But let's not forget our individual power to actually do something about it…. And that is again, where every individual has it within their ability and- and many may argue within their responsibility to actually take on these- these- accept the tools that are available to do something about this issue…. When we talk about the economy, the average person in America is going to measure the economy based on can they actually just afford to get through the day and through the month…. And- and Goldman Sachs just today said that actually, we know that Build Back Better will strengthen the economy. And so, I think there is without any question, room for discussion about what actually will be the impact to the economy…. But it actually makes economic sense to do that and it brings down the cost of living…. we have the ability to actually alleviate the burdens that people are carrying that make it difficult for them to get through the day or in the month…. Every- I read it every day. I read it every day, and then most days the president and I actually do it together with our IC- with the intelligence community…. I think that, you know, I actually wrote a book many years ago, and I do believe that it is important for us to have a cyber doctrine…. I mean, and I actually mean that sincerely for a number of reasons…. People are- people have a right to know and believe that their government actually sees and hears them. … And it has actually been part of my lifelong career to deal with tough issues and this is no different.
It's quite obvious that the word as she's using it has the opposite effect of its literal meaning. She must want to stress the reality and practicality of what she's saying, but it undercuts her credibility. It's the equivalent of asserting "I'm telling the truth," over and over. Who does that? Someone who's insecure about her believability. A good liar would know better. A secure truth-teller wouldn't run into the problem in the first place.
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Among meme cognoscenti, 4Chan authors,incels and other such outre types, that highlighted word is spelt "akshually" to emphasize how annoying the person saying it is, and how far off the point they've wandered.
I’m beginning to resent the stream of articles trying to resurrect a crappy politician. All the coaching and rehearsing just gets us more disjointed word salad of “actually” meaningless statements. Can we give it a rest and move on. The gong has already rung for Willie Brown’s girlfriend.
The competitive Democratic primary in 2020 ejected Kamala early and resoundingly, as she proved to be politically ineffective. No surprise now.
The eventual 2020 nomination was a back room deal paid for by anti-Trump oligarchs who are now pulling both her strings and Biden's strings. The words of the puppets don't matter, as neither can generate coherent thoughts and never could.
I'd not call the current administration left or right, rather it's run by angry oligarchs (e.g., Soros, Bloomberg, Zuckerberg, Gates, etc.) who colluded to "legally" [via bribery, unfair spending, and last-minute trickery] wrest control from the [populist] oligarch Trump.
Multi-millionaire Pelosi wants to "defund the police" so her mob of supporters can raid her home and eat her ice cream...yeah right...
I used to know this guy who habitually used the word "basis" or "basically" in every sentence he spoke.
It's a verbal tic, bespeaking the lack of genuine thought leading to what one says. It actually is.
There actually is no Cinderella. You actually can't take a shallow, bumbling, lightweight mediocrity and turn her into someone who projects gravitas. In a parliamentary system, this third-rate backbench political hack would represent East Bumbleshire, vote as the Party tells her to, and might achieve fame as the trivia answer in a whats-my-line sort of quiz show.
It seems to me more like the equivalent of repeatedly asserting "let me be clear", except Harris has much less empathy and ability to engage everyday people in a political conversation than Obama ever did.
"It's a verbal tic, bespeaking the lack of genuine thought leading to what one says."
But the problem could be fixed without needing to think any more deeply. She just needs to have the confidence to pause where the word would pop out. She says the word and then continues the sentence. Just leave a short silence. Study Obama. He did the pausing really well. You don't need any more ideas or any more thinking. Such things would be nice but are not necessary to solving this very superficial problem.
It's like her problem with laughing. She comes across as nervous. She displays her nervousness and it makes us nervous. That's a separate problem from the lack of substance or having bad substance.
The only thing missing in her talking points was her use of "like" in her sentences. As in, "I think that, you know, like, I actually wrote a book many years ago,..." It would better fit her teenage thinking processes.
Here's how to properly use 'actually' in a sentence. Kamala Harris is actually a thin-brained idiot.
Mayor Pete has an over dependence on using "actually" as well. I guess it sounds more intelligent that Obama's "Umm, umm, umm" but its constant repetition becomes too noticeable and, hence, annoying.
Actually, I'm not joking.
I used to work with a woman who had an 'actually' tic, she was kind of useless and it had nothing to do with her 'actually' thing. But she looked really professional.
An aside, “actually” was one of the first multi-syllable words my son spoke as a toddler. There’s something about the sound of it, and probably the intensity when we say it, that impresses our human ears.
Actually, and factually, she's a Democrat Party intellectual powerhouse.
When my students did required oral reports on their research, those who were unprepared or who had done meager research filled their
speeches with filler terms like “like” an “ actually.” It was a
Replace actually with obviously? Is that any better?
It's the equivalent of asserting "I'm telling the truth," over and over. Who does that?
Someone who sucked their way to a place where she could became the convenient ballast to balance a sad ticket.
I think of Kamala Harris as a house that’s sitting on the edge of a beach...
Back in my working years we had an engineer in our group who used "actually" for, I swear, every 5th or 6th word. We joked about it behind her back, but since she was very competent in her field of expertise we more/less decided this is how it's going to be with her, so carry on.
She's not just a lightweight / mediocrity. She has actually done poorly or corruptly at almost every job she's actualy held/performed (insert obvious joke here). She seems to be a mutation of the peter principle; she rises to more and more important jobs the more she sucks at the prior one, which means she is destined to become POTUS and then, I suppose, emperor of the planet.
