Wednesday, March 7: Check out MM’s funny take-off on Hillary’s faux pas. 
Update IV (3/5 @ 8:15 p.m.): I typically avoid tits-for-tats, but since I blogged about this, I’d better follow through.
A liberal blogger at The Horse’s Mouth blogged what he no doubt considers a “Gotcha” post. He writes:
As you can see, this clip makes it sound like Hillary is adopting not just this drawl, but this language and this down-home grammar, as her own. The righties have been waving this around to prove what a phony Hillary is. This audio was promoted by, among others, PowerlineBlog, Free Republic, Instapundit, and Fox News, which linked to it under the headline, “Will the real Hillary please speak up?”
But as always, a simple fact-check shows this latest wingnut preoccupation to be highly dishonest. The audio clip Drudge linked to cherry-picked that quote and removed it completely from its context, which would have shown that Hillary wasn’t adopting this accent or grammar or language as her own at all.
Rather, it turns out that Hillary was actually quoting the hymn lyrics of someone else – while clearly and very openly imitating (not very well, it turns out) the cadences she thought the lyrics would traditionally have been delivered in. There was nothing phony about it at all.
The emphasis is his own. That’s the “Gotcha!” quote. That’s not a revelation. I noted earlier that Hillary was quoting from a song that used to be sung quite a lot in black churches, “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired.” The blogger at The Horse’s Mouth apparently just discovered this fact. Unlike him, I didn’t need to do a Google search on it…or however he found out.
According to the blogger, right wing bloggers were wrong to call out Hillary because she was simply quoting a song “while clearly and very openly imitating…the cadences she thought the lyrics would traditionally have been delivered in.” BS. I said Hillary was a condescending phony this morning, and she’s still a condescending phony.
I grew up in a black church and visited numerous black churches all my life, and I’ve never heard a choir sing that song the way Hillary drawled it. However, whether she was quoting a song or not, it doesn’t change the fact that she sounded like a pandering idiot. I listened to more audio at Hot Air, where she’s not quoting the song but still affecting a bad southern accent. This is how I responded to the post on the liberal blog (pardon the spelling and grammar errors):
Who cares whether she quoted lyrics - which I recognized and noted on my blog earlier today because [that] song has been sung in black churches for years. I’ve never heard anyone in a black church sing that song in a southern drawl, and I grew up in the south in a black church. The issue is that Hillary affected a bad southern drawl in a black churches (sic), not which song she may or may not have been quoting.I can’t speak for other “right wingers,” but everything I wrote on my blog still stands.
This is why I avoid “blog swarm” blogging. I used to thrive on it. But as I said, since I joined this one, I wanted to set the record straight on my end. The fact that Hillary was quoting a song doesn’t negate the condescending, phony, and bad southern accent or the political preaching in a black church. But who really cares? As long as her constituents aren’t offended…
———————————————————————————
*** Hillary “Miss Scarlett” Clinton photo below, via Mike’s Noise*** By the way, Hillary was quoting from a “Negro” spiritual titled “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired.”
White liberals can be such condescending phonies.
During one of his failed presidential bids, Al Gore was heard “preaching” at an NAACP event, affecting a weird growling cadence that obviously was supposed to be an imitation of a black preaching style. It was stupid, and so was he. Gore and everybody clapping for him sounded like fools.
Now Hillary Clinton is doing the same thing. The audio below apparently was recorded at a black church. Click “Play” and listen to Hillary’s condescending and phony (not to mention awful) southern drawl, one that probably would be more appropriate (or at least sound less stupid) at a southern white church than a black one, actually. Take note of the idiots clapping.
Preach it, Hillary, preach on!
This sort of thing is supremely embarrassing and irritating to me. What is it with black churches and condescending white liberals? A match made in “heaven.”
(Audio source: iFilm)
Update: I found a link to an ABC video. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton “preached” in black churches in Selma, Alabama. There’s only a snippet of audio from each speech, but Obama obviously changed his speech patterns for the black church audience. It would be funny if it weren’t so silly. (More here and here)
Allah at Hot Air (with more “southern” Hillary audio - sickening!) notes a couple of inconsistencies in Obama’s “sermon.” Obama claims that a JFK-sponsored airlift in Africa brought his father to the U.S. and that events in Selma brought together his black father and white mother. Two problems with that: JFK took office two years after Obama Sr. came to the U.S., and Obama Jr. was born four years before the Selma event he referenced.
