1 Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

2

Him and Jethro Bodine were classmates.

3 Affirmative Action we much.

4 They praise each other for their success in Affirmative Action admissions and placements.

And then refuse to see the much higher than normal failure and dropout rate of these AA admissions.  People who could have done fairly well at a less demanding college, fail at the more prestigious schools.

And it's racism that's to blame.

5 But "he" "wrote" two autobiographies. Hmm.....

6 From the very first speech he gave where he obviously had trouble even tracking the teleprompter I knew this guy wasn't very bright.  Personally I think that's why he was "chosen' by the PTB, namely Fat Ted Kennedy.  From the start Kennedy groomed Obama and supported his candidacy.  I think Kennedy saw his chance to be the man behind the curtain in the WH, to finally get to be President.  He had a willing puppet in Obama, an empty suit he could control.  What's truly delicious irony is that Kennedy didn't live to see any of his plan fufilled.  There is some justice in the world.

7 Is this why Perry's transcripts are important and Barry's aren't?

8 "Affirmative action" might be kewl on a university campus, but out in the real world it's an unmitigated disaster.

9 No, he really is a stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure.

10 That letter is an absolute embarrassment.  No wonder his grades have been hidden (btw my undergrad grades were terrible because I was such an immature fuckup and wouldn't hold it against him; but his shillboys are the ones that are always claiming how fucking smart he is despite there being no evidence of it in any of his actions in the last 3 years).

11 I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.  I mean, thatÂ’s a storybook, man.

12 I'm having racist inclinations again.

Where's my medication?

13

Under water grottos, caverns 
Filled with apes 
That eat figs. 
Stepping on the figs 
That the apes 
Eat, they crunch. 
The apes howl, bare 
Their fangs, dance, 
Tumble in the 
Rushing water, 
Musty, wet pelts 
Glistening in the blue.

14 Now do you believe I'm all over Obama's transcripts?

15 stuttering?  check
clusterfuck?  check
miserable?  check
failure?  check

16 I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.  I mean, thatÂ’s a storybook, man.

Posted by: nickless at August 30, 2011 11:04 AM (MMC8r)

Denzel Washington?

17 And then refuse to see the much higher than normal failure and dropout rate of these AA admissions.

But, you see, for a lot of these fields (I'm looking at you, law school) it doesn't matter because (almost) nobody flunks out.

So, once you're in the club, you get the credential and you're forever a "Harvard Law Grad".

When you apply AA to engineering students or math students or physics students, you end up with a lot of disappointed black and Hispanic and female students graduating with business, or worse, sociology degrees.

18 I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.  I mean, thatÂ’s a storybook, man.

Posted by: nickless at August 30, 2011 11:04 AM (MMC8r)

Denzel Washington?

What am I?  Chopped Liver?

19 you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad. At least it abides by the William Carlos Williams rule that I like, which keeps poems from being horrible -- keep it tangible, talk about real-life nouns, make it simple, let simple words speak for themselves.

20

Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

 

 

21

Did anyone ever step up and give Drew three pieces of evidence that Obama's actually smart?  I'm going to assume no. 

Look, I'll give Obama canny and manipulative, but not smart.  Clinton (oh lord I miss Clinton this is the depths to which the SCOAMF has sent me) may be smarmy as all hell and utterly amoral but at least I believe he has two functioning brain cells.  SCOAMF not so much.

22 I mean, compare that apes poem to the typical undergraduate effort. All undergraduate poetry sucks, almost by definition. At least the apes poem is punchy and short. Now, why apes are living underwater in a grotto I don't know. Maybe it's meant to be a mystery.

23 Posted by: toby928™ at August 30, 2011 11:05 AM (GTbGH)

Lord Byron?

24 Anyone who still defends Affirmative Action needs to be tested for drugs.  Affirmative Action is as immoral as it is ineffective.  It not only promotes the sub-competent, it does so at the expense of the competent. 

Is it any wonder that it encourages exactly Mr. Obama's brand of not-quite-even-mediocre reasoning and rhetoric?

25

But, you see, for a lot of these fields (I'm looking at you, law school) it doesn't matter because (almost) nobody flunks out.

No, but then they can't pass the bar exam.  There's a long simmering controversy about that. 

Yeah, I'll give Obama a pass on the apes poem because I've written far, far worse.  Let's just say I was a spectacularly earnest 20something, okay?

26 Look, I'll give Obama canny and manipulative, but not smart.

That depends on how much he has handlers setting things up for him.  He may not even be canny or manipulative.

27 Ladder of success placed before him, right foot placed on bottom rung, hands on butt pushing him all the way up to the top.  Oh what a man we've placed in higher office the Stuttering Clusterfuck of Miserable Failure is.  

28 So we get to add "illiterate" to stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure?

We have to "understand his personhood," as Ed "Poppin' Fresh" Morrissey has reminded us. Putting the best "in fairness" face on it, I can only conclude that Osama Obama was stoned when he wrote this.

Can't hold that against him. If I were in a position where I was clearly in way over my head and saw a future full of affirmative action promotions ahead, I'd probably want to do a line or ten every once in a while, just to put the stress out of my mind.

After all, there's always a chance that at some point someone would have expected the Chicago Jesus to, you know, do something....

29 Posted by: ace at August 30, 2011 11:09 AM (nj1bB)

They're sea monkeys.

30 8 "Affirmative action" might be kewl on a university campus, but out in the real world it's an unmitigated disaster.

Posted by: Tsar Nicholas II at August 30, 2011 11:03 AM (f8XyF)

Well, in a big company, there's always a 6-figure job with a meaningless title you can shove them into.  Call 'em a "diversity coordinator" and you can probably write it off.

31 you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad.

LOL no; it's absolutely banal and terrible, produced by some shallow dipshit trying to appear insightful and profound.

32 But, he wears the shit out of mom jeans and rides a mean girls bike . . . .

33 hmmm. this poem needs more kennings

34 Look, I'll give Obama canny and manipulative, but not smart.

It's amazing how successful you can be if you have average intelligence and no scruples.

35 Hey Ace. Erick Erickson has just plugged AofSHQ while substitute hosting for Boortz today.

36 16 I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.  I mean, thatÂ’s a storybook, man.

Posted by: nickless at August 30, 2011 11:04 AM (MMC8r)

I quibble with the "articulate" meme and the nice-looking meme. Sorry but I find him neither articulate nor nice looking.

37 you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad.

The first line alone has me in stitches with its stupidity. Under water grottos. Is that supposed to mean something?

38 "No editors on the Review will ever know whether any given editor was selected on the basis of grades, writing competition, or affirmative action, and no editors who were selected with affirmative action in mind." B+ /

39 Posted by: toby928™ at August 30, 2011 11:05 AM (GTbGH)

You know what that poem reminds me of?  The other day I was walking through the half of my back yard we've fenced off for my dog and I wasn't paying enough attention.

That's what that poem reminds me of.

40 No one seems to understand that in many cases affirmative action, especially that practiced by law schools, doesn't just give an bit of an edge to slightly less qualified minority candidates. Too often it gives the whole game away to people who are clearly, obviously unqualified. Of course the individuals who suffer most from this are the genuinely qualified minorities.

41 Now, why apes are living underwater in a grotto I don't know. Maybe it's meant to be a mystery.

Posted by: ace at August 30, 2011 11:09 AM (nj1bB)

Yes.  The famous 'Incomprehensibly Avant Garde' style of poetry.

42 #2 - I bet JEF got to be a "double naught spy" too...He capped Bin Laden you know!

43 He is who he says he is, but no one listens.  (And if they did, and spoke up, they were labeled racists.)  What a racket.

44 Are the apes actually under water, wearing scuba gear or hold their breath for a long time or are there caves under ground under a lake or something. But they are in the water yet they can also howl. Very confusing.

45 Obamas makin me feel pretty special!!!...and smart, too!!!...wheeeeeeee!!!

46 Doesn't Obama have another poem about peeing his pants or something?

47 Under water grottos, caverns Filled with failures Miserable. Stuttering clustering Fifty seven states. The miserable failures, bare of accomplishment, stumble over words Shovel ready jobs. Stuttering clusterfucks of a miserable failure.

48 The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, a style guide, prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. The Bluebook is compiled by the Harvard Law Review Association, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal. Currently, it is in its 19th edition. It is so named because its cover is blue.

49 *waiting for proud jackass to show up and provide us with some half-assed, misleading reasons why Jack Cashill is wrong in his analysis*. 

50
Me are smart too to.

51 But, you see, for a lot of these fields (I'm looking at you, law school) it doesn't matter because (almost) nobody flunks out.

No, but then they can't pass the bar exam.  There's a long simmering controversy about that.

"Harvard Law grads" don't have to actually practice law, you know.

They can get 6-digit jobs as diversity coordinators at public hospitals.

That's pretty funny that they can't pass the bar.  With all the bar prep courses and the fact that the average grad from Directional State University's Law School can more often than not pass it, that's a major problem.

52 >>>But they are in the water yet they can also howl. Very confusing. That's what I'm saying, it makes you *think.*

53 Not really on point, but The Bluebook deals more with forms of citations than with grammar and editting. Ironically, though, it is published and distributed by the Harvard Law Review Association.

54 (I don't think it goes into grammar.  That would be, at best, the Elements of Style).  Or, The Elements of First and Second Grade?)

55 The only good defense I have ever heard for AA was that in most cases, having the very best candidate for a position is not required, but rather that the candidate be competent.  That is, AA should not put people above their capabilities. 

Now, I like the best people getting the placement, but if you are going to argue for AA as a remediation of prior bias, this is the only way to justify it.

56 The illiterate cokehead didn't write "Underwater grottos". He wrote "Under water grottos". What's a water grotto? How do you get under it?

57 Me fail English? That's unpossible.

58 >>>But, you see, for a lot of these fields (I'm looking at you, law school) it doesn't matter because (almost) nobody flunks out. Amish Dude always says this. It's really not true. Some flunk out, many drop out.

59 you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad.

Posted by: ace at August 30, 2011 11:07 AM (nj1bB)

I dunno ace, the topic is insipid and...odd.  Do apes really live in caves "under water grottos?" And do figs crunch? 

Also, the lines:

"That the apes 
Eat, they crunch."

would probably have a sad face next to it in a fifth grade English class.  The verb really shouldn't be the start of a new line.  It's jarring.

60 I think he was more into The Little Red Book than the Bluebook. 

61 >>>Not really on point, but The Bluebook deals more with forms of citations than with grammar and editting. Maybe I'm wrong but I thought an early chapter covered stuff like "Is 'none' singular or plural?"

62 Wait - Ace went to law school?!  Somehow I missed this.

63 aren't the failures stepping on the states they clusterfuck?

64 22 At least the apes poem is punchy and short.
Posted by: ace at August 30, 2011 11:09 AM (nj1bB)

You are so right, ace.
Every time someone springs that poem on me unannounced, I want to punch myself in the face for having read it.

65 Stuttering CF of Miserable Failures

66

Barack Obama is a confident incompentent.

67 Now, I like the best people getting the placement, but if you are going to argue for AA as a remediation of prior bias, this is the only way to justify it.

So, as I understand that line of argument (and I know you don't support it, so I'm not criticizing you), it would, in effect, go like this: Because people 40 years ago refused to hire women and/or minorities, I cannot select the best candidate who will provide me the best value for the salary I'm paying, I have to select the best woman/minority candidate- as long as that candidate is "competent"- even if that woman/minority is far inferior to the best candidate.  Because "fairness."

Sorry, it doesn't sound any more intelligent that way.