When my students presented oral reports on their research, those who were unprepared and who did meager research filled their speeches with filler terms like “like” and “actually.” It was more than a verbal tic. It was tip off or tell that they had very little content. It usually meant that
the presentation was vapid. Such is the case with Kamela.
Ann Althouse said...
"It's a verbal tic, bespeaking the lack of genuine thought leading to what one says."
But the problem could be fixed without needing to think any more deeply. She just needs to have the confidence to pause where the word would pop out. She says the word and then continues the sentence. Just leave a short silence. Study Obama. He did the pausing really well. You don't need any more ideas or any more thinking. Such things would be nice but are not necessary to solving this very superficial problem."
It would solve the problem of the verbal tic. It wouldn't solve the vacuity of her assertions. I'll take substance over form every time.
Starting to see a pattern with the teen fashion sense, tendency to evade responsibility and laugh things off that should be taken seriously, shirking tasks and complaining how hard they are, and now seizing on a crutch word and using it to ill effect while blissfully unaware how dumb she sounds. We’ve somehow akshully ended up with a 15-year-old in the VP position. It’s not a simulation; we’re living in an 80s sitcom now.
Who’d have thought bringing in Raggedy Psaki’s brother to advise Kamalala on her image would pay off so handsomely and quickly!
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
We’ve somehow akshully ended up with a 15-year-old in the VP position.
It’s not a simulation; we’re living in an 80s sitcom now.
Serious Question.
Moon Unit Zappa would like, Totally be like, a Way More awesome VP than like, Kamela is
discuss
... a heartbeat away ...
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
"We’ve somehow akshully ended up with a 15-year-old in the VP position."
I met a young woman a couple of days ago who worked at a coffee shop. She was nice. Each time I asked a question, she responded with a quick staccato of laughter - kind of a giggle/cackle. But then she akshully answered my question. If she had different pigmentation, she would be vice presidential material.
But it is the cost of the bill that has led Sen. Joe Manchin at least publicly to say it's actually going to hurt the economy…. And- and Goldman Sachs just today said that actually, we know that Build Back Better will strengthen the economy.
Actually... what Goldman Sachs said is that in the short term, spending all of that money would heat up the economy, which, actually, will cause inflationary pressure, as anybody who has taken Econ 101 knows, and in the long term, the bill will actually negatively affect the economy by actually making our structural debt that much less manageable.
So your argument that removing the tic would fix the whole problem of her speech, when in fact, her statement is deceptively framed to both misrepresent what Manchin said and what Goldman Sachs said. Maybe she did this on purpose, if you are going to give her credit for brains, but it seems more likely that she is simply not that bright.
Kamala actually seems incapable of articulating any deep thoughts.
In an era where Americans increasingly despise the moneyed elite, imagine anchoring your argument with Actually, Goldman Sachs says so
I'm in business with a native East German who now lives in Switzerland. We have calls frequently and he uses the word "basically" very often. Considering that he's an engineer and English is not his first language, I cut him lots of slack. But Harris? No excuse. She's an idiot.
We've all heard this type of "true story" overdose from women whom are struggling to break through the glass ceiling and overcome the patriarchy oppression matrix. Super smart women of color who happen to be introverted and lack interpersonal bantering skills often resort to repeating these types of helper words as a talisman or touchstone that boosters their confidence and self esteem.
Pointing to this coping mechanism of Madame Vice President Harris is absolutely racist, sexist and ableist. It's becoming apparent that hypercritical language policing is the new form of verbal lynching dog whistle virtue signaling among Trumper comrades.
From...
The Ghost of Christmas Inflation
...One might expect that among the thousands of economists the Fed employs, there is a group working on figuring out ports’ capacity, the effects of microchip shortages, how many people have retired or are not returning to work, and so forth. One would be disappointed. Central banks have sketchy ideas of supply, mostly centered on statistical trends in labor markets...
While it is appropriate to conclude Kamala has no concept of basic economics the same is also true of the supposedly educated elite creating policy.
Pete Buttigieg was the Love Actually candidate for president.
The guy who thinks airports are sexy and can't stop hanging out there spying on people.
The guy who threw it all away for true love.
The guy who is as clueless as Hugh Grant is in every one of his films.
But I guess Love, Actually works for Kamala, too.
Especially when people ask what it was all about with Willie Brown.
Good one, Dave. I've been thinking about other similar unnecessary overused modifiers. Basically is absolutely classic and awesome which can literally dominate sentences. I hear Moon Unit Zappa saying "basically" or "that's basic" in her Valley Girl gum snapping sing-song
Academics pepper in "it turns out" liberally to emphasize the truthiness of their conjecture.
Isn't Kamala's "actually" just a variation of Joe Biden's "Not a joke," I'm not kidding," it's "not hyperbole"?
Recently, among the preteen set that includes my grandchildren, the adjective "literally" has become ubiquitous.
It sounds quite funny coming from 9 and 7 year-olds. Actually!
Seems to me the interview was recorded about a week ago. Harris: "Goldman Sachs just today said that actually, we know that Build Back Better will strengthen the economy." That was right after Manchin declared "ain't gonna happen." Also, no questions about COVID test kits, which het up the news this week.
But actually, what was the point of this interview? None of the questions nor answers were newsworthy. This is the mode of discourse that gives rise to ______ Bingo, or drinking games, when you already know what will be said.