Others blogging: Sister Toldjah, Right Voices, AA Political Pundit…
Unrelated Update II: This is one reason why I don’t post pics of my niece and nephews. That, and the fact that their parents would kill me. 
Commenter Radish (emphasis added):
I’d like to see how they sound in front of other groups–Asians, Latinos, Arabs. Do they bust out a fake British accent to “build rapport†with English-speaking Indian immigrants, or speed up when talking to the Chinese? Or is this behavior confined to blacks and retired Iowa farmers?
In a laugh-out-loud post, ommenter Dan notes (emphasis added):
It was interesting to me to hear Obama say “dollars†when he spoke in Des Moines, but “dollas†(as in “I don’t care how poor you are, you got five dollas.â€) in Cleveland…I never realized the linguistic gulf between two states (Iowa and Ohio) likely to be confused for one another.
Can people please just talk like themselves for a change?
I miss the days of “Jhengis Khan.†The one thing that Kerry did, no matter what, was drone consistently. I’m afraid we’ve taken a step back.
Commenter Greg writes (emphasis added):
It’s one thing to pick up on the local dialect when you spend a significant amount of time in a part of the country. When I visit family in Michigan I pick up on the dialect very quickly because I’ve been there so many times. (Think the movie Fargo eh?) But to affect an accent because of your audience is sheer folly.
Update III: Check out Hillary “Miss Scarlett” Clinton:
Related posts:
Maybe Goracle and Shrillery should have done a minstrel show instead?
Geez!
Comment by batyah — 03.05.07 @ 8:01 am
Holy smoke and mirrors. How can ANYONE not see through this phony woman?
Comment by redbeard — 03.05.07 @ 8:08 am
Somebody help me recall — who was Hillary pandering to, and what exactly did she say, when she ended the sentence with “… and you know what I mean!”
This fake accent is right up there, and over the top again.
TaterCon
Comment by TaterCon — 03.05.07 @ 8:18 am
I saw a clip on ABC news yesterday of Barack Obama speaking at a black church in Selma, and he also sounded to me like he was not using his “normal” voice.
Comment by Pete — 03.05.07 @ 9:01 am
I think she may have heard a southern accent once or twice when they lived here, but she certainly didn’t master it. I’ve heard a man from China do a better one than that. Believe me, we’re so very sorry that we exported that duo to ya’ll. We didn’t think the joke would go this far…
Comment by circa bellum — 03.05.07 @ 9:02 am
Pete - Do you know if part or all of the speech was captured and uploaded online? I’d love to listen to it.
Readers, if you find it, let me know…
Later… found it:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2922952
Comment by La Shawn — 03.05.07 @ 9:06 am
What a vile, condescending, patronising creature Hillary Clinton is. I can’t even begin to express how angry I am that she thinks that sort of thing is acceptable. And I’m even angrier that it seems to be acceptable - she was getting applauded, not booed, after all.
Ugh.
(The tautology “from where I started from” made me shudder, too, but her poor grammar isn’t the issue here!)
Comment by Lizzie — 03.05.07 @ 9:08 am
Pandering in Selma
Drudge is headlining Hillary’s new Southern twang adopted during a speech in Selma, Alabama to commemorate Bloody Sunday. But even more noteworthy: Obama’s truth-stretching speech the same day. Allah caught two truthy assertions by The Messiah: 1) Hi…
Trackback by Michelle Malkin — 03.05.07 @ 9:28 am
Allah has audio of Hillary’s new accent and video of Obama’s from their pandering campaign stops this past weekend in Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday…
Pingback by Sister Toldjah — 03.05.07 @ 9:43 am
How can we explain the double standard about political activites in churches. I’ve read of several instances where a conservative church gets a not so friendly notice from the IRS if they’re preceived to be discussing politics. How can black churches hold fund raisers (and believe me, they do) and host political speeches without similar IRS treatment? If it’s OK for one side to do it, then it must also be OK for the other side.