68 36 you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad.

The first line alone has me in stitches with its stupidity. Under water grottos. Is that supposed to mean something?

Posted by: Waterhouse at August 30, 2011 11:12 AM (OK/vv)

He probably got the word by reading Playboy.

Poems are poems.  Some people think Maya Angelou is a good poet.  I've written some wretched tripe in my teenage years and sometimes later.  It's just for fun.  If he were publishing books of poetry in a sort of Mao-style, I'd be more mocking, but having written a little bad poetry is the most endearing and human aspect of the man.

69 The SCoaMF is not that smart.  He got into the Ivies with AA but clearly did not apply himself to his studies--learning little because he knew they would advance him.  I also think he had some serious backers.  Like many legacy students, he just partied.  This is evidenced by the fact that off 'prompter, he stutters virtual gibberish with words that sounds good (to him and his worshipers) but is as shallow as a crepe.  He misspeaks often because he makes it up as he goes.  Oh, and he is a lazy fuck as well.  The one or two reports from his legal career (and Law Review) that made it through the asshole presstitute's filters was that he was hardly around and, when around, did little.  That he made it this far--groomed or not--simply befuddles me.

70 I can't believe this guy is president for another 16 months.

71 proof that illegal aliens need to learn the language

72 Perhaps monkeys can howl underwater. If say a gorilla took a deep breath, could it let out a howl underwater? Also how can their pelts musty while they are still on the ape? Your fur cannot mould while alive.

73

"and no editors who were selected with affirmative action in mind."

That sentence made my head hurt.  It's not like there was just a word missing - the whole structure made it hard to figure out what he even meant.

74 Doesn't Obama have another poem about peeing his pants or something?

Pop

Sitting in his seat, a seat broad and broken
In, sprinkled with ashes,
Pop switches channels, takes another
Shot of Seagrams, neat, and asks
What to do with me, a green young man
Who fails to consider the
Flim and flam of the world, since
Things have been easy for me;
I stare hard at his face, a stare
That deflects off his brow;
IÂ’m sure heÂ’s unaware of his
Dark, watery eyes, that
Glance in different directions,
And his slow, unwelcome twitches,
Fail to pass.
I listen, nod,
Listen, open, till I cling to his pale,
Beige T-shirt, yelling,
Yelling in his ears, that hang
With heavy lobes, but heÂ’s still telling
His joke, so I ask why
HeÂ’s so unhappy, to which he replies...
But I donÂ’t care anymore, cause
He took too damn long, and from
Under my seat, I pull out the
Mirror IÂ’ve been saving; IÂ’m laughing,
Laughing loud, the blood rushing from his face
To mine, as he grows small,
A spot in my brain, something
That may be squeezed out, like a
Watermelon seed between
Two fingers.

Pop takes another shot, neat,
Points out the same amber
Stain on his shorts that IÂ’ve got on mine, and
Makes me smell his smell, coming
From me; he switches channels, recites an old poem
He wrote before his mother died,
Stands, shouts, and asks
For a hug, as I shink, my
Arms barely reaching around
His thick, oily neck, and his broad back; ‘cause
I see my face, framed within
PopÂ’s black-framed glasses
And know heÂ’s laughing too.

75 Chris Rock has this argument. He says in baseball, a tie goes to the runner, because it's so hard to get to first base. So his argument is that Affirmative Action is justified, because it's hard for a black guy to achieve in America (given racism and then subsequent impediments), so a tie should go to the runner. I agree with that. The problem is we're not talking about "Ties" in most cases. I think 90% of employers or admissions officers would give a tie to the minority, even without a legal requirement to do so. Very often we are not talking about ties, but the ball beating the runner by thee seconds. If AA were just applied in on-the-bubble situations, I don't think it would be terribly controversial. But we've seen what admissions officers actually do, and I think at some schools (was it Michigan?) an applicants' race counts for more than his grades or his SAT scores. That is not a "tie goes to the runner" sort of rule.

76 testing...

77 When I was young Americans would glow with pride that our country was one in which anyone could grow up to be President. But then a whole bunch of us decided to take that literally...

78 No, the apes poem is a finalist for the worst poetry in the universe.

To quote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

Vorgon poetry is of course the third worst in the Universe. The second worst is that of the Azgoths of Kria. During a recitation by their Poet Master Grunthos the Flatulent of his poem "Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I Found in My Armpit One Midsummer Morning" four of his audience died of internal hemorrhaging, and the President of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived by gnawing one of his own legs off. Grunthos is reported to have been "disappointed" by the poem's reception, and was about to embark on a reading of his twelve-book epic entitled My Favorite Bathtime Gurgles when his own major intestine, in a desperate attempt to save life and civilization, leaped straight up through his neck and throttled his brain.
The very worst poetry of all was written by a clean, good-looking man of color elected President of the former colonies of Britain.
------------------------
I may have adjusted that last part a bit.

79 39 You know what that poem reminds me of?  The other day I was walking through the half of my back yard we've fenced off for my dog and I wasn't paying enough attention.
That's what that poem reminds me of.
Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at August 30, 2011 11:13 AM (8y9MW)

So it's a metaphor ... a deep metaphor ... a deep, squishies between the toes metaphor? Amitrite?

80 He also can't seem to get the plural/singular noun-verb agreement write in multiple whiffs at the ball. At law review during my years you got a Little Blue Book. I forget who published it -- maybe MLA? Not sure. But that little book contained the proper rules to correct all of the little errors people make while writing. Subject-verb agreement is a white-male-Eurocentric-patriarchal construct. Insisting upon it is, well, you know. Just start denouncing yourself now, we will let you know when you have been abject enough.

81 Okay, that's weird.  I posted a comment twice, and it hasn't shown up, but obviously I'm not actually blocked.  Weird.

In any case, Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

82

would probably have a sad face next to it in a fifth grade English class.  The verb really shouldn't be the start of a new line.  It's jarring.

It also makes the apes sound as if they themselves are crunchy.

83 "No editors on the Review will ever know whether any given editor was selected on the basis of grades, writing competition, or affirmative action, and no editors who were selected with affirmative action in mind."

This is pitiful. Harvard Law Review, and you can't even successfully edit your own work? I'm a technical writer, and I have to constantly edit my work. I'm pretty sure if I were "smart" enough to be at Harvard, I would have caught this mistake (or not even made it in the first place).

Unless I wasn't smart enough...

84 Under water grottos, caverns 
Filled with apes 
That eat figs. 
Stepping on the figs 
That the apes 
Eat, they crunch. 
The apes howl, bare 
Their fangs, dance, 
Tumble in the 
Rushing water, 
Musty, wet pelts 
Glistening in the blue.
Kill my landlord,
Kill my landlord.
C-I-L-L my land-lord.

85 There actually is a Red Book for law editing, written by a law professor at the University of Texas. Both that and the Blue Book are required at the Journal of Corporation Law, where I wrote.

86 Hannity had some guy on last night asking if Obama is so smart where is the proof and all the clown would say was, Well he was president of the Harvard Law Review. Over and over and over again. Liberalism appears to be repeating mantras long enough until enough people believe the nonsense

87 That's pretty funny that they can't pass the bar.  With all the bar prep courses and the fact that the average grad from Directional State University's Law School can more often than not pass it, that's a major problem.

Heh. My current boss went to Harvard Law and won't shut up about it. Which might mean something, if his job had anything to do with law. Too bad "Accountability Officer" has nothing to do with law, and everything to do with research and statistics, of which he has little to no training.

88 74 Doesn't Obama have another poem about peeing his pants or something?

Pop

Frank Marshall Davis?

89

What happens to an affrimative action president?

Does it dry up
like a union worker voluntarily paying dues?
Or fester like a jobs program--
And then run?
Does it stink like Helen Thoma's Vagina 
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it stutter, clusterfukerly like a failure?

90 Posted by: No Whining at August 30, 2011 11:24 AM (HmCnI)

Well, I was smart enough to have my shoes on, but yes.

91 47 Posted by: ace at August 30, 2011 11:16 AM (nj1bB)

Thanks, ace.
Now I have bacon up my nose from trying to stop laughing here at work.

92

I thought Barak's communist mommy was getting him up early in the morning in Indonesia and tutoring him? Did she ignore verb tenses? Or did they just ignore them at the Punahole school? Or Occidental? Or Columbia? Or Harvard?

Seriously, to miss basic grammar after all that? You would have to be a fucking idiot not just AA.

93 Forgot to add that I was eating a sammich at the time ...

94 "you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad." No. The imagery is asinine, the poem dumb. Compare it to Red Wheelbarrow, even, or Queen Anne's Lace, ugh, no comparison, really. Although it sure as hell beats mindthoughts and soulpatterns... And Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterfuck of miserable failure.

95
Notable former HLR Editors:
Elliot Spitzer
Alger Hiss
Elena Kagan
Jeffrey Toobin

96 Posted by: dagny at August 30, 2011 11:27 AM (zrSw4)

Actually, it reads like someone whose first language isn't English.

Just sayin'

97 Posted by: Rex Harrison's Hat at August 30, 2011 11:28 AM (4136b)

Well there's a "Who's Who."

98 having written a little bad poetry is the most endearing and human aspect of the man.

Posted by: AmishDude at August 30, 2011 11:21 AM (73tyQ)

Wait, has the SCoaMF addressed this before and owned up to it being horrible sub-doggerel that young people produce when forced in school to do something they don't have an aptitude for?  Because that would be refreshingly honest for somebody who has an outlandishly overrated view of his own capabilities.

99 Did she ignore verb tenses? Or did they just ignore them at the Punahole school? Or Occidental? Or Columbia? Or Harvard?

His book that he allegedly wrote says he was "enthusiastically" into drugs from roughly his junior year of high school through at least Columbia.

100

101 Releasing that letter is nothing more than an attempted virtual lynching of Obama, straight up. Why do you want to bring back slavery, ace?

102 I thought Barak's communist mommy was getting him up early in the morning in Indonesia and tutoring him? Did she ignore verb tenses? Which part of " white-male-Eurocentric-patriarchal" did you fail to understand?

103 >>> Compare it to Red Wheelbarrow, even, or Queen Anne's Lace, ugh, no comparison, really. Oh but I'm NOT comparing it to those, for crying out loud. I'm comparing it to the usual sophomore Creative Writing poem.

104 Ace's poetry is perfectly understandable...but then English apparently isn't my first language.

105 Every-time somebody brings up that all his college stuff totally buried, it should be mentioned that a lady named Elena Klagan from Harvard was responsible for burying those.

Don't at least some leftists find this kind of thing disgusting from their own?

106 Well there's a "Who's Who."

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at August 30, 2011 11:29 AM (8y9MW)

You ain't kidding.  Hey, did you know Client #9 claims to have aced his LSAT?  Wikipedia told me so.

107 Ode to a Goldfish - Gyles Brandreth Oh wet pet. Now that's poetry.

108 On the one hand, I've edited for lawyers and they tend to be indifferent writers, mostly because they're in a hurry. The bad ones are very, very bad, to the point of unreadability; the good ones are pretty good, but they're dealing with technical material and it can be only so good. On the other hand, getting on the law review is supposed to be an honor and an indication that you know the english language. Obama was the president of the HLR, yet wrote almost nothing. So what does that say about his genius?

109 writing is racist. Srsly though, the NYT's article from 1992 basically says that Oblamer got his position as a result of AA.

110 Obama = Barney Fife

111

He also can't seem to get the plural/singular noun-verb agreement write in multiple whiffs at the ball.

 

Spelling correct won't catch this...but everyone who reads it will.