"I’m beginning to resent the stream of articles trying to resurrect a crappy politician'"
It is going to get worse. But have no fear. The Kings of Silicon Valley have the government of our nation firmly in hand. Biden and Harris (when the time comes) are just figureheads. It doesn't make any difference what they actually (heh) say or do. The suppression of the opposition proceeds apace.
Can we expect Democratic "outperformance" in 2022? I will not be surprised. All sorts of false narratives are being planted to explain away any unanticipated results: Roe vs. Wade under threat; black Americans (13% of the population) rising up to vindicate reparations; rebellion against those who will not vaccinate; and, of course, the Shadow of Trump.
If you want victory in 2022, you have to work for it. The folks on the other side are preparing the deck for a "winning" hand.
"Actually" means "Everything you think you know -- everything you see around you every day -- is wrong; I know better."
Use it all the time, though, and it actually loses it's punch.
But parse her again. Some of those "actuallys" may actually mean "currently," as the related words in European languages do.
Actually.
Howard--your post at 8:38 is brilliant. It turns out that you actually have great insights from time to time. Thanks for sharing.
'I think that, you know, I actually wrote a book many years ago, and I do believe that it is important for us to have a cyber doctrine…."
She didn't write a book. Liar.
Pointing to this coping mechanism of Madame Vice President Harris is absolutely racist, sexist and ableist. It's becoming apparent that hypercritical language policing is the new form of verbal lynching dog whistle virtue signaling among Trumper comrades.
Were you asleep for four years? Trump was subjected to endless language policing.
The cure
Like her boss, she's a dope, actually.
Howard said:
Pointing to this coping mechanism of Madame Vice President Harris is absolutely racist, sexist and ableist. It's becoming apparent that hypercritical language policing is the new form of verbal lynching dog whistle virtue signaling among Trumper comrades.
Howard admits Kamala is not ableist to carry out the duties of Vice President. She's a politician, that makes her 1000% eligible to be mocked unmercifully until the heat death of the universe. If she was capable, there'd be no mockery of her abilities. Unfortunately for her, but not us, she has no capabilities except the sucky kind. The kind that involve the male member.
To call her an idiot is an insult to all idiots. She doesn't have the wits of a jelly fish.
Reminded me of that “apparently” kid
https://youtu.be/rz5TGN7eUcM
I hope she becomes President soon......it will signal the end of wokeness. Actually, it will be the straw that broke the Kamala's back.
The battle of the VPs
Kamala vs Dan Quale on pay per view.
I hope Kamala switches to habitually using "totally" instead of "actually". It would be hysterical.
No one's brought up the Biden "literal," which was more pronounced before the earpiece took over (where are the cartoons about it?).
The competitive Democratic primary in 2020 ejected Kamala early and resoundingly
I don't believe any voters actually had the chance to render their verdict on her to anyone but pollsters. Yet before that, Althouse tagged her as the Dem elite's choice. Were they that out of touch, was their judgement just bad, or were the other options even worse? Or do they really prefer feckless, malleable leaders like both Clintons and BO?
If Kamala wins the Presidency in 2024 we will know that Dominion voting machines truly can be hacked.
We've all heard this type of "true story" overdose from women whom are struggling to break through the glass ceiling and overcome the patriarchy oppression matrix. Super smart women of color who happen to be introverted and lack interpersonal bantering skills often resort to repeating these types of helper words as a talisman or touchstone that boosters their confidence and self esteem.
Pointing to this coping mechanism of Madame Vice President Harris is absolutely racist, sexist and ableist. It's becoming apparent that hypercritical language policing is the new form of verbal lynching dog whistle virtue signaling among Trumper comrades.
It's hard to tell if that's ironic trolling or not. But then, as I keep saying, this is the Age of Irony when everything means both what it seems to mean on the surface and the opposite of that. The Age of Irony was supposed to end with 9/11, but the only thing that really changed is that David Letterman went away to concentrate on growing a beard.
But I'll treat this as if it were seriously meant. Yes, people who rise to positions they aren't competent to fill like to use meaningless buzzwords. That was the whole point of The Office. If one wants to ignore that reliance on gobbledygoo when it comes to women, people of color, and absolute idiots, fine, but everybody knows that one is making exceptions for such cases. It doesn't change what people actually see.
"Actually... what Goldman Sachs said is that in the short term, spending all of that money would heat up the economy, which, actually, will cause inflationary pressure, as anybody who has taken Econ 101 knows, and in the long term, the bill will actually negatively affect the economy by actually making our structural debt that much less manageable."
The actual problem is not the verbal tic. It's the lying.
"...David Letterman went away to concentrate on growing a beard."
That is probably the most honest thing he has ever attempted--and the results are disgusting.
She just needs to have the confidence to pause where the word would pop out. She says the word and then continues the sentence.
Anyone who's had even rudimentary training in public speaking has been coached to do exactly this. I would silently say "pause" to myself and then continue speaking. I taught my daughters to do this when they were in Middle School.
That she continues to screw this up means that she has either had unbelievably poor training or is monumentally stupid.
Or both.
Definitely not a Mensa candidate, eh?
"I hope she becomes President soon......it will signal the end of wokeness. Actually, it will be the straw that broke the Kamala's back."
That's a good point. Maybe her presidency will be like the Omicron variant - a necessary evil that is mild enough to free us from our bondage. No more wokeness, no more lowering of standards, no more patronizing of mediocrities because of their race or gender. Maybe she'll be the catalyst for doing away with affirmative action once and for all. Bring it on, Ms. Harris. Every speech you give will be another nail in the coffin.