Comment by Larry J — 03.05.07 @ 9:49 am
Larry J - Different (read: lower) standards for blacks.
Comment by La Shawn — 03.05.07 @ 9:54 am
Obama’s Mama Inspired By Events In Selma?
Everyone knows that politicians stretch the truth a bit, but Obama goes a bit too far. After all, how is it that Obama’s mama was inspired to get together with his daddy because of what happened in Selma four years later? While Drudge (ht - Michelle M…
Trackback by Hyscience — 03.05.07 @ 9:56 am
To be fair to Obama, he always adjusts his cadences when speaking to a black audience. He admitted as much when asked about it. He did that while in the South Side of Chicago too so it’s nothing new.
The key is not whether or not your cadence is the same in front of all audiences - no politician uses the same cadences in all situations, and every politician feeds off the energy of the particular crowd at that moment - but whether or not your performance sounds legitimate or canned. Neither Obama nor Hillary are Southerners, but Obama - who never lived in the South - came off much more authentically than Hillary, who actually spent a good portion of her life in Arkansas.
Comment by Elrod — 03.05.07 @ 10:34 am
I agree with your statements totally Elrod. I do the same thing. During “working hours” I have a more “professional” sounding cadence (crisp, sharp and short); however, when not at work, I revert back to a more normal–normal for me anyway–method of speaking.
Comment by Jeff Turner — 03.05.07 @ 10:59 am
I have had fun joking over the past several years that when Hillary moved into the White House, the only thing that she lost faster than the Rose Law Firm billing records was her phony Arkansas accent. (listen to the “Stand By Your Man” interview for an example of that classic faux twang)
So in some ways it’s nice to see that she has found it again.
For comedians, this episode should have endless possibilities.
Larry J -
I don’t think that churches should be required to lose their non-profit status if they host prominent political candidates; however, they should be required to register (at least for the applicable fiscal year) as political action committees. That way, their finances would be required to be itemized and reported, just like a standard PAC.
Comment by Mike — 03.05.07 @ 11:02 am
As Camille Paglia wrote years ago, “It was because she was so pampered and coddled by her cooing apologists that Hillary is now disastrously ill-prepared for public life.” When she tries to improvise in front of real people instead of fawning media types she comes across like a joke.
http://cassandra2004.blogspot.com/2007/03/quote-of-day-camille-paglia-hillary.html
Comment by salt1907 — 03.05.07 @ 11:02 am
Hillary’s condescending southern accent won’t get her black votes.
Pingback by African American Political Pundit — 03.05.07 @ 11:05 am
This post is referring specifically to pandering politicians. That is the topic, not “professional” vs. non-work styles of speaking.
My problem with a “black audience” cadence is that it sounds so condescending. I don’t want any politician of any color trying to get my vote to speak to me in a “black” style.
Comment by La Shawn — 03.05.07 @ 11:06 am
You would think as many years as she spent in Arkansas she would have learned a “southern accent.”
Comment by DragonLady — 03.05.07 @ 11:13 am
Sister Hillary
I’m a big fan of La Shawn Barber, in part because she’s not afraid to call a duck a duck.
And Hillary is a duck.
Today LSB calls Hillary to task for affecting a “condescending and phony (not to mention awful) southern drawl” as …
Trackback by Wilfong — 03.05.07 @ 11:25 am
I am not a fan of Obama, but that creep is revolting. Leave the kids out of it!!
Comment by Stella! — 03.05.07 @ 11:31 am
They (Hillary, Obama, William Jefferson Clinton, Al Gore) do this because it works. (Read the first chapter or two of Primary Colors.)
Does that make the audience fools? Who knows? But it sure makes them believers in the old adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
This is the first technique employed by demagogues. It is a time proved effective ruse when used on the willing.
Stomp and shout! Let me hear you say AMEN!
Comment by Heliotrope — 03.05.07 @ 11:39 am
Trackback from MKAnderson
It’s as if they believe if they try hard enough, they can channel Martin Luther King, Jr. However, they are actually channeling John Kerry and his sick Jim Crow rhetoric.