112 Look, I have a stunningly good looking ad/hd son who has either been chasing a ball, a girl or looking in the mirror his whole life. He's in college, barely, and is still enthusiastically chasing skirts, booze, and ways to relax. He has never read a book (this is supposed to insult me) but he doesn't make these kinds of grammatical errors in the papers he sends home for me to edit and rewrite. He is apparently more qualified to be president than Obama---and he's had a girlfriend.

113 Perhaps you used Strunk & White's Elements of Style.  My first copy had a red cover.  The current editions have a silver cover.

114 Obama = Barney Fife

No.  Barney Fife was well meaning and loveable.

115 Obama is smart because he is a Democrat.  That's it.

116 "I'm comparing it to the usual sophomore Creative Writing poem." I'll give you that, but, hell, finding poetry that's just bad in creative writing is like finding week-old anchovie pizza in a dumpster. It looks good because everything else is rancid.

117 Posted by: toby928™ at August 30, 2011 11:23 AM

Okay, Tobe, now you've gone too far.

Tell me SCoaMF didn't write this. Please, I'm beggin' ya.

I can accept that he wrote the "apes in underwater grottoes" (or whatever the fuck it is) doggerel, but this one comes from too far down the evolutionary chain to be real.

Don't make me read Osama Obama's books to find it. I'm all out of brain bleach.

118 I'm just sayin', I know I had to write poems in high school and college, and I would *NOT* want them counted against me, because they were awful, and mine were actually "eh" for an undergraduate. i've read worse.

119 58 >>>But, you see, for a lot of these fields (I'm looking at you, law school) it doesn't matter because (almost) nobody flunks out.

Amish Dude always says this. It's really not true.

Some flunk out, many drop out.

Posted by: ace at August 30, 2011 11:19 AM (nj1bB)

I'm comparing it to graduate school in the sciences where, say, a dozen start the program and if it's a great class, 3 graduate with a Ph.D. in 5 years or less.  Another 2 will take more time and the rest will either drop out or get the consolation Master's.

Hell, why not compare it to an undergraduate program?

From Harvard's own website: "Harvard [law school] graduates 97 percent of its students, among the very highest graduation rates in the nation. We are certain that everyone admitted to Harvard has the ability to complete all academic requirements successfully."

BTW, you know why it took so long to reply, Ace?  Because there's almost no information on graduation rates from law school.  You know why?  Because it isn't a factor.  Nobody who gets into law school has any expectation of not graduating.  I have no hard info other than HLS, but from some anecdotal stuff that came from an old Volkoh thread, that number is pretty much de rigeur for anything resembling an elite law school.

120 You learn verb agreement in middle school. I don't want to hear that lawyers are busy. It should be completely automatic at that point.

121 No.  Barney Fife was well meaning and loveable.

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at August 30, 2011 11:35 AM (8y9MW)

And tried to enforce all laws equally.

122 Barney Fife was well meaning and loveable.

For the independent vote, I can go with the fiction that Obama too is well meaning and loveable, you just don't want him to be Sheriff.

123

Let's be fair.  The SCOAMF's inability to write basic English in this letter wasn't necessarily because he was a coddled brat who'd been given everything on a silver platter his whole life and had thus been given a spot on the Harvard Law Review without actually earning that privilege.  Nor does it indicate that the benefits of affirmative action were to blame for placing a stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure in a position of respect and importance for which he was clearly unprepared.  It's unfair to accuse Obama of such chicanery based on one writing sample. 

After all, I'd like to see anyone here compose a coherent letter while high as a kite on a few lines of blow with a fat joint hanging from your bottom lip. 

So there.

 

124 The Chicago Manual of Style is a wonderful reference. I use it often.

That being said, these grammar concepts are usually mastered by the third or fourth grade. They certainly shouldn't find their way into a Harvard Law Review publication.

125 Obama is smart because he is a Democrat.  That's it.

There is truth, here.

If, by "smart" you mean "functionally intelligent," then I've seen no evidence that Barack Obama, who is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure, is smart.  If, however, you mean "knows how to get ahead," then, of course, Barack Obama, who is still a SCOAMF, is very smart.

126 I am one of them that they vote for for Law Review President. Just face its, I is cut outs to be the presidents.

127 All your affirmative actions are belong to us.

128 33 hmmm. this poem needs more kennings
________

What? More frequently kenning?

129 i've read worse.

That doesn't change the fact that Barky's is fucking nonsense.

130 "At any rate, there would be some book issued (or required for purchase, rather) that would cover basics of grammar."

Yeah, it is called 4 years of GRAMMAR school, then middle school then high school. 

131 The media has told the tale of Obama's brilliance based on two main data points: That he was on the Law Review at Harvard (and was elected President, but that is usually strongly influenced by popularity), and that he wrote the "brilliant" Dreams from My Father.

Already forgetting his fraudulent "Constitutional Scholar" revising his guest appearance as the ACORN grassroot activist into a University of Chicago Law Professorship. Obama's specialization: ignore the Constitution, ignore contract law, ignore rule of law.

And the enabling device is AA, back to the drawing board.

132 May I add:   Obama is smart because he is a racist Keynesian Democrat.    BIRM

133 Where's the latest iteration of Palin Steele?  He was bringin' the proof on the GEEENYUS of OBAMA recently...

134 It's an odd mix of Funny and Pathetic to watch people like ace twist themselves into knots trying to NOT realize and admit that Obama is clever but unintelligent, good at imitating but unoriginal in his thinking, with little or no intrinsic creative intelligence ( the type of intelligence that crafts and creates meaningful and useful ideas ad things )

Is he dumb?  No.  Is he smart?  No.  Obama drifts in between, a floating leech who's good at spotting a useful idea and latching onto it. 

He's like a salesman who can recognize a good pitch--and repeat endless variations of it while trying to Close..

.  Because you gotta ALWAYS BE CLOSING

135 Ace,
I have edited many an academic paper, and every journal states the style manual that it uses. If they don't, you use Chicago Manual of Style, which contains all information necessary on subject/verb agreement, etc. Harvard LR does use Bluebook for citations.
http://tinyurl.com/3bgmqsp

I would have sent this letter back to him for extensive corrections. To be fair, most kids today do not even know there is such a thing as subject/verb agreement. All they have learned at school is that Jefferson owned slaves and slept with one of them.

136
"Okay, we got a president who‘s got about a 160 IQ.  He can move fast... he can adapt."

-Chris Shitforbrains Matthews
June, 2011

137

Posted by: ace at August 30, 2011 11:16 AM (nj1bB)

That is genius.

Oh.  God.  The Bluebook.  Oh the hate, the hatey hate of white hot hateness for clown spiders I have for The Bluebook.  I once had to teach citation format using that wretched thing and hatey hate mchate. 

On the one hand, I've edited for lawyers and they tend to be indifferent writers, mostly because they're in a hurry. The bad ones are very, very bad, to the point of unreadability; the good ones are pretty good, but they're dealing with technical material and it can be only so good.

I have one litmus test for judges:  Can you pass an eighth grade grammar test? 

As someone who has had to write extensively about mind numbingly boring things, it is true that there is only so much that you can do.  You have fun in the footnotes, like the time when the other side was trying to claim we provided a report late when we provided it a day in advance of the deadline and I put in a footnote that our response was premised on an assumption that we were not moving at greater than light speeds or that we had not otherwise encountered a time space anomaly thus resulting in a temporal loop making the eve of the deadline equate to other than prior to the deadline.  The other side was livid but the judge thought it was hilarious. 

138 I don't think they're right, but I could be wrong

No, you're right. No grammar in the BB.

In any case, you don't need a law degree or a bluebook. You just need elementary school to avoid the simple errors he made.

So where's that donkeypunch guy....

139 For what it's worth, I think there are probably lots of people who are smart who are not good writers.

King Putt is not one of them.

140 I conjugated a girl once.

141

Under water grottos, caverns 
Filled with apes 
That eat figs. 

Obvously air filled cave open to the surface (fig supply) at one end and the water via sunlit subterranian pools.  The apes feel safe in the caves with a ready supply of food.

Stepping on the figs 
That the apes 
Eat, they crunch. 

Apes are sloppy eaters

 
The apes howl, bare 
Their fangs, dance, 

Stepping on sharp crunchy fig residue they hop around.

Tumble in the 
Rushing water, 
Musty, wet pelts 
Glistening in the blue.

They hop around and fall into the pools, which are lit by sunlight filtering down thru their seaward passage turning the water blue and reflecting on the grotto walls.  Wet apes smell. 

See, perfectly understandable.

 

142 Be that as it may, we are not all rocket scientists whereas pursuant to human nature one may want to believe he is as such. Literally, at the end of the day we are all God's children and it is what it is.

143
Stop hatin on Obama

He is the most powerful writer since Orange Julius.

144 ...and his 'poetry' is shit; you beclown yourself by not admitting that

145 ... and I liked it

146
"This is the first president that actually writes his own books since Teddy Roosevelt and arguably the first to write them really well since Lincoln. If you accept the premise, and I do, that the United States is the most powerful country in the world, then Barack Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar."

-Rocco Landesman, NEA chairman
2009

147 I put Obama's IQ at about 110. Slightly above the average dipshit, but certainly nothing to brag about. Definitely not elite.

148

You learn verb agreement in middle school. I don't want to hear that lawyers are busy. It should be completely automatic at that point.

 

Not in Indonesia, you don't.

149 Thank God for over-educated doofuses who canÂ’t write; without them, those of us who write for a living would be much poorer.

150 137
"Okay, we got a president who‘s got about a 160 IQ.  He can move fast... he can adapt."
-Chris Shitforbrains Matthews
June, 2011
Posted by: Soothsayer at August 30, 2011 11:40 AM (sqkOB)

But he cannot improvise and overcome, can he?
No long, languorous showers while swapping spit for you two, Tingles.

151 Heh. My current boss went to Harvard Law and won't shut up about it. Which might mean something, if his job had anything to do with law. Too bad "Accountability Officer" has nothing to do with law, and everything to do with research and statistics, of which he has little to no training.

Posted by: taylork at August 30, 2011 11:25 AM (5wsU9)

I went to a perfectly ordinary suburban Pennsyltucky high school with a graduating class of around 225.  I knew a woman who went to HLS.  She was a smart enough and perfectly nice person, but she didn't rank in the top 3 in the class.  And none of the top 3 is exactly competing for Nobel prizes in physics.

152 GET YOUR STINKIN' PAWS OFF MY FIGS, YOU DAMN DIRTY APES!

153 Also how can their pelts musty while they are still on the ape? Your fur cannot mould while alive.

Posted by: dagny at August 30, 2011 11:22 AM (zrSw4)

You obviously haven't hung out with us.

154

This is the weird double-standard liberals impose for discussing Affirmative Action. They proudly proclaim how effective it is in promoting minorities who otherwise might have not gotten a job or gotten into a school (or got a very high honor at a school, like law review). They praise each other for their success in Affirmative Action admissions and placements. But the moment a conservative tries to say pretty much the damn same thing, they shout "racism!"

I've had this debate with liberals for years. They essentially want need to believe that a policy of choosing one job applicant over another based on race does not result in...people denied jobs based on their race.

I've had to walk them through the concept that a finite number of jobs being awarded on race, not merit, has the expected result.

Basically, if you were denied a job based on AA, as I was, you don't exist.

155 So what if my auntie and uncle have been order deported, he and she is family and I love they.

156 Welcome to the Affirmative Action Economy.

157 crunchy figs, they grow
in underwater grottos
aqua buddah weeps

158 Tell me SCoaMF didn't write this. Please, I'm beggin' ya.

It's the Newyorker, so take it for what it's worth.

