Politics and Language

Perhaps because of my Intro to Linguistics class this year, I found myself beginning to pay close attention to the usage of language around me, and nothing has puzzled me more than the speech pattern of Republican vice president candidate, Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. Her body language has been analyzed by a body language expert on ABC, and of course her infamous interview with Katie Couric on CBS parodied into an opening skit on SNL. My greatest concern, though, is the fact that I have difficultly understanding her sentences.

I honestly think that Palin needs to brush up on her grammar and syntax, because her sentences are at best awkwardly structured. Look at this:

And as Ronald Reagan used to talk about, America being the beacon of light and hope for those who are seeking democratic values and tolerance and freedom. I see our country being able to represent those things that can be looked to... as that leadership, that light needed across the world. (with Katie Couric)

If I were to express those ideas, I would say it this way:

And as Ronald Reagan used to say, America is the beacon of light and hope for those who are seeking democratic values, tolerance, and freedom. I see our country as being able to represent those things that people can look to. We can be that leadership--that light that is needed around the world.

Another example comes from the often-quoted segment on CBS about Alaska's proximity to Russia:

That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land--boundary that we have with Canada...

That--as your English Compo teacher might have told you--is just poor sentence structure. Recall your lessons on "Clauses," "Avoiding Fragments," and "Fused Sentences," and you'll quickly realize that this very example would have gotten a very poor grade if it had been graded.

First of all, try to avoid starting a sentence (or a paragraph) with "that"--it will just mess up your structure later. I obviously broke this rule in the paragraph above ("That is just poor sentence structure"), but it's okay because the sentence makes perfect sense! To understand it better, consider the fact that "that" can be used as a demonstrative pronoun, or, as Palin used it, to introduce a restrictive clause. Palin's example is definitely not used as a pronoun. So what she did basically, was giving Couric the answer in a clause, rather than a sentence! 

As she should have known, linguistically, you don't have to start your answers with "that" simply because the question ended with the word, "that" (Couric: "What did you mean by that?"). Palin could have phrased it this way: "Well, because Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between Russia, a foreign country, and of course, on the other side, we have Canada." Again, the answer is lame, but at least it will score higher on the sentence structure.

My last example, and perhaps the most overt, is a sentence that ends with a preposition:

Our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of.

Of course, everyday speech can be very different from, say, an essay. But still... "There in the state that I am the executive of"? Not only is that an awkward sentence, it's outright wrong! Those foreign countries are not in the state of which she is the executive commander! They are its neighboring countries!. She probably meant to say "beside the state"--not "in the state." 

Oh well, so this is about as much as I'm going to write on this topic. I understand perfectly that Palin's nervousness may have contributed to her messy sentences, but if she messes up this easily and this much, I think she is in a lot of trouble. People will have a hard time getting the gist of what she's saying, with all those long, compound sentences, and she will come off as foolish and incomprehensible. 

I'd like to see how she does in the debate on Friday, because I really want to hear her discourse. Maybe I'll find more gaffs, or maybe I won't. All I know is that if Palin has gotten a second-language speaker like me picking on her English, she better make improvements. Or it'll just go to show how America has fallen behind the rest of the world. English is your language, so please, speak English properly.