Trackback by MKAnderson — 03.05.07 @ 11:40 am
My problem with a “black audience†cadence is that it sounds so condescending. I don’t want any politician of any color trying to get my vote to speak to me in a “black†style.
I think it’s just an extension of “building rapport the voters.” If they don’t have anything personal in common with the audience, they have to make something up, and speech patterns are easier to fake than life history.
I wonder if they even realize they’re doing it–if it was intentional, they’d hire voice coaches and get it right!
I’d like to see how they sound in front of other groups–Asians, Latinos, Arabs. Do they bust out a fake British accent to “build rapport” with English-speaking Indian immigrants, or speed up when talking to the Chinese? Or is this behavior confined to blacks and retired Iowa farmers? (I always get a kick out of lifetime polititians from New England trying to talk like my Uncle Bud)
Comment by Radish — 03.05.07 @ 11:48 am
Hillary’s “New Yorker” accent: gone with the wind …
Why, shut my mouth y’all. Mizz Hillary’s shaw’nuff a suth’n belle now! I used to joke that when Bill and Hillary first moved into the White House, the only thing that she lost faster than the Rose Law Firm billing
Trackback by Mike's Noise — 03.05.07 @ 12:36 pm
Maybe Obama has been faking all along and couldn’t help himself around his peeps y’all (YEA RIGHT!!)
I actually am disappointed in Hillary. I thought she had more class than that. Sad so sad…..
Comment by Alexander — 03.05.07 @ 12:52 pm
Some people unconsciously pick up accents quickly. This isn’t a case of it, however.
It was interesting to me to hear Obama say “dollars” when he spoke in Des Moines, but “dollas” (as in “I don’t care how poor you are, you got five dollas.”) in Cleveland.
I never realized the linguistic gulf between two states (Iowa and Ohio) likely to be confused for one another.
Can people please just talk like themselves for a change?
I miss the days of “Jhengis Khan.” The one thing that Kerry did, no matter what, was drone consistently. I’m afraid we’ve taken a step back.
Y’all.
Comment by Dan — 03.05.07 @ 12:54 pm
>>Some people unconsciously pick up accents quickly>>
I do this when I talk to someone with a southern or british accent…it’s embarrassing. I don’t mean to mimic them - it just comes out that way.
We were in the car last night and heard the Drudge replay (and replay and replay) of Hillary’s comments…my husband thought the “from where I started from†bit was a quote, and might have been an attempt to replicate the original accent. I think he thought she _couldn’t_ really be saying something with that sound otherwise. I have no idea about that…but it really did sound incredibly fake.
Comment by suek — 03.05.07 @ 1:23 pm
I went through basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood Mo. in the mid 60’s. The only black people that I had met and talked to were African students attending college with me. In my training company there were about 15 or 20 white guys who spoke with the black guys. I was one of them. I was a couple years older than most guys there and one black guy was also a little older and we talked a lot. One day he said to me: “You know what I like about you? You’re the only white guy who doesn’t try to talk like us.” I have the accent so popular on network news these days and would have been uncomfortable trying to mimic the speech of young black men from St. Louis, so I didn’t. It evidently said more than I knew. Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery but everyone, except those in love, knows flattery means somebody wants something.
Comment by Mike O — 03.05.07 @ 1:33 pm
Thanks for the link, LaShawn!
Comment by Mike — 03.05.07 @ 1:41 pm
Dan… re: “The one thing that Kerry did, no matter what, was drone consistently.”
You don’t remember Kerry sauntering around asking, “Is this where ah kin git me a huntin’ license?”
It was hilarious, but he had to get his “bona fides” with the NRA gang :D.
Comment by mamapajamas — 03.05.07 @ 1:43 pm
Not sure what REALLY inspired Obama’s folks to get together, but a movie “The Great Escape” was released shortly before his dad left. Hmmm?
Comment by Norm — 03.05.07 @ 1:48 pm
suek: “…my husband thought the “from where I started from†bit was a quote…”
It WAS a quotation. Which only goes to show St. Hillary should pick her quotations more carefully and not try to imitate the original author’s accent.