Primary Sources Two Poems by Barack Obama July 2, 2007

159
Don't forget, everyone:

Next week we need to act with a "heightened sense of urgency" on the economy.
Until then just chill.

160 lived near a college when growing up and, thus, knew many students who related horror stories about paper-writing.  this was before widespread use of the word processor and personal computer so many students really had to work hard to edit and then type their papers.  the stories i heard described the majority of professors as giving a maximum of C on papers with grammatical errors and automatic failing grades for papers with misspellings.  some of these stories may have been exaggerated slightly, but i don't doubt that some of them were completely accurate.  and this wasn't even at an exclusive, world-renown college.  i simply can't imagine that someone writing a rebuttal on one of the the university's, law review's, and personal conviction's most significant approach to the way the world is viewed would be this careless or lazy.  this is a matter of gross incompetence in communication at an ivy-league university of great historical and world importance, and i can't imagine that this man achieved anything grand or intellectual while in school when recognizing my experience, though not vast, and this writing sample.

161 158 Welcome to the Affirmative Action Economy.

Posted by: al-Cicero, Tea Party Jihadist at August 30, 2011 11:46 AM (ehEyA)

Sucks we much equally

162 I bet his stuff is still better than the random jumble of words that Michelle submitted as her Princeton thesis.

163

Pop takes another shot, neat,

Points out the same amber

Stain on his shorts that IÂ’ve got on mine, and

Makes me smell his smell

Gay pride?

164

Also how can their pelts musty

 

Oh, it can happen.  Best to just pull it out by the roots and start over, because you'll never get that smell out of the carpet.

 

165 Lay off Michelle. She aren't handleing be first lady stuff much well. She have jet lag ever since I were elected.

166 Yeah, it is was called 4 years of GRAMMAR school, then middle school then high school. -- Stephana

...Now elementary, middle and high school graduate illiterates who can't perform basic arithmetic, either.

This week's local morning FOX news featured another bleeding heart liberal seeking tax funding for her pet project for school children (not physically impaired, not dyslexic) who've failed to develop motor skills sufficient to hold a pencil and therefore take too long to write anything by hand. And of course, the news commentary ended with the "need" for yellow paper with raised lines and margins for these children who refuse to hold a writing utensil and manually print. The final nail in the coffin was to surmise that aside from tossing out cursive handwriting from curriculum, simply teach keyboarding, and out-mode handwriting all together from curriculum since it's "too hard".

167 126 Obama is smart because he is a Democrat.  That's it.

There is truth, here.

If, by "smart" you mean "functionally intelligent," then I've seen no evidence that Barack Obama, who is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure, is smart.  If, however, you mean "knows how to get ahead," then, of course, Barack Obama, who is still a SCOAMF, is very smart.

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at August 30, 2011 11:37 AM (8y9MW)

The term of art is bien pensants.

Roughly, it means "good thoughts".  It refers to having the right philosophy or politics.

168 Me write gud.  As Presnident of Hardvard Law Refew, me will help yu write gud, too.

169 My urgency
It
Heightens
Young womyn
It
Frightens
Can't we
Be like
Noun and verb
And agree
That agreement
In tense
Is
Raaaaacist?

170 If he were White ( all White ), Obama would be getting coffee for Clinton

171 164 I bet his stuff is still better than the random jumble of words that Michelle submitted as her Princeton thesis.

Posted by: joeindc44 at August 30, 2011 11:47 AM (QxSug)

I'm sure it sounds beautiful in its original Klingon

172

>>>"This is the first president that actually writes his own books since Teddy Roosevelt and arguably the first to write them really well since Lincoln. If you accept the premise, and I do, that the United States is the most powerful country in the world, then Barack Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar."

Give unto Obama what is the taxpayers.

173 Posted by: SantaRosaStan at August 30, 2011 11:49 AM (UqKQV)

If he weren't a minority, Barack Obama would be the guy who works at McDonald's but isn't given any jobs that require interaction with other human beings, or with their food.  You know, that weird guy you see walking around with the mop and bucket who seems to exist only to walk around with a mop and bucket.

174 Speaking of da one...

He is speaking now at the American Legion Annual Conference

175 Barry is cunning, maybe.  Smart, not so much.

176 When I was in college in the early 70's the AA students served up word salad during most discussions that they always insisted on dominating.  Being from a small town with a crack the whip English teacher, I noticed, but thought it was me. It wasn't.

177 The little grammar handbook might be Strunk & White.

178 I put Obama's IQ at about 110. 

Posted by: Warden at August 30, 2011 11:43 AM (KulgD)

 

If I'm standing to Warden's Right, and I'm the last to go... I'm guessing 1, Bob.

179 Let he is without sin, throw the first Hiaku.

180

Posted by: matt at August 30, 2011 11:46 AM (nxTmu)

Knock it off, Biden.

181

The "Blue Book" is actually entitled something like "The Harvard Uniform System of Citation".  It's been published in various iterations over the years.

I used mine when I was an editor on The California Law Review at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall Law School in the late 1960's. 

One thing that Ace did not mention--and maybe things have changed since the 1960's.  All of our editor's "graded on"--the Review simply took the top 12% or so of students based on grades at the end of your first year in law school.  None of this "writing on" or affirmative action crapola.  If you made the grades you were invited to be  on the Review.  If you didn't--you didn't get invited.

And there was a second requirement.  During your second year of law school you had to write either two "case notes" analyzing a single case, or one "comment".  The work had to be of publishable quality. Like a PhD thesis, a comment was supposed to contribute something new to legal knowledge.  Comments were published with the student author's name.   Case notes were published without the author's name. You can be damned sure that the Editor in Chief selected from my class on the Review wrote a published comment.

Now I've heard--just last night--some Democrat ninnies saying "He was PRESIDENT OF THE HARVARD LAW REVIEW"  as an argument that he was smart.   But what I find peculiar is that there is no record of The Bamster every writing anything that got published in the Harvard Law Review.

Out here on the West Coast Stanford Law and Boalt Hall are as prestigious as Harvard and Yale on the East Coast.   It's clear that The Bamster wouldn't have been named editor  in chief on either one of those school's law reviews--unless he was an Affirmative Action kiddie.    It appears to me that The Bamster "President of the Harvard Law Review" is all legal hat and no intellectual cattle.

 

 

182 I feel like squishy independents are starting to catch on.  Since the media sold him as an unparalleled genius and it's painfully obvious that he's not, Obama can't recover those that are abandoning him.  I think his collapsing poll numbers are different in that regard.

183 Posted by: dogfish at August 30, 2011 11:52 AM (NuPNl)

Paradoxical statement.  Haiku is sin, after all.

184 Thank God for over-educated doofuses who canÂ’t write; without them, those of us who write for a living would be much poorer. Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at August 30, 2011 11:43 AM

That would be true, but ONLY if the general public (a group I suspect will soon be communicating exclusively in grunts and pictograms) could tell the difference.

When I first started writing professionally, editors (and a few readers who cared) appreciated the clarity and literacy of my work. I put a great deal of time and effort into it.

Today, the primary thing editors want to know is: "Will you write a 1500-word article for $5.00?" And readers seem most interested in pictures and links to other articles.

185 Actually, it reads like someone whose first language isn't English.

Just sayin'

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at August 30, 2011 11:28 AM (8y9MW)

My first language isn't English. But, when I write formal letters, or in job interviews, or having discussions, I try to keep it simple to avoid putting up big words that might be wrong. Plus I don't want to sound pretentious.

When Scoamf gives speeches he likes to throw big words around. And since I have to listen more carefull than a natural english speaker I usually catch the disjointed bullshit he is spewing when he is off TOTUS.

186
I don't know what will come from it, but people up here in MA are digging into Uncle Ubungo's voting record, if he has one.

187 Here's my question.  I realize that Bammy was president of the Law Review when he wrote this, and that, as Ace described, editors of the Law Review really are editors.  But even if you're the tippity-top editor - or president of the Review - wouldn't it be reasonable to request one of your fellow editors read over your work?  Everyone makes mistakes; even actual geniuses will sometimes accidentally insert a comma where they should put a colon.  Every job I've ever had has stressed that, when writing something for mass consumption, the writer should have at least one other person read through the item for clarity, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc., before distribution.  Is that just not done at the Ivies?  Because if not, it should be.  And if it is done, then either whoever read the SCOAMF's letter did a piss poor job of it, or Jugears McBarkledom bypassed that step and put his letter right into the Review without, well, review, because he's that convinced his shit doesn't stink.

188 Grammar is racist.

189 #@#$^%%^  farging, can't. even. type. 

..he, WHO is...

190 Can you imagine the utter dismay of the faculty and alums as they read that piece of garbage?  Even worse, they knew they could not say one word about it else they be accused of "picking on the black boy".. God in heaven, save us!

191 Hey, the asshole unexpectedly cannot write!


So maybe he decided to marry someone who can?  Like, write?

The scales will never fall away from the eyes of the thirty-eighters, and the twelvers, if that is the percentage of blacks, have their eyelids permanently stitched shut.

192

well you get what you pay for..and since he didn't pay for an education...he didn't get one...........

193 You know Ya'll............"I believe Obama is dumber than hog's tit just before slaughtering".

194
ALSO: they are looking at Uncle Ubango's ss# to see if it similar to Obama's CT ss#.

195 stuttering cluster
fuck of a miserable
failure - now blow me

196 Crack dealers are smart Excellent at selling crack Obama knows shit

197 that weird guy you see walking around with the mop and bucket who seems to exist only to walk around with a mop and bucket.

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at August 30, 2011 11:51 AM (8y9MW)

No, I credit Obama with a fundamentally amoral, semi-socio-pathic cleverness combined with ambition that would have gotten him into the 'public sector' / political action sphere--and pushed him up a ways

He would be a community organizer, good at recognizing useful slogans and bumper sticker phrases:  He'd be perpetually useful to better men, a toady who could kiss their ass while serving up re-packaged ideas and schemes

198 and today is THE BEST!!!!!! MY ARM LOAN ADJUSTED AND IT FREAKING WENT DOWN BY 50%  YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!

199 by Kenneth Koch

200

Did he not learn the rules of verb-subject agreement that second year as an editor, at least?

Are this rule that important?

201 There is always room for self-improvement, Obama.  Let me help you out, so that in the future, your communications won't look like they originated from a stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure. 

Verb-subject agreement game. 

202 Times have changed. Now when the liberals trot out the Republicans-are-stupid meme, there is push back in the form of Obama-is-stupid. That push back was not there in 2008. I expect to see a lot of this discussion in the next fifteen months.

There are many forms of intelligence. Obama does not have the talent to be a successful president, but he is one of the most brilliant con men ever. I thought John Edwards was a good con man with his ability to snag the VP slot in 2004, but that was nothing compared to Obama and 2008.

203 Law review?

I'll give it four stars.

Now who's got the bong?

204

He would be a community organizer, good at recognizing useful slogans and bumper sticker phrases: 

 

'Winning The Future'

I'm trying to use my 'Moral Imagination', but I think you whiffed on that one.

 

205 Posted by: Ma Bell at August 30, 2011 11:53 AM (H/MnC)

You're right:  Those who learned English as adults are much more careful  with the language ( writing and speaking). 

Obama learned English as a child, but was never required to use it well-- Affirmative action in all its Glory

206 That dog obama is talking again on tv- American Legion- wants to break the grid lock in DC? Fuck him- all talk and all talk all the time

207 Wait, Ace went to law school?

208
Let's play...

Things That Inflate Obama's IQ!

