"I Screwed Up"- Obama's Simple Language

In this sentence alone, President Obama showed America two important aspects of his presidency. He shows that he is willing to break from the Bush policy of secret, hidden agendas and refusal to come clean. In addition, Obama makes an attempt to speak in a language that is simple for the American public.

Reporters now say that there is an Obama-style of speech based off of this example and many others. It is an effort to speak plainly to the public so that they understand policies that may be difficult to grasp: case in point- the stimulus package.

In the NPR article "The Art of Language, Obama-Style", Obama is praised as an orator. Researchers of presidential speeches believe that Obama continues to get better with speeches. However, the author notes that he may not be as good as President Clinton when "speaking off the cuff".

Regardless, I think we can all agree that President Obama won't be making up meaningless words anytime soon, such as Bush's "misunderestimated". This 44th president is so much more intelligent to make vocabulary errors.

Bushisms

As President-Elect Obama prepares for his transition, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on the Bush presidency. News has been abuzz about how Bush will be remembered in history. I will remember 9/11, War in Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. However, there are also some more light-hearted things I will remember. For example, I'll remember Cheney shooting his friend accidentally while hunting. I will also miss the Bush gnome that my friend, Lanaya, gave me. It's pretty much a garden gnome with Bush's face smirking at you and the gnomes two fingers are crossed behind his back as if keeping a secret.

Another thing I will miss is the Bushisms. A "Bushism" is a phrase to describe all the made up words and incorrect sentences that Bush has said over the years. Some of these sentences are so convoluted that you really have no idea what was going on in that man's head. Here are some of my favorites:

-"They misunderestimated me."
-"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect the war on terror to Iraq."
-"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
-"That's George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three- three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting?"

These are just a few that I found to be funny. For a more comprehensive list, check out this article from BBC News: The 'misunderestimated' president?

In 7 days, we will have a new, very intelligent president who is eloquent. Will this be the end of -isms? Perhaps, but I can also remember Bush and his misunderestimatings.