I mean… would she quote Otto Bismark using a fake German accent? No? Would she quote Winston Chuchill using a fake British accent? No? Then why this?
I listened to this on Matt the Hat last night, and as someone with a REAL Southern accent, spent my time oscillating between outrage and high hilarity. It must have been something to see… I was rolling on the floor laughing AND spitting nails at the same time! LOL!
Comment by mamapajamas — 03.05.07 @ 1:53 pm
As a trasplanted Rich White Yankee, I have developed an ear for authentic Southern accents.
NOT Kevin Costner in JFK,
And as someone who has attended Southern Black church services, NO WAY Hillary Sounds “Authenticlly Southern”.
Comment by Frank Zavisca — 03.05.07 @ 1:53 pm
Y’all Come Back Now!
At the march later, a woman hoisted a placard into the air, reading “Hillary, you should/could have chosen another day to beg blacks for votes!!!” Jean Jones, 49, had biting words for all white candidates who descend on black churches during campaign…
Trackback by Church and State — 03.05.07 @ 1:53 pm
Off-topic. Discuss that in the CPAC thread. - Admin
Comment by Angel — 03.05.07 @ 1:55 pm
La Shawn Barber wonders: “This sort of thing is supremely embarrassing and irritating to me. What is it with black churches and condescending white liberals? A match made in ‘heaven.
Pingback by Stop The ACLU — 03.05.07 @ 2:00 pm
It’s one thing to pick up on the local dialect when you spend a significant amount of time in a part of the country. When I visit family in Michigan I pick up on the dialect very quickly because I’ve been there so many times. (Think the movie Fargo eh?) But to affect an accent because of your audience is sheer folly. What exactly is in that kool aid?
Comment by Greg Laurich — 03.05.07 @ 2:21 pm
These political performances are about as intellectually honest as acting in black face.
Why don’t the audiences recognize how condescending it is to have a speaker affect regional dialects or cultural communication style? It says, in effect, you’re too stupid to understand, so let me put it in your vernacular. I’s not cute, it’s bigotry.
Comment by Cate — 03.05.07 @ 2:47 pm
Can a politician like Hillary get into trouble for speaking a church? I thought the IRS was going to crack down on these sort of things?
Just curious.
Fred
Comment by Fred Butler — 03.05.07 @ 2:51 pm
Oh yes, Scarlet O’Hara indeed.
Does anyone else get a kind of Hattie McDaniel vibe from Crystal Patterson, Hillary’s blogger ?
During the “Conversation” videos you’d see slave Crystal blogging away, eagerly trying to please, while Hillary barked orders. Hillary couldn’t be bothered to look at the computer herself, or Crystal, while Crystal fed her the questions.
A Czarina and her serfs.
I’ll say one thing for Hillary: If these were slave times, she’d have made a good “Massa” .
Comment by Glamchild — 03.05.07 @ 2:55 pm
Mrs. Clinton was groveling for votes in Selma on Sunday. For the occassion Mrs. Clinton adopted an utterly horrid southern accent. You can listen to the target of La Shawn condescention…
Pingback by Bitsblog — 03.05.07 @ 3:08 pm
I am surprised that the black people were humoring her. I really don’t understand why they like her. My husband is a Virginian, I am a REAL New Yorker from Rochester. (not a fake New Yorker from Chicago!) She was born a high Middle Class white, wasn’t she? She is a lot richer than my family could have ever been - I am more likely to understand the struggles of the poor than she is, my dad was a janitor, my mom a maid & cook and I did the same kind of work before I turned 20!
I would never, never presume to walk up to a southerner and fake a southern accent. I have always had the impression it is a good way to get killed. (there is something insulting about it and being in love with a southerner makes me very defensive of southerners generally!) Sometimes, after 31 years and accent sneaks in when I am talking privately, but it is never intentional. (my husband teases me about it!)But there is something even more troubling in this event. Democrats approve of homosexual marriage, abortion & removing religion from the public forum. I suppose I am to keep it in a jar next to the door? They worry that that the religious right is planning to take over the country! Aren’t these people Baptists? I know there is a disconnection between religious blacks and their politics,conservative in religion and liberal in politics, and all, but isn’t it strange that Baptists would welcome people who approve of things that are definitely anti- Christian? Isn’t it strange that the Mainstream Media isn’t upset that they go to the Churches to ‘preach’ - I thought the Church was the enemy of modern liberalism and that we should not allow our religion to influence our politics!