It's more tone of voice than word usage. When she told Charlemagne that Biden was president and she was VP, my brain decoded it as an actual lie.
You know, I used to have some verbal tics, but, you know, I did something about it. I watched myself on, you know, video, and I worked on being conscious of it and avoiding it. I see this kind of transcript as something that fits with the general criticism of Harris that she isn't willing to put in the effort.
Howard's 8:26 comment was hilarious. Good work, Howard.
Love, Actually (2003), Christmas fav romcom, is being attacked as insufficiently feminist.
Such a speaker has paper thin depth of thought.
But it is the cost of the bill that has led Sen. Joe Manchin at least publicly to say it's actually going to hurt the economy…. And- and Goldman Sachs just today said that actually, we know that Build Back Better will strengthen the economy
1: No, it's the cost, and where the cost is going: left wing projects that have no actual societal worth
2: "All bow down before Goldman Sachs"? Wow! A bunch of NY Democrats say that the Democrat bill (which has lots of payoffs for GS clients) is really great!
Now, who could possibly disagree with that?!?
/sarc
I also was afflicted with the "you knows" as a younger person. After watching myself, I was able to squash that particular tic.
Like many of the commenters, I tend to associate the pause words, actually, literally, etc with adolescents, not adults. I cannot understand how Harris can be so horrid at all these basic public speaking skills at her age.
And we really should hunt down whoever kept Obama from being perfectly clear, as they did that a lot.
Love how the Ds now have total belief in Goldman : )
And Kamala is actually dumb. It's not racist to state a fact.
The pitiful result of identity politics and hiring carried out above the grade of Postal worker.
Given their hiring criteria straightjacket, was this the best that America had to offer?
If I were the Indians, I'd walk away for credit for those genes. Let her be thought of as AA, not- A-I-A
......and she's undoubtedly being coached!!
She has no self awareness. She's just DAMN stupid.
Kamala strikes me as someone who has a massively inflated view of herself. I worry that if she were to ascend to the Presidency, her ego would prevent her from listening to those around her who might actually be giving her good advice. I suspect that there are Democrats who feel the same way.
As much as I think that Biden is a doddering old fool, I pray that he makes it through the next three years.
Actually I like how Kamala actually actualizes her vocabulary one actual word at a time.
Just one heartbeat away from the big desk.
she is ACTUALLY more inclined to word salad than Trump. Actually.
Yet- there she is.
I think I may use that word a bit- but, not that many times!! Note to self: stop using actually lol
Prof. A @ 6:52: "...But the problem could be fixed without needing to think any more deeply." Actually I have to disagree. Because her actual thought processes are too fragile and, you know, tentative, to actually sustain a meaningful argument (you know, proposition + exposition + conclusion) beyond, you know, a half-sentence ahead of wherever she actually happens to be in the conversation.
In computer terms, her verbal buffer is too small to support constructing more than a phrase or two; anything except small talk; accompanied by nervous giggles and hand-waving. There's probably a feedback effect: her lack of verbal facility makes her nervous, and her nervousness shuts down her verbal facility (such as it is). Kind of a stutter there. (And strangely Biden is said to have suffered from a, from a, from a stutututter...)
The undersizing is obvious in speech. I suspect it's present also in anything she has ever written. Have we any samples we can evaluate?
After actually voting for Donald Trump, I should actually stay away from asking anybody for any actual deep thoughts.
Barthelme made art out of such words
You know, Klipshorn was right I think when he spoke of the `blanketing' effect of ordinary language, referring, as I recall, to the part that sort of, you know, `fills in' between the other parts. That part, the `filling' you might say, of which the expression `you might say' is a good example, is to me the most interesting part, and of course it might also be called the `stuffing' I suppose, and there is probably also, in addition, some other word that would do as well, to describe it, or maybe a number of them. But the quality this `stuffing' has, that the other parts of verbality do not have, is two-parted, perhaps: (1) and `endless' quality and (2) a `sludge' quality. Of course that is possibly two qualities but I prefer to think of them as different aspects of a single quality, if you can think that way. The `endless' aspect of `stuffing' is that it goes on and on, in many different forms, and in fact our exchanges are in large measure composed of it, in larger measure even, perhaps, than they are composed of that which is not `stuffing.' The `sludge' quality is the heaviness that this `stuff' has, similar to the heavier motor oils, a kind of downward pull but still fluid, if you follow me, and I can't help thinking that this downwardness is valuable, although it's hard to say how, right at the moment. So, summing up, there is a relation between what I have been saying and what we're doing here at the plant with these plastic buffalo humps. Now you're probably familiar with the fact that the per-capita production of trash in this country is up from 2.75 pounds per day in 1920 to 4.5 pounds per day in 1965, the last year for which we have figures, and is increasing at the rate of about four percent per year. Now that rate will probably go up, because it's been going up, and I hazard that we may very well soon reach a point where it's 100 percent, right? And there can no longer be any question of `disposing' of it, because it's all there is, and we will simply have to learn how to `dig' it - that's slang, but peculiarly appropriate here. So that's why we're in humps, right now, more really from a philosophical point of view than because we find them a great moneymaker. They are `trash,' and what in fact could be more useless and trashlike? It's that we want to be on the leading edge of this trash phenomenon, the everted sphere of the future, and that's why we pay particular attention, too, to those aspects of language that may be seen as a model of the trash phenomenon. And it's certainly been a pleasure showing you around the plant this afternoon, and meeting you, and talking to you about these things, which are really more important, I believe, than people tend to think. Would you like a cold Coke from the Coke machine now, before you go?