$200
$400
$600
$800
$1000

209 Wait, Ace went to law school?

As a mascot.

Go, 'Woks!

210 I'll take things that inflate the SCoaMF IQ for $800, soothie.

211 201 and today is THE BEST!!!!!! MY ARM LOAN ADJUSTED AND IT FREAKING WENT DOWN BY 50% YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!
_________

It's a trap!

212 "Since the merits of the Law Review's selection policy has been the subject of commentary for the last three issues," wrote Obama, "I'd like to take the time to clarify exactly how our selection process works." This is why schools should teach sentence diagramming. If you diagrammed this sentence, it would be more obvious that the verb is incorrect for the subject.

213 Now when the liberals trot out the Republicans-are-stupid meme, there is push back in the form of Obama-is-stupid.

Personally, I don't care for the Obama is stupid line.

It is smarter for us to say he is smart.  He and his friends just pushed for a Marxist America.  They should be discredited for their ideas.

214 Posted by: Ma Bell at August 30, 2011 11:53 AM (H/MnC)

My point is that the people I personally know whose first language is not English (especially if it's also not a Germanic or Romance language) have a very hard time with noun/verb agreement and English verb conjugation.

Yes, in writing formal/business documents, they take great care to be as clear as possible, but you can still tell that they're not "comfortable" with the language.  This is true if their first language is Chinese, Japanese, Farsi, or Arabic (that covers all the ones I personally know, I think).

The writing that I've seen of Barack Obama's suggest that the language with which he is most "comfortable" is some non-European language.  Which makes sense, if he was reared for his first several years in Indonesia.  (No, not if he was born there, I'm really just talking about youthful language acquisition: I doubt he heard much English growing up)

215
Sins of my father
Audacious hope and stains
soil my pop's blouse

216  The other side was livid but the judge thought it was hilarious. 

Posted by: alexthechick at August 30, 2011 11:41 AM (VtjlW)

Always good to get a judge with a sense of humor. Surprisingly, many of them do have a sense of humor here in Texas. Lawyers not so much. Loser Pays (passed by the Lege this year) has sort of caused humor to become scarce around here on the Plaintiff's side.

As regards The Bluebook-A Uniform System of Citation. So that's what that thing is for. And it's in the Nineteenth Edition? I'm only three editions behind.

 

217 Primary Sources Two Poems by Barack Obama July 2, 2007
Posted by: toby928™ at August 30, 2011 11:46 AM

If there's anything worse than the stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure's attempts to write poetry, it's linked the article lauding his efforts and attaching significance to them.

In the New-fucking-Yorker, to boot. Yeah, they're wacked-out lib ninnies, but they used to actually have a certain basic level of intelligence under which they would not go.

All I can say is: Holy shit!

218 >>If he weren't a minority, Barack Obama would be the guy who works at McDonald's but isn't given any jobs that require interaction with other human beings, or with their food. You know, that weird guy you see walking around with the mop and bucket who seems to exist only to walk around with a mop and bucket. I was that guy. Well sort of. I worked at McDonald's from 11 pm to 7 am cleaning the place. My partner was and ex-con drug addict. I learned a couple things from that job. 1) I don't like working the overnight shift cleaning McDonald's. 2) I don't want to be an ex-con drug addict. 3) If you want to be able to eat fast food, never work in a fast food restaurant. I saw, smelled and did things that make me shudder to this day.

219 Afghanistan Deaths: August Is Deadliest Month Ever For U.S. Troops Maybe because our enemies smell blood because our CIC has announced a withdrawal date? Hellava move ha?

220 when you are up all night snorting coke..........it's hard to write a letter...

221 176 Speaking of da one...

He is speaking now at the American Legion Annual Conference

Posted by: Mjim at August 30, 2011 11:51 AM (rN9Na)

Heh.  Can't wait to read the "review" at Blackfive.

222
garrett:

An award you get from filthy Scandis.

223 Is our president learn?

224

SCOAMF is speaking at the Legion convention.

Let me sum up:

(After everyone is assembled at 1000 for the POTUS speech, and t-shirts handed out, the POTUS arrives at 11:3   Let me perfectly clear... there are those who would say that the economy is all my fault.  There are those who would say high unemployment is all my fault.  There are some who would even say "Obamacare" is all my fault.  I want to be perfectly clear here: all of these things were the fault of the previous administration.  When I took office, I was burdened with an almost nine trillion dollar defecit.  In only two short years, I have overseen an almost 40% in federal spending, which provides shovel-ready jobs and programs to help those who are unemployed and under-employed to realize their dreams and potential.  I have lobbied through the halls of congress to get taxes increased on the wealthiest of Americans, those who already pay taxes on the hundred thousand dollars a year they make, or more, to make them pay their fair share of the burden, because there are 52% of americans who don't make enough money to pay any taxes.  Those who can, should give according to their ability, to provide each american according to their needs.   These corporate fat cats, who fly around in their private jets, eat only the finest foods, throw lavish and extravigant perties for themselves, and can afford to spend tens and even hundreds of thousands on multiple vacations--these people need to spend that money instead on providing for the less fortunate among us.    You veterans and I share many things--we are proud of our country--as a matter of fact, even my wife is now proud of our country.  We are proud of our service--your service in uniform, and my service making the gutsy calls to go risk your lives defending our nation, and Libya.  We are proud to share a love of recreational sports.  We share our beliefs that green jobs are key to securing our nation's independence.  We are willing to risk everything--and by everything, I mean the future of our country, on our beliefs.    Finally, I'd like to give a special shout out to my homies in the IRS who will be auditing all of you, to find out where you got the income to take time off from work to attend this conference, and for those of you who are retired and living on a military pension, to examine how much you've spent on this trip that could be further reduced from all military pensions.    I'd love to take your questions and spend time talking with our greatest national treasure, but I have a tee time at 11:45.

225

Yeah, I wrote that.  Blackfive posted it.

 

226

186 Thank God for over-educated doofuses who canÂ’t write; without them, those of us who write for a living would be much poorer. Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at August 30, 2011 11:43 AM

 

Amen, brother.

227 newspeak.............

228 Did Obama just welcome home the Vietnam Veterans, after he snubbed the VFW?

229 Don't be dissin Barrys poem. He write it for me about my family reunion.  Ever see Uncle Edgar with a bowl of figs?

230 Why Can't Barack Read?

231
btw, do you know who wrote Rocky?

232

I used to take the "Obama didn't write his books" claims with a grain of salt, but no more.  I've edited mountains of briefs and motions during my 17 years of law practice and have never seen a newbie lawyer with technically deficient writing skills become anything more than a merely adequate writer. There is no way a 29 year-old 3L with the writing proficiency of a high school sophomore could, in just four years, produce the high level prose found in Dreams of My Father. In fact, the letter demonstrates that Obama simply lacks the talent to compose high quality prose.  There's no shame in that - most people (myself included) simply weren't born with that talent.  Of course, lying about it is something else entirely. 

 

233 Make. The. Whistling. Stop.

234 @225 What is: The Nobel Stuttering Clusterf*ck Of a Miserable Failure Prize?

235

 I saw, smelled and did things that make me shudder to this day.

 

I once had a gig cleaning the pumps / filters at a dairy. 

Don't drink the ready-made Chocoale Milk...don't do it.

236 well...i got the clean part right..................

237
Correct, garrett.

238
er, Allen

239 Loser Pays (passed by the Lege this year) has sort of caused humor to become scarce around here on the Plaintiff's side.

I find I can bear their grief with great fortitude.

240
Pick again.

241

I've had to walk them through the concept that a finite number of jobs being awarded on race, not merit, has the expected result.

Basically, if you were denied a job based on AA, as I was, you don't exist.

Posted by: CJ at August 30, 2011 11:45 AM (9KqcB)

But what AA does is it kills that sense of achievement. That's why you get people like Sotomayor and the Obamas who benefited but are still bitter.  The sense of achieving something is stolen from them forever.

242 This is the one Obama conspiracy I believe -- he didn't write his own autobiography. He cobbled together some notes and remembrances and handed it off to better writers to flesh out. And it probably was Ayers who did most of that.

Obama is a reasonably smart guy, but he's no genius. If he were white he could have gotten into a good state school, but probably not into their honors program.

Remember, we know for a fact he was not a National Merit Scholar Finalist , Semi-finalist, or Commended. We also know he wasn't even a National Achievement Scholar (the lesser award given to blacks). So that definitely puts him outside the top 5%, and probably much lower considering the much lower standards for the black National Achievement Scholar award.

These awards are a matter of public record. They put an upper limit on Obama's vaunted intelligence. I'd guess he's in the top 20% IQ wise. He's learned to seem smarter than he actually is. Probably because most of his life he's been surrounded by people much smarter than himself.

He was probably one of the dumbest people at Harvard. Bottom third at least. Yet he made Law Review.

243

So, Grammar Nazis, I have a question.

SCOAMF is normaly used as a Noun... but can you SCOAMF? ie, can it be used as a Verb as well?

As in: I SCOAMF'd (Stuttering Cluster Fuck of A Miserable Fail'd) the country up so bad I could not get reelected?

244 Soothie- My control?  Alright, I'll take 1000.

245 in my experience, the law review Editor in Chief didn't do actual editing. that was left to the underlings on law review. He did managerial stuff.

246 There is no way a 29 year-old 3L with the writing proficiency of a high school sophomore could, in just four years, produce the high level prose found in Dreams of My Father.

I don't get the praise for that 'writing.'  It always struck me as horribly bad.  Romance novel bad.

247

Best thread since that (indy, libertarian?) guy running against murky voted for her. 

Iowahawk could come here for inspiration.

Oh, and in TX we have the greenbook too.

Back to lurking.  Or working.

248 Obama is not Dumb. You could say, however, that his Skill-Set does not mesh very well with the responsibilities inherent to the position of President. I think he has been over his head in that regard since he left his position as "Community Agitator".

249 Today, the primary thing editors want to know is: "Will you write a 1500-word article for $5.00?" And readers seem most interested in pictures and links to other articles.
Posted by: MrScribbler

Hell, I won't write a grocery list for $5.00.

250 you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad.

Sure it is. It sucks huge, hairy donkey wangs.

251 Posted by: Romeo13 at August 30, 2011 12:05 PM (NtXW4)

In as much as the 'F,' as normally understood, means "Failure" not "Fail" I'd have to say, "no."  You would not, under normal circumstances, use SCOAMF as a verb.

252 **I bet his stuff is still better than the random jumble of words that Michelle submitted as her Princeton thesis. Posted by: joeindc44 at August 30, 2011 11:47 AM (QxSug) I'm sure it sounds beautiful in its original Klingon** I like Hitchen's take on it, her thesis was written in no known language. So, Klingon it may be.

253
for $1000, Allen:

A particular preference for governing; a belief system.

254 "IÂ’ve got things right now in - before Congress that we should move immediately," This quote is from Obama's interview with Brian Williams. It had been on one of yesterday's threads. His Awesomeness refers to "things" before congress. Um, don't lawyers pride themselves on precise use of words?

255 Okay, which one of you did this?
------------------------------
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego police say a boy throwing rocks at vehicles was struck in the abdomen by a crossbow bolt fired by a passenger in small sport utility vehicle. 

Officer Dino Delimitros says the boy and a friend were throwing rocks in the Linda Vista neighborhood Monday afternoon when a passenger in a black Toyota RAV4 pulled out a crossbow and fired. 

The boy was shot in the abdomen and was taken to a hospital. The San Diego Union-Tribune says his injuries are not life-threatening. 

His name and age weren't released. 