Comment by Kathy Mary — 03.05.07 @ 3:16 pm
Fred,
That law only applies to conservative churches not liberal ones.
Comment by Greg Laurich — 03.05.07 @ 4:39 pm
Nothing personal, but I’m deleting this comment. It will take the thread down a path I don’t want it to go, and I found the first sentence inappropriate. If you want clarification, e-mail me. - Admin
Comment by Chops — 03.05.07 @ 5:31 pm
Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, Hillary trying to sound southern, ain’t that a hoot??
Comment by TexasFred — 03.05.07 @ 5:32 pm
I have nothing to add, other than to mention that listening to Madonna and her affected phony British accent makes me want to jam chopsticks into my eardrums.
Carry on.
Comment by Carol — 03.05.07 @ 5:38 pm
Can people please just talk like themselves for a change?
Well, most educated blacks are taught to NOT speak “like themselves” in most speeches because common black lingo is so non-standard. The ability to alter your dialect to standard English is a plus.
Comment by Shade — 03.05.07 @ 5:49 pm
Hilly the Hun and the Empty Suit. Another pair of fancy-dressing fancy-talking city slickers trying to appeal to voters they despise as inferior to them.
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi — 03.05.07 @ 6:06 pm
Obama claims that a JFK-sponsored airlift in Africa brought his father to the U.S. and that events in Selma brought together his black father and white mother. Two problems with that: JFK took office two years after Obama Sr. came to the U.S.
I’ve been having an extended discussion over at Hot Air about this, but the short version comes down to this: the airlift in question is sometimes referred to as “The Kennedy Airlift” because the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation (with the assistance of JFK) sponsored it after the State Department refused to do so. All of this happened before JFK became president.
The notion that Obama’s parents decided to have him (conception in 1960) in spite of Selma (1965), however, is indeed a “faux pas.” (Note sneer-quotes.)
Comment by baldilocks — 03.05.07 @ 6:08 pm
Just further evidence that this woman can never make a significant impact in a red state. Her only hope is Ohio or Florida (oh yeah, that’s a southern state too).
On another note I think the Hillary / Obama visit to Selma is a perfect example of style over substance. While the President visited Enterprise, Alabama (just south of Selma) on Saturday to comfort the tornado victims there, the Democratic front-runners were doing their best to retrace Dr. King’s steps. If they truly were as compassionate as they would have us believe they would have gone to Enterprise instead.
Comment by Lee — 03.05.07 @ 7:25 pm
LaShawn Barber has excellent commentary of her own as well as a roundup of other bloggers’ weigh-ins on the visits of the Hildebeast (term coined by Neal Boortz) and He Who Walks on Water (term coined by Teri O’Brien)* to Selma this weekend. Money line: “What is it with black churches and condescending white liberals? A match made in ‘heaven.’”
Pingback by Bent Notes — 03.05.07 @ 7:49 pm
Maybe next time she will appear in black face too?
I am glad to see Hillary exposed for the fake she is, I only wish everyone could see through his.
According to a Georgetown classmate of Bill, Bill also turns on and off the Arkansas hick accent when it suits his purpose and audience.
Face it, the Clintons must think that the majority of people are as dumb and those who are willing to play along with the insulting behavior.
Comment by Changed Life — 03.05.07 @ 8:20 pm
Well, Kiss My Grits
Hillary Clinton’s new found southern accent has made its way across the blogosphere. As an American by birth and a Southerner by the Grace of God, I found it very amusing. (Bless her heart.) It’s always funny when someone tries
Trackback by Degree of Madness — 03.05.07 @ 8:32 pm
Years ago, I was staying in a motel when traveling on business. I was watching late night television because of insomnia.
On the TV was a documentary made about Clinton’s time as governor. It included an interview with Hillary. She spoke in a perfect southern accent the entire interview.
Comment by Jerri Lynn Ward — 03.05.07 @ 8:41 pm
Shade–uh, hello?