(Snow White p.96)
"When we talk about the economy, the average person in America is going to measure the economy based on can they actually just afford to get through the day and through the month."
Actually, I want to do better than just affording to get through the day and through the month, and inflation and regulation and taxes actually make that more difficult. It's actually not that difficult to understand.
Blogger rehajm said...
From...
The Ghost of Christmas Inflation
...One might expect that among the thousands of economists the Fed employs, there is a group working on figuring out ports’ capacity, the effects of microchip shortages, how many people have retired or are not returning to work, and so forth. One would be disappointed. Central banks have sketchy ideas of supply, mostly centered on statistical trends in labor markets...
While it is appropriate to conclude Kamala has no concept of basic economics the same is also true of the supposedly educated elite creating policy." (emphasis added)
And that, in one sentence, is why capitalism works and socialism doesn't.
"It's the equivalent of asserting "I'm telling the truth," over and over. Who does that?"
Biden. Not a joke.
Perhaps the "actually" is a result of training not to laugh inappropriately. To keep the cackle to a minimum she needs a go-to word to prevent awkward silences that cause her to laugh in response. In other words: this is the improvement.
-Loren
Basically--I mean fundamentally--I have no idea what I'm talking about actually. But if 19 years of schooling taught me nothing else, I know that words ending in -ly lend a certain intellectual patina to vapid tap dancing.
FKH and the Biden horse she road in on.
She has the credibility of a rodeo clown.
Do you remember when Carolyn Kennedy announced that she planned to run for governor of New York? In what I think was her first interview, she said "you know" something like 49 times, literally!
We are governed by fools and knaves. There's no way to dress it up, though the media certainly gives it the old college try.
This all comes down to how the Democrat party chooses it's female leaders.
They like mediocre women to accompany their men. Their men are a bit of a rapey lot so they also need to be submissive.
Kamala Harris is where she is for a reason. She is exactly what the democrat party wants from it's female leaders.
You do not get anywhere in the democrat party by knowing how an economy works or having any deeper understanding of society. Democrat voters are idiots who happily support corrupt rapists.
This is why democrats need mail in votes. They would lose any real presidential election 75mil to 60 mil just like president poopy pants lost in 2020. There just aren't that many stupid people who would vote for democrats.
Compare and contrast this word salad by VP Harris with anything Dick Cheney ever spoke in his life. Feel great concern for the future. Idiocracy wasn't supposed to be a documentary.
So sad . . . .
Just a few weeks ago I saw a clip of Harris, after the election, being asked about serving as VP for you know, that guy you accused, in one of the debates, of being a racist.
Harris responds something like, "c*a*c*k*l*e it a as a debate; c*a*c*k*l*e it a as a debate; c*a*c*k*l*e it a as a debate; c*a*c*k*l*e."
Just wondering . . . maybe she realizes that after admitting that all would be wise to ignore anything she says she wants you to know . . . this time she really means it.
Or something.
She is not competent to perform her job. She should not be there. Every example further demonstrates this.
Compare and contrast this word salad by VP Harris with anything Dick Cheney ever spoke in his life.
At least VP Harris hasn't gotten us into a war based on lies and faulty intelligence. Nor has she committed any war crimes as far as we know.
The same cannot be said about VP Cheney.
President Brandon has a habit of saying some form of "it's not a joke" about every 5 paragraphs.
Supercut here
https://youtu.be/cp9BjoupKzA
"you built America. That's not a joke." "vaccines save lives. That's not a joke" and so om
What's up with that?
John LGBTQBNY Henry
Freder Frederson said...
Compare and contrast this word salad by VP Harris with anything Dick Cheney ever spoke in his life.
At least VP Harris hasn't gotten us into a war based on lies and faulty intelligence. Nor has she committed any war crimes as far as we know.
The same cannot be said about VP Cheney.
What lies?
What war crimes?
What faulty intelligence?
Is this the same thing as Russian Collusion?
The Cheney's and Bush's are on your side now by the way.
One of your quoted "actuallys" was uttered by interviewer Margaret Brennan.
Brennan expressed an admirable amount of skepticism in her questions and her visual demeanor (several raised eyebrows), but never went in for the kill shot despite having multiple opportunities to do so when confronted with obvious BS. Better than nothing, I guess.
Also, reading the transcript without viewing the actual interview doesn't provide one with a solid basis for analysis.
Our VP has a unique talent for projecting unlikeability through the screen.
What lies?
This for one (actually there are numerous lies in these paragraphs):
"In the past decade, Saddam has systematically broken each of these agreements. The Iraqi regime has in fact been very busy enhancing its capabilities in the field of chemical and biological agents. And they continue to pursue the nuclear program they began so many years ago. These are not weapons for the purpose of defending Iraq; these are offensive weapons for the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale, developed so that Saddam can hold the threat over the head of anyone he chooses, in his own region or beyond.
On the nuclear question, many of you will recall that Saddam's nuclear ambitions suffered a severe setback in 1981 when the Israelis bombed the Osirak reactor. They suffered another major blow in Desert Storm and its aftermath.