Nobody has been arrested.

Link

----------------------------

256

>What is: The Nobel Stuttering Clusterf*ck Of a Miserable Failure Prize?

 

Apparently, the presidency

257 what AA does is it kills that sense of achievement. That's why you get people like Sotomayor and the Obamas who benefited but are still bitter.  The sense of achieving something is stolen from them forever.

Posted by: AmishDude at August 30, 2011 12:05 PM (73tyQ)

Yes, they take the salary and power but retain the anger and bitterness of people who were 'victimized'.  We get the Worse of Both Worlds:  incompetent or semi-competent embittered Losers With Power

while obviously more qualified and deserving people side on the sidelines, robbed of what they earned.  Oddly--sadly--our whole society is increasingly infected with this.

258 @256 - What is: "Karl-was-also-a-stuttering-clusterf*ck-of-a-miserable-failure Marxism?"

259 There's no shame in that - most people (myself included) simply weren't born with that talent.

Writing's a skill. Obama was just never forced to do it.  Bill Ayers isn't all that smart, but he writes constantly.

I can write pretty well when I'm banging out a letter of recommendation, but writing actual mathematics is a torture for me.  The hardest thing is to explain complex ideas succinctly.

260 Posted by: Johnny (John E.) at August 30, 2011 12:10 PM (nRTou)

Okay, that may be over the top, but what are the bets that kid never throws rocks at cars again?

261 234
btw, do you know who wrote Rocky?

Posted by: soothie at August 30, 2011 12:03 PM (sqkOB)

Sylvester Stalone.  The guy is sharp!

262

But what AA does is it kills that sense of achievement. That's why you get people like Sotomayor and the Obamas who benefited but are still bitter. The sense of achieving something is stolen from them forever.

Posted by: AmishDude at August 30, 2011 12:05 PM (73tyQ)

Definitely that. But it's worth reminding folks that in addition to denying a sense of achievement, it also denies people jobs. It's designed to do that.

Now that you mention it, it did ultimately enhance my sense of achievement. I had to move far from home to find a job that paid a fraction of the one I was qualified for in the Big City. It probably made me work harder.

And, I wouldn't have met my future wife. So, thanks Affirmative Action! You're A-OK!

263 he has been over his head in that regard since he left his position as "Community Agitator".

Posted by: Arnonerik at August 30, 2011 12:08 PM (mmI0p)

no shit..............

264

I'd guess he's in the top 20% IQ wise.

 

Based on what?  Where is there proof his IQ is even average?

I submit that nobody over the age of 12, with an IQ over 95, would have a problem getting an umbrella through a gate. 

 

265 One thing I noticed about lawyers who graduated from historically black colleges that have law schools (or law schools from historically black colleges) fit the: **the AA students served up word salad during most discussions that they always insisted on dominating.** They filibuster and think that rambling on and on is the same thing as making a point. If that's the way they verbally argue, I'd hate to read one of their papers.

266 SCOAMF is normaly used as a Noun... but can you SCOAMF? ie, can it be used as a Verb as well?

Any noun can be used as a verb. For example, "At the VFW today, Barky was SCOAMFing quite well." Now that the noun is a concept, it adapts to verb usage quite well.

267 It's best for the cause if liberals are stupid or at least ignorant. I'm thinking liberalism is like a McDonald's franchise. The actual work involved is done for you. You receive prepackaged food stuffs complete with instructions geared for the most illiterate of workers. Franchises are only allowed to be put in areas where they are sure to thrive. Then slowly pushed outward. The product on the surface is delicious and easy to love and simple for the youthful or undiscriminating pallet to digest. Long term it is destructive and harmful to the individuals eating it regularly as well as those that must support the illness caused by its steady ingestion. Seduced by its simplicity, low price and flashy marketing, Parents introduce their children to the short term feel good satisfaction of the product. Just like liberalism. Take heed, subway just became the #1 franchise in the country. I hear its better for you.

268 He made law review due to AA and the crease in his pants.

269 There is no way a 29 year-old 3L with the writing proficiency of a high school sophomore could, in just four years, produce the high level prose found in Dreams of My Father.

I admit I read only exerpts of that book. But high level prose? In german there is a word for that kind of writing: Schmaltz

270

Posted by: Johnny (John E.) at August 30, 2011 12:10 PM (nRTou)

Humongous was unavailable for comment...

271

Fwiw -

He doesn't understand Math.

He doesn't understand Physics.

He can't write or follow the rules of the English language.

So, what is left - Finger Painting? 

 

272

consider the skills required of a good community organizer:

 

blame-shifting

demagoguing

communicating threats

promulgating lies

in general, being a profound pain in the ass

273
No, sorry, Allen. Judges say no.

The answer we are looking for is politics.

274 Ace wrote: At any rate, there would be some book issued (or required for purchase, rather) that would cover basics of grammar. Being an AA student, of course Barackus would get that Bluebook given to him at no cost. There is "Bluebook" called 'Harbrace College Handbook' which I had to purchase as a student. This book has all of those rules Ace was talking about. Maybe this is the book. Tennessee Tarheel

275

 In german there is a word for that kind of writing: Schmaltz

Isn't that yiddish?

276

Any noun can be used as a verb. For example, "At the VFW today, Barky was SCOAMFing quite well." Now that the noun is a concept, it adapts to verb usage quite well.

aw man, that's some SCOAMFed up shit

277 269 SCOAMF is normaly used as a Noun... but can you SCOAMF? ie, can it be used as a Verb as well?

Any noun can be used as a verb. For example, "At the VFW today, Barky was SCOAMFing quite well." Now that the noun is a concept, it adapts to verb usage quite well.

Posted by: Hobbitopoly at August 30, 2011 12:13 PM (h1p5V)

Lolly lolly lolly, get your adverbs here...

278 I like how Michelle Obama brags how she overcame discrimination because, when she applied to Harvard, everybody said she couldn't get in because her test scores were so low. But she showed them!

Funny, when I applied to an Ivy League school I was told I was a shoo-in because my test scores were so high. I guess I just didn't have that same gutsy resolve in the face of discrimination that Michelle had.

279 There is "Bluebook" called 'Harbrace College Handbook' which I had to purchase as a student. This book has all of those rules Ace was talking about. Maybe this is the book.
Tennessee Tarheel

Posted by: TennDon at August 30, 2011 12:15 PM (o6Yv2)

BLUEbook??? RAAACCCIIISSSTTTTT!!!!!!!

280
curious owns cats
curious links to gay porn
why hate curious?

281

Isn't that yiddish?

Not sure, they might have a similar word. I heard yiddish as a kid and some words are almost the same

282 I'm pretty sure actually vetting Obama is racist. But that Rick Perry sure is dumb.

283 ** I must say, however, that as someone who has undoubtedly benefited from affirmative action programs during my academic career, and as someone who may have benefited from the Law Review's affirmative action policy when I was selected to join the Review last year, I have not personally felt stigmatized either within the broader law school community or as a staff member of the Review. Indeed, my election last year as President of the Review would seem to indicate that at least among Review staff, and hopefully for the majority of professors at Harvard, affirmative action in no way tarnishes the accomplishments of those who are members of historically underrepresented groups.** Ok, so he admits it and he's cool with it.

284 40 No one seems to understand that in many cases affirmative action, especially that practiced by law schools, doesn't just give an bit of an edge to slightly less qualified minority candidates. Too often it gives the whole game away to people who are clearly, obviously unqualified. Of course the individuals who suffer most from this are the genuinely qualified minorities.

Posted by: kathleen at August 30, 2011 11:13 AM (wT34k)

Dead on.  It also gives such people delusions of intellect. The "economics philosopher" from yesterday strikes me as one of these sorts.

285 The hardest thing is to explain complex ideas succinctly.

What kind of mathematician are you, giving away the secrets to ordered insanity, turn in your union card.

286 "This is the weird double-standard liberals impose for discussing Affirmative Action."

Because we allow them to get away with it.  Letting the enemy choose the terms of engagement is stupid.

Far too many keep pretending, or at least acting, as if the left were honest.  You can't reason with a liar because he isn't interested in the truth.

287 36 you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad.

The first line alone has me in stitches with its stupidity. Under water grottos. Is that supposed to mean something?

Actually, it does.  There are grottoes you have to dive down to enter.  One off the Phillippines comes to mind. 

youtube  
Diving the Underwater Grotto in Bien Unido, Bohol, Philippines

288

"At least it abides by the William Carlos Williams rule that I like, which keeps poems from being horrible -- keep it tangible, talk about real-life nouns, make it simple, let simple words speak for themselves"

 

Yeah, who needs Shakespeare?

289
toes. fritos. cheetos.
doritoes. dildos. lottos.
grottos. mottos. toes.

290 To be honest, I actually don't mind Affirmative Action for blacks. Specifically blacks who are provably descendants from former American slaves. So, AA for Michelle O, but fuck all for Barack.

AA for some Mexican kid who's father illegally immigrated to California in 1992? Fuck that.

What plausible historical debt does America owe to a Mexican kid born in Arizona in 1993?

There's been more official legal discrimination against Asians in America than hispanics. But asians get screwed by AA cause they are too smart.

291 If he weren't a minority, Barack Obama would be the guy who works at McDonald's but isn't given any jobs that require interaction with other human beings, or with their food.

No.

If he were genetically identical to his current self but weren't the son of an African politician and a UN (etc.) bureaucrat, he'd be a random guy-at-an-office who trudges through his days nurturing the delusion that he's really a writer, but shit just didn't work out somehow.

I know a guy who's basically Obama's unassisted alternate-world self. He kinda even looks like him, except that my guy's a physically imposing man-shaped man. (His dad's a black guy, not an African.)

The dude's very charming, says the right first few things to everyone, and everyone he meets gets the immediate impression that he's really Somebody, or should really Be Somebody—but that impression fades when you realize the dude's working a sort of interpersonal short-con routine and is actually incredibly lazy and kinda dumb.

So that guy's a receptionist. A very good one. But he thinks he should be Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh or something.

And he should, in a sense. He has a natural leg up on everyone else who'd want to be that. But he never made more than a token effort to be a radio guy, and he wasn't the son of two radio people whose positions guaranteed him a lifetime of access to radio-land, so doing almost nothing got him nowhere.

292 Ace,
there are"The elements of style" and "The elements of Grammar" out there that a lot of people use.

293 and both have sections on commonly confused words, etc

294  I'm having racist inclinations again.

Where's my medication?

Posted by: Hussein the Plumber

 

 

Yo Man, can I get some of that?

295

"The MSM has always been quick to expound on the brilliance of Democrats, and of course they always point out how intellectually challenged Republicans are. There's an old adage, "the proof is in the pudding." Consider our current POTUS, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Maxine Waters, Barney Frank, John Kerry, Al Gore, Sheila Jackson Lee, and of course, Joe Biden. The list could go on and on, but I think you get my point."

 

I lifted this from the American Thinker comments section, but I will claim its authorship since it comports with current standards of academic excellence and journalistic mores. Sub-Tard be brillant.

296 83 "
This is pitiful. Harvard Law Review, and you can't even successfully edit your own work? I'm a technical writer, and I have to constantly edit my work. I'm pretty sure if I were "smart" enough to be at Harvard, I would have caught this mistake (or not even made it in the first place).

Even if he wasn't smart enough, he should have had a classmate check it.   Even the most careful writer occasionally makes mistakes of grammar and/or spelling.   That's why you have someone else check it.

Unless you're either lazy, too arrogant, or have no friends...