Do you realize how racist your comment is? Assuming that a black person will automatically speak “non-standard black lingo” is appalling. It’s not quite as bad as addressing an educated Chinese person in pidgin (”no tickee, no washee”), but it’s close.
As far as Barack Obama is concerned, remember this: he’s an Illinois Democrat. If these are known for their honesty and candor, I haven’t heard about it.
Comment by Trish — 03.05.07 @ 9:03 pm
Amazing. I know about picking up the southern cadence. I am southern through and through and when bunch of my extended family came to visit last weekend, by the end of the weekend you would have thought I had rustled up some mess of an accent!
One day … no. I wonder how her drawl would work with her New York constituents.
Comment by Randy — 03.05.07 @ 9:06 pm
Lee, except for the panhandle, Florida is in no way a ’southern’ state…except geographically. The people, the culture and the atmosphere have nothing in common with other southern states.
Comment by Stacey — 03.05.07 @ 9:20 pm
Hey… Mark Levine just nailed down the Hillary flap…
Remember back in Pres. Clinton’s first term, when our then First Lady did a skit for some event in which she did a take-off on Forrest Gump?
That’s it! Hillary sounded like she was doing her Forrest Gump skit again this weekend!
I was trying to remember what that quotation she did this weekend reminded me of, and THAT was IT!
Comment by mamapajamas — 03.05.07 @ 9:44 pm
I just listened to the audio. Why? Why did I do that when I know that her voice makes my ears bleed?
Comment by Ann — 03.05.07 @ 9:46 pm
Well, I listened to this several times on Drudge’s radio show Sunday night. As a person who lived in the South for several years, including two right in New Orleans, just south of Arkansas, I thought, “Hillary sure is hitting those r’s pretty hard for someone who lived in Arkansas for so long, and the cadence is all off for regular speaking.” I had concluded that something additional was going on . . . it sounded like the audience recognized what she was refering to. So I accept that she was quoting a statement they recognized. No worse than listening to Bush stumble over his Spanish in Texan, by way of Connecticut.
Comment by Marra — 03.05.07 @ 10:06 pm
Shade–uh, hello?
Do you realize how racist your comment is? Assuming that a black person will automatically speak “non-standard black lingo†is appalling.
You must be a liberal. For one, I made no assumptions about what anyone will automatically do. I pointed out the quite observable reality that there is variation in the English dialect predominantly spoken by black Americans. Most educated blacks turn it on and off according to the situation. I know that I do. We were taught that how we address people in a professional setting is different from how you address your peers socially. You can read more on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Vernacular_English
Comment by Shade — 03.05.07 @ 10:27 pm
What’s next on Hillary and Obama’s agenda - Ebonics?
Comment by Dave in AZ — 03.05.07 @ 10:45 pm
Stacey, perhaps that’s your perception. Florida is a southern state. A majority of Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade Counties in South Florida have residents that originated from other states (and countries) but that’s not true of most of the other counties. By the way, I’m a native Floridian.
Comment by Lee — 03.05.07 @ 11:22 pm
I had to check out the liberal blog La Shawn referenced in update IV. They’re having an insane love fest over there, so I felt compelled to share the following thoughts:
Enough with this nonsense about only right wingers giving their own a pass. You know it happens on both sides of the aisle.
The much more important problem here is pandering and condescension toward blacks, a particular specialty among white liberals. Hillary wants to be a savior to the black race, so she stirs up their sense of victimhood with a reference to new voting legislation, tries to relate to them with an old spiritual, then soothes their Christian sensibilities with a quote from Galatians.
Of course right wingers are going to jump on her. She is a woman of questionable integrity at best, and like your friend JJ, she is a victimologist par excellence, profiting off the notion that blacks cannot help themselves. How could it be anything but pandering?
Comment by EW — 03.05.07 @ 11:33 pm
*Check out La Shawn Barber’s Blog for a great perspective on this story.
Pingback by PheistyBlog — 03.05.07 @ 11:37 pm
Hey, ya’ll… Hillary IS married to the “First Black President”. That should give her a little credibility, no? (Note the very, very strong sarcasm.)
