might take as upper class. The dropped r's likewise might lead Americans to that conclusion. But her a's are very broad North of England non-U - a dead giveaway There's a nasality in her vowel sounds that doesn't go down well in posh circles. To me it was clear that her accent wasn't received pronunciation or upper class, but I could understand somebody coming to a different conclusion. It's a regional accent, not necessarily a lower class accent, but certainly not an upper class accent.
If only one country were interfering in our elections and we were interfering in only one other country's elections, she could count it as a victory and resign. Countries interfere in other countries' elections all the time - and we do it more than most countries do. If all it comes down to is a few Facebook ads, our democracy will survive.
Of course, The Kinks had a revival hit in 1983 that I have always loved "Come Dancing".
Fiona Hill, the former National Security Council (NSC) official who is testifying in Thursday’s impeachment inquiry, admitted in her closed-door deposition to having worked with Russia “dossier” author Christopher Steele. Steele, a former British spy, was hired by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS to find dirt on then-candidate Donald Trump. The firm was paid by Trump’s political opponents, particularly the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. His “dossier” produced a slew of unsubstantiated, salacious accusations, some of them were proven false outright.
And none of which were proven true.
anyone hear the part where she said that the Russians wanted to plant discord but were not intent on helping any particular candidate.
Any of you leftists get that?
Well, discord is what the left delivered, so the Russian propaganda worked - on the left.
Fiona Hill: Obama Denied Weapons to Ukraine for ‘Political’ Reasons
Can we impeach Obama now? yet? later? I mean - this sounds bad. Like he was pussy-footing with the Russians.
Apeman lyrics are great but some people can’t get past the faux calypso thing and accent. God save true George Cross and all those who were awarded them, little shops, china cups and virginity, I guess. Preserving the old ways from being abused, protecting the new ways for me and for you. What more can you do? That’s maybe the sweetest sentiment in all of pop.
"Celluloid Heroes". Hands down. No contest.
so,
The Dr Hill;
That's a chick with a dick? Right?
Kinks? While I think my fave is Celluloid Heroes, these lyrics hold up pretty well, especially as we watch our bureaucrats in action:
I was born in a welfare state
Ruled by bureaucracy
Controlled by civil servants
And people dressed in grey
Got no privacy got no liberty
'cause the twentieth century people
Took it all away from me.
Might as well be a Trump campaign song.
W...T...F...?
“Favorite Kinks' song?”
Living On The Thin Line or Come Dancing. The horns in Come Dancing are beautiful.
It's a good thing she has a voice fir radio to match her face. A Rodney Dangerfield line also comes to mind.
I don't care about her accent.
Would it surprise you to know she worked for Soros' an Open Society Institute for 6 years?
Reading this thread leaves me in even greater despair of our republic.
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