297 Let's have a go, also, at Moochelle's scribblings.  Gotta be gold there.

298 Good grammar and spelling are RAAAAACISSSSTTT!

299 19 you know that "apes" poem really isn't that bad.

Pwesident Obama stoled it fwom me. I gotted a "F" ifor it n Engwish for Special Kids

300 Where I went to school, your invite was automatic based on class rank after the first year.  Then you had to write a note that had to be accepted, publishable.  I don't recall any provision being made for affirmative action.  Once you were a staff editor, it was completely political.  If you didn't kiss the right ass, you weren't going any higher than that, nor were you going to be published.

I had an articles editor who was dumber than a flat rock but possessed with an Obama-like cerebral narcissism.  He wanted everyone to just assume he was brilliant, like he did.  It was laughable, and it got in the way of the product at times.

And the management team was several editions into the Christian mafia.  Believe it or not, I'm fairly socially conservative, but I try to keep my religious belief separate from my civic activities.  I think a more personal, authentic relationship with God is more meaningful, and that those who wear religion on their sleeves run a great risk of appearing undignified, especially if they do it for personal gain, for profit--not to mention appearing as a bad witness for Christianity.  That is who ran our law review.  It was ugly.  Christianity was social currency.  And seeing in-group, out-group behavior based on a primitive display-language centered on religion was disgusting. 

I wonder what God thinks about that shit.

Anyway.  It would only have been at the management level where completely subjective considerations crept in.  At the entry level, it was fairly objective (the note) and completely objective (class rank) considerations that mattered.  It sounds like Harvard's AA provisions scooted Obama right past the entry level qualifications I suspect would have screened him out at our law review.

301 There's a simpler (but still tendentious) argument against Obama as the author of Dreams: He never finishes anything complex himself and he's got the attention span of a dried trout.

302

is it nov 2012 yet?

God give us the strength to endure

303 Let's also combine this stuff with the rumors that Oblamer was a lazy (and boring) president of the law review. Most of his "work" was done by the next man down on the totem pole.

304

And he should, in a sense. He has a natural leg up on everyone else who'd want to be that. But he never made more than a token effort to be a radio guy, and he wasn't the son of two radio people whose positions guaranteed him a lifetime of access to radio-land, so doing almost nothing got him nowhere.

Posted by: oblig. at August 30, 2011 12:25 PM (xvZW9)

Not gonna lie, your friend sounds like a real interesting guy.  As well as reminiscent of certain individuals I have known.

305

Obama's a grifter.

54% of voters = the Mark.

306 The Elements of Style.  Enlisted military members have "recommended" to us continually.

307 oh yeah, the blue book is only directed to citation. There must be some other book to which Ace refers.

308

Yeah man, [dragging deeply on a splif] we're all like apes man. [exhales] Like apes in a grotto, man. [inhales, cough, cough] Gorillas in the grotto, man. [exhales] Get it? We're all underwater, man. [inhales] Our pelts [cough, cough cough] is musty. And we're stepping on figs, like crunchy one. That would be so cool to be! [exhales]

309

Correction (?): Commenters are telling me the Little Blue Book -- which isn't what it's called; it's the "Bluebook" -- deals with citations format, not questions of grammar.

I don't think they're right, but I could be wrong. I thought the first chapter or two was on the topic of frequently made errors -- things like "Is the word 'none' singular or plural?" 

I believe you are talking about the august tome "The Elements of Style" or "Strunk & White," which is often prescribed for college freshman.  Seems a lot more similar to what you're talking about. 

310 309 The Elements of Style.  Enlisted military members have "recommended" to us continually.

Posted by: baldilocks at August 30, 2011 12:39 PM (T2/zQ)

Damn, you beat me.

311

Okay, so calling Dreams of My Father high level prose might be an overstatement.  The point remains that whoever wrote that book was writing at a level that was light years beyond that shown in Obama's letter. 

In the future I will carefully edit out all indavertent Bill Ayres compliments. 

312 So what, this proves nothing, even the smartest authors make some typos.  Its the analysis where you can know if a legal editor is good or not.  And what is biggoted about this is did you listen to how George Bush talked.  So that is prejudice to criticize a black man when the white one is illiterate.  But those who hate can never admit they are hypocrites can they.

313

The Bluebook is citation format (or style) only. 

Grammar and basic writing style is covered by the MoUS. 

http://www.texaslrev.com/publications/mous

Or the law review might have their own internal style manual, or might use  the state court appellate style manual, if there is one.

314

"all my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb and my mom always tolld me to try and lern just like Miss Kinnian tells me but its very hard to be smart and even when I lern something in Miss Kinnians class at the school I ferget alot."

- Barry Charlie Gordon Obama

315 Affirmative action is a fact of life in America today. We know how it works and what we get. The thing I would want to look into is, who all were Obama's mentors (controllers) who groomed him and pushed him along on his path to the White House. They picked him mainly because they saw him as malleable and in agreement with their goals. Which leaves me with three questions: Who are these people who were instrumental In pushing Obama forward from Community Organizer through Academia and ultimately all the way to the Presidency? Bill Ayers we know of, but there must be many others. What are their backgrounds and goals? How much influence do they currently have over Obama? If we pursue these questions and are able to answer them, will we find that the Weather Underground is still viable or has it morphed into something even more sinister?

316 It sounds like Harvard's AA provisions scooted Obama right past the entry level qualifications I suspect would have screened him out at our law review.

Posted by: rdbrewer at August 30, 2011 12:32 PM (SleRV)

To be honest, I haven't fully bought into the conservative sacking of Obama's (mystery) record, but that quoted sentence...from the head editor...kind of gives me the willies.

And if you're talking about the same breed of Christian political animal I'm thinking of, their writing can be insanely treacly and vicious at the same time.  Pretty damn weird.

317 have *it* recommended to us.  Illiteracy is contagious.

318

This is an intellectually dishonest point.  The main point I can glean from this piece is that Obama's performance as an editor is related to his poor performance as President of the United States.  If this is to be our barometer for President, let's not talk about anything else but someone's mastery of the written word.  While we're on the subject, if we're going to talk about AA, let's also talk about the advantage of wealth, and family connections, and how GW Bush did in his time in school, or his mastery of the written word, or even the spoken word.

You don't have to be a conservative or liberal to call B.S. where you see it.  But, sorry, this is B.S.

319 The focus should be on the -arrogance. I don't think anyone will get any traction on Obama's past performance. Heck he's the first President to admit to snorting coke-that is now irrelevant. What isn't irrelevant is the ongoing arrogance. It's the -we have all the answers attitude. Damn it-it's the burning $800 billion and having the audacity to say that for $800 billion Geithner and Co. could keep unemployment at 8% or lower. 8%- they actually had the audacity to pick a specific percentage. The height of stupidity is to think you know it all. It's always marked by arrogance, their biggest limitation is thinking they know it all. It's the arrogance, you damned Krugmanites!

320 See David Beem that was my exact point.

321 ...their biggest limitation *is self-inflicted*-it's the belief that they know it all.

322 323 See David Beem that was my exact point.

Posted by: Reginald at August 30, 2011 12:50 PM (HH76v)

What the hell?  You're serious?

323 The bus tour turns out to have been a fraud, why not the books Obama "wrote."

324

By the time you get to law school, and especially if you are elected to law review (or however you get on the law review at Harvard), you're supposed to already be familiar with the rules of grammar.  The Blue Book is subtitled, "A Uniform System of Citation," not "How to Write a Simple Letter and Not Sound Like a Moron."  Legal citation is something you learn in law school.

Strunk & White?  Clearly, this grammar you speak of is some ofay rules handed down by the man, the White Man.  Racist.

Speaking of white: "Some people have a way with words, other people,   ..., not have way, I guess."

325 Remember, Obama noted he was a horrible student at Columbia.  He also noted he was on the road towards being a full fledged junkie.  Junkie is his own term for it.

He's abused a lot of drugs and was a failed student, and then he somehow made it to Harvard Law anyway, and somehow made it to a prestigious law review.

My guess is that while Obama was abusing a variety of hard drugs are Columbia, he made friends with Francis Piven (A professor there) and perhaps Ayers.  The connections he got, combined with affirmative action, helped him gain admission to Harvard Law.

Harvard is a very competitive law school, they say.  What if that's a myth, though?  What if they fudge grades for URMs?  I know most law schools have tons of fluff seminar classes.  And it's likely Obama's grades were not good enough to get onto law review anyway.  Perhaps he was a median student for a single year (first year) then took fluff classes through graduation, and his entire resume is built on his 'success' at being on a law review that picked him for racist reasons?

"But those who hate can never admit they are hypocrites can they.

Posted by: Reginald at August 30, 2011 12:44 PM (HH76v)"

Bush never got any special academic credentials on the basis of his skin color.  That Obama did is disgusting.  Bush is not considered the most brilliant man in the room, but many fools think Obama is.  Bush was actually quite humble whereas Obama presents himself as capable of changing sea levels.

326

David Beem,

ok on your premise - because Bush was dumb, that makes it ok for Obama to be dumber? Got it.

BTW - what evidence do you have that Bush's family wealth was the barometer of his scholastic abilities? Affirmative action was specifically designed to give those that don't measure up a chance to compete where they never would otherwise be up to the task. It cheats them into the game.

 

327 I admit I read only exerpts of that book. But high level prose? In german there is a word for that kind of writing: Schmaltz Dreck

FIFY

328 Dude, you are a racist! Raaaacist! Racist, racist, racist! Obama is like super-smart. Way smarter than that hick racist Bush. Remember how he killed all those black people with Katrina? Huh? Huh? What you got to say about that? Racist. Racism, straight up! Obama! Obama! Obama! Fuck y'all. My monthly Obama-bucks check arrived! It should be more, but this is the US of KKK A. Obama! Obama! Obama!

329 "no editors who were selected with affirmative action in mind"

Sorry, that's easy to understand.  He's trying to say that the editors who were selected because of "Affirmative Action" won't be told that they were selected for that reason, and therefore won't know it themselves.

Easy to understand, but total crap.  All you have to do is compare the quality of your writing to the least competent non-disabled white guy on teh Review.  Are you worse than him?

Then you got in via AA.

Which Obama clearly did.

330

"Punctuation, is? fun!"
  - Barry Charlie Gordon Obama

 

331 I think it's what they do in law school. Hell you have Ann Althouse dismissing all of Paul Campos' arguments because he used *poured over* rather than *pored over*. *********** THe truly poisonous thing is that we have a media that aced Journalism-and that's about it. So we have everything dragged down to their area of expertise: grammar, speaking ability, how good you look. The campaign for the Presidency has been reduced to a beauty contest, with grammar nazis judging from the sidelines. And we have *inexperience* being turned into an advantage because track records are now a weapon to be used against a candidate. It's tragic.

332 This is an intellectually dishonest point. Posted by: David Beem at August 30, 2011 12:48 PM (nRzvI) Bullshit. The press corps and the Perpetual Obama Campaign have declared him an intellectual superior. SInce it's been made a point of the campaign, it is fair to attempt to debunk it. That debunking is relatively easy since the claim has no evidence. And You may be SHOCKED to discover this, but Bush is not running against Obama. Your position is not driven by either the facts or by logical analysis, but by crass ideology.

333

If this is to be our barometer for President, let's not talk about anything else but someone's mastery of the written word. 

It's not "our barometer for President," and furthermore, no one suggested it should be.  Dislodge thy head from thy rectum.

While we're on the subject, if we're going to talk about AA, let's also talk about the advantage of wealth, and family connections, and how GW Bush did in his time in school, or his mastery of the written word, or even the spoken word.