Comment by Joey Monson — 03.05.07 @ 11:39 pm
We should hardly fault Hillary for her lack of cadence and authenticity while speaking “southernese” cuz she wouldn’t know “cadence” or “authentic” if they wopped her upside the head.
She speaks with such a lack of inflection (only seemimg to know “loud” and louder”) that her voice is beyond grating even when she is speaking her own language that it is no wonder she flubs up another one. Good thing we have a mute button on the set.
Comment by jan — 03.06.07 @ 9:01 am
Shade, I’m somewhat fluent in conversational Redneckish, because in my business it’s helpful to clearly understand people of that background. But I don’t go around speaking that dialect, because it is a corruption of proper English usage and pronunciation.
Comment by redbeard — 03.06.07 @ 9:12 am
Who wants to wager on who will be the first “Democratic Presidential wannabe” to be interviewed at a Nascar race this season?
“I’ve always been a Yanke…a Junior fan!”
Comment by Doug — 03.06.07 @ 11:42 am
redbeard, what exactly does that have to do with my original point? Someone said “Can people please just talk like themselves for a change?” and I pointed out that when some people are accustomed to speaking non-standard English, it would detrimental for those people to “talk like themselves” in many situations, such as during a job interview. You have to be able to switch to standard English.
You corrupt proper English usage by speaking in such dialects at inappropriate times. Even La Shawn has stated that in relaxed times among family, she will use such “black vernacular”, with emphasis on being able to switch to standard English when appropriate. When my wife and I converse in private, I will speak in the way most comfortable for me. Saying that this corrupts anything is like saying that walking around naked while alone in your bathroom corrupts common decency.
Comment by Shade — 03.06.07 @ 12:30 pm
Here’s something else that kills me about this. Why is it always OK for a liberal to speak in a Church and yet when a conservative candidate does it people go up in flames? I must be dense because I’m not getting it.
As far as different dialects go many people do adopt different speech patterns and dialects depending on the situation and the culture. Corporate culture is different from surfer culture is different from the blogging culture etc etc… The fancy pants term for this is multicultural when it’s done honestly, pandering when it’s not…
Comment by Greg Laurich — 03.06.07 @ 1:02 pm
How does a Liberal confront the bad comments made by Democrats? By saying the comments was a bad attempt at humor.
I thought Blacks were more articulate with the ability to grasp the proper use of the english language.
Comment by dexybet — 03.06.07 @ 2:20 pm
I’m just drawing a comparison, Shade. If a redneck kid manages to get an education and learn proper English, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for him to switch back to speaking an improper version of the language. Along the same lines, it would be highly insulting for that individual to be addressed by a phony-baloney politician who condescendingly feigns a redneck manner of speaking.
Comment by redbeard — 03.06.07 @ 2:34 pm
Hillary and Obama pimping a bloody chapter in the civil rights movement for political gain-SHAMEFUL
Hillary using a fake southern accent to pander to voters -DESPERATE AND PATHETIC
The crowd actually cheering her when she was doing it. STUPID, NIEVE, GULLIBLE
Listening to Hillary sound like complete donkey’s rear end PRICELESS!!
Comment by Tyrone — 03.07.07 @ 12:38 am
HILLAR-Y-OUS!!
Comment by Michele — 03.07.07 @ 4:48 am
That was great.
Sort of like Mike Ditka does Gomer Pyle.
“Guoooley. Da Bayers.”
Comment by Bob — 03.07.07 @ 5:30 am
the fact that she tried to pull off the “sister tongue”, trying to sound southern and/or black, is bad enough. what is worse (and much more embarrassing) is that this black audience actually bought into it.
Comment by Mogul — 03.07.07 @ 7:49 am
Why haven’t I seen this portrayed over and over again on the news? If Bush did something like that, it would be front page news.
Comment by Sharper — 03.07.07 @ 8:07 am
Sharper, your point is well taken. The liberal/leftist media are philosophically opposed to conservatives, so of course any mis-step by them gets full coverage. And conversely, when a darling of the left like Hillary does something silly, mean, or disgusting, the media clean up after her.
Comment by redbeard — 03.07.07 @ 8:35 am