I Wonder If I Will Ever Learn to "Talk Right"...Is the media now trying to dictate even how we speak? You Betcha!

(Or my alternate title for this post could be "Is American English Still Spoken Here?")

Only those who attended Ivy League Schools and have specific last names are "expected" to speak correctly. The rest of us, the kind and compassionate media simply takes pity, because we're just...not special! Truthfully, I can't say that I know anyone that attended an Ivy League school. If I do, I've clearly forgotten. GASP!
Not only does the media think they can control the entire United States, they now are trying to move us, kicking and screaming in my case, away from American English and our own tried and true ways of speaking it.
Here's an article I came across tonight written by Barbara Wallraff of The Atlantic monthly.
Ok, ok, ok...the title of this post is laden with humor but...let's talk about a little something that "the media" doesn't want us to.
Class warfare. They love to use it, but it's a secret!
I figured as much with regard to Sarah Palin. It travels in every little condescending circle. If you can't find any way to trash someone, attack their background...and smear the victim publicly. This is wrong and sends a terrible message, especially to women. "You should expect more" because Caroline happens to be a Kennedy? How silly. Sarah Palin, like her or not has done amazing things and she came from humble roots. Being your best and rising higher was once honored. Now, it's used by the media as a means of assault. Ridiculous? I think so. More emphasis is placed on the contestants of American Idol than in preventing the annihilation of American culture.
NEWS FLASH! We are NOT European! Wasn't there a little tea party that made quite a splash? Don't we celebrate the 4th of July for a reason? (Not simply because it's hot in July and a good date for a parade!)
Next, I'll fuss about using the British way of speaking, instead of tried and true American English. ("an historic event" versus "A historic event" and "the media IS" versus "the media ARE.")
It's getting way out of control folks. Are we perhaps getting too much input into our lives and our government from the media?
I wonder. Now, they're rewriting American English language and grammar...which I thought I had a pretty good command of until recently.
I posted the article below...and gee, I hope I did that correctly. What the heck, I'm going to live dangerously and not spell check or proof this post. WOWWY! (isn't that a word too? uhhhmmm...you know, I think it may be!)


No, Caroline, we don't know. (Barbara Wallraff)
04 Jan 2009 06:24 pm

I have no opinion -- none at all -- about whether Caroline Kennedy would make a good senator. But for someone with a law degree and now political aspirations, she's astonishingly ill-spoken.

It's not necessarily admirable in consumers of political rhetoric like me that we focus more readily on "um"s and "you know"s than on what the person is saying. But we do, and it's no surprise that we do -- English teachers and speech coaches have been making this point forever.

I never whaled on Sarah Palin for the way she talks, because there isn't much reason to suppose she could do better. She doesn't have a fancy education, and she doesn't come from a place that's world-renowned for its intellectual life. But Kennedy is a different story. She has the best education money can buy and every possible reason to know what accomplished public speaking sounds like. And she still sounds like a dope, because of those "um"s and "you know's."

(end of Wallriff post, assuming readers will not figure it out on their own. That's also a little perk the MSM gives us! They tell us how to read and comprehend too. I thought I'd try it, just this once.)

***As for "whaling on Sarah Palin" and "not expecting her to DO BETTER," I'll say one word. Stunning. What happened to colorful American language? What happened to 'local speak' that adds so much interest to different dialects? To essentially call Palin stupid because she did not attend an Ivy League school is, in itself, ignorance. To make fun of a perfectly wonderful way of speaking is ghastly. (I thought liberals didn't judge anyone and had full claim on "compassion.") Somehow, I don't see Sarah Palin as needing the compassion of the US media. (And you can bet your bottom dollar that if I were stranded somewhere, I'd want Sarah Palin on MY side...and not some media geek.)

Had Sarah Palin been "Sarah Kennedy," or had she been selected on the democratic ticket, she'd have been the most grand thing since sliced bread! Her folksy speech and mannerisms would have been lauded as "precious!"
Had she been a part of the elite "in crowd" she would have wow'd the liberal media to their trembling knees.

Class bias?

To quote a former Veep nominee...
"YOU BETCHA!"

I do not even recognize this country anymore.

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