Bush was perfectly fine with both, and there's precious little to suggest (given his executive performance under pressure) that he was less than a suitable candidate for a Harvard MBA.  Granted, he was a child of legacy and power, but my point still stands.

334

I believe the missing verb clause is supposed to be "will ever know," tacked onto the very end:

"No editors on the Review will ever know whether any given editor was selected on the basis of grades, writing competition, or affirmative action, and no editors who were selected with affirmative action in mind."

ALL of the "beneficiaries" of affirmative action, left and right, criticize how these policies leave everyone unsure whether any particular black has made it on his how or has been advanced by race rather than merit. It seems that Obama saw this as a GOOD thing: "They aren't going to tell me whether I was picked on race or merit, whew," and he thought this was so obvious that he did not bother to repeat the verb.

335

"No editors on the Review will ever know whether any given editor was selected on the basis of grades, writing competition, or affirmative action, and no editors who were selected with affirmative action in mind."

It's not a missing verb, it's an extra "who"

He's claiming two diametrically opposed positions.  No one was selected with affirmative action in mind, and people were selected because of affirmative action. 

He may have meant "solely on the basis of affirmative action" but that's giving him too much credit since we all know he's a stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure.

336 I think he omitted the word *only*, and he probably should have deleted *who*. Once final selections are made, all writing competition material is destroyed. No editors on the Review will ever know whether any given editor was selected on the basis of grades, writing competition, or affirmative action, and no editors were selected with*only* affirmative action in mind.

337 Guys, it's been my experience in academia that the default style manual is Chicago Manual of Style, the motha of all style manuals, from which all others flow.

338 "No editors on the Review will ever know whether any given editor was selected on the basis of grades, writing competition, or affirmative action, and no editors who were selected with affirmative action in mind."

Agree with #339. Not that hard to 'fix' that sentence. Just drop the word 'who'.

"No editors on the Review will ever know whether any given editor was selected on the basis of grades, writing competition, or affirmative action, and no editors [ ] were selected with affirmative action in mind."

339 ALL of the "beneficiaries" of affirmative action, left and right, criticize how these policies leave everyone unsure whether any particular black has made it on his how or has been advanced by race rather than merit.




That's exactly right and guess what!  Black people feel this way too.  When looking for service, we always eye black professionals warily--especially physicians--unless they have a proven track record of competence.

My parents were against AA from its inception--and they were Democrats back then.  They recognized immediately that the policy implied that black people really were inferior.  And judging by the policy's results, it almost seems to have been designed to promote inferiority, the inferior and to affirm them.  Exhibit A: you know who.

340 I don't think President Obama is dumb, I think he's ordinary and thinks he's a super genius. I think he's been told he's special and wonderful and smart and extra great all his life and believes every word was an understatement.

President Obama himself admitted several times in that letter that he'd personally benefitted from Affirmative Action, which suggests at some level he recognizes he wasn't good enough to make it on his own, but won't admit it.

341 "At any rate, there would be some book issued (or required for purchase, rather) that would cover basics of grammar."

That would (at least at all of my law school's journals) be The Chicago Manuel of Style. Probably not required like the Bluebook because people at competent law schools assume that you've figured out the basics of grammar and don't need a backup for it. There would probably be one sitting on a shelf in the Review office for the rare occasion it was needed, and nothing more.

As far as Bluebook content, there's nothing at all about grammar in it. It's organized into "blue pages" and "white pages" -- blue is standard rules for court docs, which always have their own local court-designated rules, and white is for pretty much everything else. The white pages are divided into two sections: rules and tables. Rules have wonderful titles like "Rule 2: Typefaces for Law Reviews" and "Rule 6: Abbreviations, Numerals, and Symbols." Rules are things like "underline this," "italicize that," "abbreviate those" and so on. The running joke about the rules is that there's literally a rule about whether to italicize the period in the abbreviation "id." as though people can tell whether a period is italicized in the first place. It's Rule 4.1: "Id." Tables are horrendous long lists of officially sanctioned abbreviations or special citation formats for anything deemed important enough for the Bluebook authors to shine down their praise. Tables are mostly useful for readers to backwards-engineer what an abbreviation was supposed to mean after some editor zealously followed the obtuse abbreviations in the tables.

342 Posted by: Jim Sonweed at August 30, 2011 12:19 PM (y1xZO)

Yes, of course there are underwater grottos. But underwater as an adjective is one word. What Dipshit wrote is meaningless.

343 When I was a law review editor back in the Old Stone Age, most of us had the copies of Strunk & White's Elements of Style that was a staple of freshman English in the '60s and '70s, as supplements to the Bluebook, which was about citation style. Confusingly for those of us who had done graduate work, and had lived years with something like the Chicago Manual of Style, or relied on Fowler's Modern English Usage or Barzun's Modern American Usage, the citation style in the Bluebook differed significantly from that in the Chicago Manual of Style.

I must say I found the Obama letter discussed in this post to be appallingly bad. One seriously wonders what his grades and standardized test scores look like. No MENSA member he....

344

So what, this proves nothing, even the smartest authors make some typos.  Its the analysis where you can know if a legal editor is good or not.  And what is biggoted about this is did you listen to how George Bush talked.

Writing is not speaking. Try again.

345

Affirmative action is a heavy cross to bear.  If one is  talented he will always bear the stigma of affirmative action.  If you are lacking in ability, affirmative action will not compensate for inadequate knowledge and skills.

 

It does however give us the Obamas and Michelles of this world.  Frauds with neither the talent, ambition or industry to compete with their betters.

346

This is an intellectually dishonest point.  The main point I can glean from this piece is that Obama's performance as an editor is related to his poor performance as President of the United States.

Nope.

The main point I can glean from this piece is that Obama's performance as an editor is related to his the media's poor performance as with respect to reporting about the President of the United States.

 

347 D-R-I-N-K-Y-O-U-R-O-V-A-L-T-I-N-E

348 @Curmudgeon :  Affirmative action is a heavy cross to bear.  If one is  talented he will always bear the stigma of affirmative action.  If you are lacking in ability, affirmative action will not compensate for inadequate knowledge and skills.

Indeed.  I remember the time before Affirmative Action: whenever you ran into a black or Hispanic in a major university (either as faculty or as a student) or in a responsible job, you could be very sure they were at least as competent and the upper 1/3 of the whites in the same role. That was because of discrimination; blacks and Hispanics (to a lesser degree) were only admitted or hired when they had truly excellent ability and credentials.

I was involved in the early debates over Affirmative Action in the academic senate at the University of California - I was part of the group that lost because we saw the purpose of affirmative action as a way to identify really promising candidates and then to provide them with pre-university support that would enable them to come to the university and compete with the rest of the students on their own, without special programs or support. Our idea was to send the identified talented minority students to solid junior/community colleges (with curriculum guidance, financial and academic support and promise of a university scholarship if they did well enough) so that they could remedy any academic deficiencies and demonstrate the ability to do real university level work.  We were afraid, as has proven to be the case, lowering the actual admissions standards would result in lowering the academic standards one the students were at the university (whether by special help, special programs ( 'studies' majors, etc.) or otherwise) and would result in those who were AA admits and graduates being stigmatized as less qualified - ultimately devaluing the university degree for them and for everyone.

We were assured that was nonsense, and that it was more important for the minority students to spend the full 4 years at the big U to have the "full university experience" (never mind that 1/3 to 1/2 of the white students were upper division transfers from community colleges and didn't have the 'full university experience'). Snort!

349 While I was on law review, we used the Bluebook for citation and The Little, Brown Handbook for grammar.

350 Quote from the blog: "At any rate, there would be some book issued (or required for purchase, rather) that would cover basics of grammar."

Yes, it's called "The Elements of Style", by Strunk and White.  They give that out in High School, or did THE ONE get by through Affirmative Action in High School as well? /sarc

351 Amish dude, I realize you think business majors are dumb compared to law, engineer, etc., but I would recommend you take the cpa exam sometime and see how smart you are.

352

Bluebook was for citation formats.  Still, Strunk & White's isn't exactly unknown on campuses and its even shorter and easier to read than the Bluebook.   I can read it over a long lunch.  Even Barry could probably polish it off in the time it takes to play 18.  Couldn't be bothered, I suppose.

Here's a "Frost-Nixon" moment.  How about turning Meg Kelly loose on him after he leaves office and having her go Couric-Palin on him, but this time ask him about his own administration's policies.  Let's see how many he was even conversant with, much less promulgated.  And while she's at it, she can ask him about issues that a "Constitutional scholar" should be familiar with.

Talk about the Emperor having no clothes.  At best, the 52%-ers would find out they elected Jayson Blair with even less integrity and poor language skills to boot.  The DNC could just cut-and-paste Howell Raines' apologia for the Blair scandal, right down to admitting he was promoted due to race rather than ability.

353 Another problem with AA?  The perceived insult.  When I was a kid, I was in a wreck and needed a few stitches in the delicate tissue by my left eye.  My dad asked the ER doctor--let me rephrase that, the ER doctor--if he could do that type of work.  Just a few stitches, but delicate, delicate plastic surgery stuff. 

He thought dad was questioning his ability because he was black, and he got pissed.  So he decided he'd get some payback by not giving me a local anesthetic.  Worst pain I've ever felt.  I almost pulled the hospital bed apart, writhing around while trying to hold my head still.  And.. he fucked up the stitch line, bunching up a wad of tissue between two stitches on one side.  Had to be deliberate.

My dad asked him if he was qualified to do that because he was an ER doctor, not because he was black.

He sure showed my dad, though, by golly.

We had it redone a day or two later by a friend of the family.

But that's the kind of thinking AA fosters.  People doubting qualifications (not the case here) and people getting angry because they're fed up with people doubting their qualifications.

354 I'm thinking the classic is Strunk & White, Elements of Style.

15 years out of college, and I still managed to pull that out of my ass.

355 Didn't read all comments, just the top few and then searched for "Elements." Glad to see it repeatedly mentioned, and that I don't have to be the one to link to the online version. Still keep my well-worn 40-year-old copy from high school near the desk. But I never did get that one rule, "Be concise!" O, illiterate stuttering clusterfu¢k of a catastrophically miserable failure of Democracy! What were the Most Highs high on when ruling in the kingdoms of men that day?

356 I would have would of  typed this up earlier, but I didn't read the thread, just the main article.  So I can confidently predict this hasn't been mentioned anywhere today.  Sorry, that should be "anywheres today."  Well, here goes...

When it comes to writing and stuff, Obama was a SCOAMF.

There, now it's out where it is in the open, which is a colloquikk coloqquee old saying for meaning you can write stuff about it.

357

Yoshi, Aggrieved Victim of the White Man et. al.

 

I think you're misunderstanding my statement.  Don't read my earlier remarks as defending Obama's dismal presidency, or coming down on Bush's.  This is the problem with how we talk about politics.  We're all conditioned to believe there's only left and right, and there can be no dissenting voices from within.

The fact remains that the Ace's argument, while clearly intelligently drafted, is nevertheless an intellectually dishonest argument. 

Also, by saying Obama had to rely on affirmative action to get a leg up, or since he constructed a crummy sentence, therefore we have an explanation for his presidency, is just wrong.  Point to his presidency directly, the over regulation, if you like, but point to something specific and criticize it on its own merit.  There's plenty of "lame" to go around on what he's done/doing today.  But pointing to his crummy college days and other similar types of arguements are eroding our ability to talk about these things in a constructive way.

By the way, for whoever posted to the contrary, I am not shocked to learn that Obama isn't running against Bush, but thank you for the earnest reminder.  I know it comes from a postive and constructive place and the you sincerely wish to help America.