But we now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Among other sources, we've gotten this from the firsthand testimony of defectors -- including Saddam's own son-in-law, who was subsequently murdered at Saddam's direction. Many of us are convinced that Saddam will acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon."
From a speech to the VFW, August 27, 2002
What war crimes?
Torture, illegal war, illegal detention of detainees.
What faulty intelligence?
All that shit I cited above and a bunch more. Remember the "mobile biological weapons trailer" that turned out to be a weather balloon station.
The really scary thing is that she is more qualified and competent to be President than Joe "Shit For Brains" Biden.
Ann Althouse said...
"It's a verbal tic, bespeaking the lack of genuine thought leading to what one says."
But the problem could be fixed without needing to think any more deeply. She just needs to have the confidence to pause where the word would pop out.
To have confidence she'd actually have to do the work that she refuses to do, read the briefings, think about them ahead of time, go into talks actually knowing what she's going to say, and why, not just going with the desperate hope that everyone will be nice to her because she's a black female Democrat
Harris has gotten everything she's achieved as a gift from someone else. That's not how one builds confidence
“Actually" is on the same list in my brain as: honestly, frankly, to tell the truth, I kid you not, I’m being serious. not joking, no joke, believe it, and some others. To myself I then say, “…you add that conditional remark why? … Because you want us to note it’s unlike all or most of the other things you state?"
Freder Frederson said...
This for one (actually there are numerous lies in these paragraphs):
"In the past decade, Saddam has systematically broken each of these agreements. The Iraqi regime has in fact been very busy enhancing its capabilities in the field of chemical and biological agents. And they continue to pursue the nuclear program they began so many years ago. These are not weapons for the purpose of defending Iraq; these are offensive weapons for the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale, developed so that Saddam can hold the threat over the head of anyone he chooses, in his own region or beyond.
Let's grab this sentence:
And they continue to pursue the nuclear program they began so many years ago.
Joe Wilson informed us that Sadam was attempting to buy Uranium in Africa, but failing. "Trying but failing" is still "pursuing"
If you want to list, in numbered format, the claims you believe are lies, we may have some fun pointing out how wrong you are.
The best thing about Cheney is that he never sucked Willie Brown's cock.
Well, actually...
Freder for the deflection.
Obama chose biden to balance the ticket and at the same time as life insurance under the assumption no one would assassinate Obama and make Biden president. Biden chose Harris to balance the ticket and for her to act as his assassination insurance. The problem with Harris in 2024 assuming the relic of Biden isn't running again is who can Harris find to be her Harris? Is there any Democrat politician that is both dumber and less competent than Harris and can balance a ticket while being electable? That actually would be a wonder to behold! Literally.
Howard, kudos for the satire. Please give Freder lessons.
"To have confidence she'd actually have to do the work that she refuses to do, read the briefings, think about them ahead of time, go into talks actually knowing what she's going to say, and why, not just going with the desperate hope that everyone will be nice to her because she's a black female Democrat."
No. That's one way to get confidence, but it's not required. Look at Trump.
Wow. She actually wrote a book. After this sample of her pensees, I bet many here will rush out to buy it.....I would think her ghost writer was probably the hardest working person in America, but maybe she used a relay team of ghost writers as various members quit or committed suicide. If I were her ghost writer, I would plagiarize some of Biden's stuff. That would be really cool and meta and attract considerable support for her among those who are into post modern irony. That's not a big sector of the electorate, but it's the only one she has left.
Ann Althouse said...
"To have confidence she'd actually have to do the work that she refuses to do, read the briefings, think about them ahead of time, go into talks actually knowing what she's going to say, and why, not just going with the desperate hope that everyone will be nice to her because she's a black female Democrat."
No. That's one way to get confidence, but it's not required. Look at Trump.
Do you have any evidence that Trump was as lazy as Kamala?
Because there is ample evidence he was anything but lazy in the results he got.
But I think you and Kamala have something in common here.
The best threads are those that touch on "intelligence" with Russia Russia Russia Collusion Truther Freder posing as the arbiter of truth.
The best.
Blogger Freder Frederson said...
"In the past decade, Saddam has systematically broken each of these agreements. The Iraqi regime has in fact been very busy enhancing its capabilities in the field of chemical and biological agents. And they continue to pursue the nuclear program they began so many years ago. These are not weapons for the purpose of defending Iraq; these are offensive weapons for the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale, developed so that Saddam can hold the threat over the head of anyone he chooses, in his own region or beyond.
Saddam had these. I got to see some. Warehouses full. There were massive destruction events.
I always wondered why the Bush administration never fought back against these lies.
Then he endorsed Clinton and Biden and joined your team.
And it all became clear.
Blogger Ann Althouse said...
"To have confidence she'd actually have to do the work that she refuses to do, read the briefings, think about them ahead of time, go into talks actually knowing what she's going to say, and why, not just going with the desperate hope that everyone will be nice to her because she's a black female Democrat."
No. That's one way to get confidence, but it's not required. Look at Trump.
Let's start with the basics: Trump is a narcissistic blowhard. He's a New York City real estate developer. He's a bullshitter
Now, let's compare and contrast:
Trump got the GOP nomination by beating everyone other than Cruz, and thus forcing teh GOP Establishment to back him because they feared Cruz more.
He also got massive in kind contributions from the press, carrying his GOP Primary campaign rallies live and uncut.
