New-Clear? Palin Speechwriter Still ‘Hooked on Phonics’
If you think about it, “manure” is really not that bad a word. I mean, it’s “newer,” which is good, and a “ma” in front of it, which is also good- “ma-newer.” - George Costanza (1990)
In what is either another sign that the McCain camp is angling for more distance from George W. Bush or that strategists are trying to reframe the nuclear issue in a more positive light, speechwriters for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin inserted the phonetically modified neologism, “new-clear,” in place of the word “nuclear,” at the vice-presidential nominee’s acceptance speech on Wednesday night. I should also mention that Ms. Palin’s speech was written by one of President George W. Bush’s speechwriters, Matthew Scully. Perhaps Mr. Scully was so accustomed to writing for the President - whose pronunciation of the word “nuke-u-lar” has become stuff of legend - that he forgot to ’smarten it back up’ for a person who can pronounce such tricky words.
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In a piece about the words Gov. Palin did not say in Wednesday night’s speech, Michael Kraskin at Indecision 2008 points out that the original text the of the speech the RNC released to the media still contained the phonetic spelling.
“Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems - as if we all didn’t know that already.
But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.
Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines … build more new-clear plants … create jobs with clean coal … and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources.”
The text of Palin’s speech has now been cleaned-up at the GOP 2008 Convention Portal, to represent what the words in the speech actually intended, not the Bush-friendly phonetically-remastered ones.
And in case you have no idea what the Geoge Costanza reference is to above, or you just want a good laugh, watch this 1990 clip from Seinfeld:
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Great post! Love the title; Bush probably did appreciate the phonetic spelling.
I clicked on the link to the RNC transcript of the link. They only cleaned it up halfway: one “new-clear” is still in the transcript.
When John McCain introduced his new running mate on August 29th she used the word “Nuke’ular” in her first remarks to the nation. It’s a good bet that McCain’s people heard her pronounce it there for the first time and were understandably horrified and wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again in prime time.
Joe- Thanks for the update, good sleuthing. I’m going to follow up to see if they go in for another edit.
Alan- Thanks, I hadn’t heard that.
In the interview with Charles Gibson, Palin goes “nuke-u-lar.” Those who love her will find it charming.
Take a good look at this link. I don’t know if the amount of insanity enveloping this country has been properly studied or reported on. http://www.vegsource.com/talk/top/ LOOK AT IT. Here is what you’ll find: “Obama is a muslim.” “Obama supports killing babies.” “I’m never visiting this site again because you’re voting for a democrat.” THIS IS WHAT AMERICA HAS TURNED INTO. When and how will this stop?