But "no one in the know" that Trump had a chance of winning the nomination when it all started, let alone actually winning the Presidency
Trump has actually done things, actually accomplished things. Is he as good as he appears to think he is? No.
But he is at least good. Trump has confidence because Trump has accomplishments on which he can base that confidence.
Harris? Harris is a f-up for whom everything she's ever achieved was given to her because she was a black female, and / or because she was willing to do sexual favors to get ahead.
She's never done a good job at any job she's had. There is nothing that she can look back on, and say "I'm great, because I did this!"
Hillary Clinton lost to Trump because she's such a reclusive human being that voters were willing to take a flyer on Trump. So, who does Harris go to for lessons on how to better connect with the public?
Hillary.
WTF?
Harris is a willful idiot. She's had access to awesome speech coaches, she's had lots of chances to practice and build a better speaking presence, and she has utter failed at her lessons.
Since she can in fact walk and chew gum at the same time, it follows is that her problem is that she's simply not willing to put in any effort to get better.
Thus the hatred from her staff, when she refuses to read the briefing materials and then blames them because she was caught unprepared.
She can't get better, because every problem she's ever had is the fault of "racism " and "sexism", not her own failings.
Imagine a "training montage", where every scene shows her sitting on her backside, looking off into space while playing with her hair.
That's not how you get better
Did Bush lie about WMD's for what he believed was the "greater good" or did he, as Kamala might say, actually believe Saddam still possessed WMD's and had only pretended to destroy them?
Bush is a Prog so he's certainly capable of the former.
On the other hand, Saddam really had used WMD's in the past, against Iran in war and even against his own citizens. Saddam was actively encouraging his neighbors and even his own generals to believe that he had such a program, so it's reasonable to conclude Bush and his people totally believed the WMD story was true based on what their intelligence people were reporting.
It's also possible the truth lies somewhere in between. Perhaps the Bush team had to admit privately to themselves that they just didn't know for sure, but they were genuinely convinced the risk justified going in. So Bush didn't tell us of his uncertainty, but was sincere when he said he saw a threat that justified an invasion.
We may never actually know.
There were plenty of reasons to get rid of Saddam. In hindsight, perhaps Bush should have talked more about those when selling the invasion.
"Actually" I find it hard to believe that Kamala Harris wrote a book. On her best day she may once have read a book, but write a book?
No matter whether she wins or loses, Harris will be an icon. She will be to stupidity what Robert Byrd was to evil, what Obama was to fraud, and what Shrillary is to ethics.
Saddam had these. I got to see some. Warehouses full. There were massive destruction events.
You are lying if you claim you saw "warehouses full". Yes there were a few uncovered that apparently the result of bad inventory control.
Joe Wilson informed us that Sadam was attempting to buy Uranium in Africa, but failing. "Trying but failing" is still "pursuing"
No he didn't. In fact he found no evidence and it turned out the documents were forgeries. Look it up. Saddam's yellowcake, from before the first Gulf War, was still under IAEA seal when the Americans arrived.
Despite her parents' best efforts, Kamala proved to be an airhead.
From Wiki: Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a Tamil Indian biologist whose work on the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast cancer research, had arrived in the United States from India in 1958 as a 19-year-old graduate student in nutrition and endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley; Gopalan received her PhD in 1964. Harris's father, Donald J. Harris, a Stanford University professor emeritus of economics, arrived in the United States from British Jamaica in 1961 for graduate study at UC Berkeley, receiving a PhD in economics in 1966.
Freder Frederson said...
You are lying if you claim you saw "warehouses full". Yes there were a few uncovered that apparently the result of bad inventory control.
So you are admitting you are a liar.
No he didn't. In fact he found no evidence and it turned out the documents were forgeries. Look it up. S
Over 5 tons of uranium were flown to Canada from Iraq.
But you have already admitted you are a liar.
There were plenty of reasons to get rid of Saddam. In hindsight, perhaps Bush should have talked more about those when selling the invasion.
I recall that Bush and Powell (in his UN speech) did outline quite a few reasons to go after Saddam, but the media focused solely on WMDs.
Over 5 tons of uranium were flown to Canada from Iraq.
I explained that above. That was yellowcake from before the first Gulf War that was still under IAEA seal, right where the IAEA left it.
So you are admitting you are a liar.
About exactly am I lying. You are the one who claimed there were "warehouses full" of WMD.
“Joe Wilson informed us that Sadam was attempting to buy Uranium in Africa, but failing. "Trying but failing" is still "pursuing"”
I noticed recently though that his ex wife is now pretty hot. No doubt still a progressive hack, but I think noticeably better looking than when she and Wilson were tooling around DC in their convertible. If I were just a quarter century younger, unattached, and a flaming liberal…
Yuck, Bruce.
Valerie Plame looks like a blonde Chelsea Clinton.
I’ve always detested her for that “outing of Valerie Plame” scam back in the day.
Cover of Time did that nicely.
I recall that Bush and Powell (in his UN speech) did outline quite a few reasons to go after Saddam
I didn't say they never talked about other reasons. I said perhaps they should have talked more about them.
but the media focused solely on WMDs.
The media focused on the WMD's later, after they started to think they could use the issue as a gotcha, which is what you would expect from the media, which is why the Administration maybe should have diversified their justifications, so to speak. Easy for me to say in hindsight.
Actually, (I like to stay on topic) focusing so much on the WMD's argues that Bush and his team really did believe the feared weapons would be found in quantity. If they had been lying about it, they would have expected the weapons not to be found and perhaps would not have relied so heavily on finding an extensive cache to vindicate an invasion after the fact.
Achilles is right, some WMD's were indeed found. Some, like VX, were even used against US soldiers. There were casualties.
Dem pols, with their fingers in the wind after 9/11, used the WMD's as justification for supporting the invasion. Naturally the Dems didn't want Bush to be a victorious war President, so they turned around and used the missing WMD's to justify turning against the war as soon as they could and, of course, the media provided the supporting narrative for them as always.
There's no doubt Saddam had these weapons at one time. Just how many and what happened to them is not known, at least not to the public.
Freder Frederson said...
Saddam had these. I got to see some. Warehouses full. There were massive destruction events.
You are lying if you claim you saw "warehouses full". Yes there were a few uncovered that apparently the result of bad inventory control.
So, we're all in agreement that Saddam had biological and chemical weapons. No lie there, at least not by Cheney
>Joe Wilson informed us that Sadam was attempting to buy Uranium in Africa, but failing. "Trying but failing" is still "pursuing"
No he didn't. In fact he found no evidence and it turned out the documents were forgeries.
That's an interesting claim. Even if it's not bullshit, it doesn't matter. Because making a statement that you honestly believe is not a lie.
And Willson most certainly did report that he was told that there were yellowcake enquires made, and that people thought they were from Iraq.
Which makes Cheney's claim true, and yours false.
Saddam signed a peace treaty where he agreed not to obtain WMD, then he acted as if he was violating that treaty.
The proper, and legitimate, response to such behavior is to assume he's violating the treaty, and go back to war.
But you hate proper and legitimate behavior
There are plenty of things to criticize the Bush Administration about re their handling of the Iraq War, but it's always this WMD issue that the left brings up. Bush lied, people died, they say. The left (and not only the left anymore) like to portray their opponents as evil, not just wrong. They have really doubled and tripled down on this approach. It's one major reason we are so deeply divided as a nation. It's a very destructive way to conduct politics. It turns politics into the equivalent of an intolerant religion with none of the accompanying moral guardrails.
Nobody likes Kamala but if she's nominated in 2024, 95% of D's will vote for her, and she'll start out at LEAST 45% on Labor Day. Repeat: At least.
Oh, its fascinating "Vlarie Phlame affair" and "What about Scooty libby". Just more proof that everyone here is a senior citizen. Next Up: Irangate and Oliver North. LOL.
As George Bush. Fuck him and mountain bike he rode in on. And that's goes double for Penis head Chenney.
I’ll officially be a senior citizen this coming weekend- ‘til then I’m a person w/a memory of that time. A decent memory.
Libs never change, which I sad
At what age does one actually become a senior citizen these days?
I recall that Bush and Powell (in his UN speech) did outline quite a few reasons to go after Saddam, but the media focused solely on WMDs.
That's right. The WMD, which were found, was one of several reasons to resume the war sustained under Clinton, then after Bush ended it with a formal trial, reimagined and expanded across continents by Obama from Libya to Syria to Ukraine and others in between, and Afghanistan throughout, Clinton excluded.
Fortunately her vocal tics don't include "shit" and "muthafucka" like most of the POC's I encounter.
Freder Frederson said...
Over 5 tons of uranium were flown to Canada from Iraq.
I explained that above. That was yellowcake from before the first Gulf War that was still under IAEA seal, right where the IAEA left it.
So you are admitting you are a liar.
About exactly am I lying. You are the one who claimed there were "warehouses full" of WMD.
You can pretend whatever you want. That must sound hollow even to you. I love how leftists like Freder argue with people who actually deployed to Iraq. The ISR videos of the convoys to Syria were pretty explicit and pretty obvious what they were moving.
The best part of all of this is that all of the people Freder claims lied us into Iraq are now on his side. Bush, Cheney, Powell, Hillary, John Kerry, Tenet, the rest of the CIA, the NSA.
All on team Freder.
At some point you will actually look at yourself and what you are saying and what you are supporting.
Joe Biden voted to start the Iraq war. Joe said there were WMD's.
Totally on team Freder.
This post's title would make a good Bob Dylan song title, at least one from the 60's when adverbs were quite the rage:
Absolutely Sweet Marie
Positively 4th Street
Queen Jane Approximately
Obviously Five Believers
God help us all if we should have another 9/11 with a dementia riddled incompetent as president and a VP we wouldn't trust to get a coffee order right if her life depended on it.
Well actually it's hard to believe. But I saw a report today that the most recent Gallup poll found Kamala with better approval ratings than Slow Joe. I believe the English band played "The World Upside Down" when Cornwallis surrendered at York Town. Time to get those boys back to play the oldie but goodie on this news.
Dr. Jill hurt worst.
Skeptical Voter said...
Well actually it's hard to believe. But I saw a report today that the most recent Gallup poll found Kamala with better approval ratings than Slow Joe.
Not that hard to believe.
Everyone can see Biden's screwups, they just have to look at teh current state of America.
You actually have to do some reading to find Harris's screwups.
I think that poll response is really bad for the Democrats. Because "approval of the President's job" mostly equals "approval of his Party".
When people go to vote over 2022, Democrat vote totals are going to strongly correlate with "approval of the President's job".
We're looking at a bloodbath so deep that not even all the Democrats absentee vote fraud will be able to overcome it.
Evers, for example, is on borrowed time as Governor. Sadly, there's no WISC race this year
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