The Incoherent Press Conference

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Gaffes & Whimpers

“Do you really remember any recent interview with a major politician? Usually, the only thing that stands out in the mind is some stupid gaffe or piece of rambling incoherence. And if you go and check the original, it generally turns out that this was prompted by a dull or rambling question.

“Try reading the next transcript of a presidential ‘news conference,’ and see which makes you whimper more: the chief executive’s train-wreck syntax or the lame and contrived promptings from the press.”

—Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), author, critic and journalist, “Oriana Fallaci and the Art of the Interview,” Vanity Fair, 2006

• Editorial Comment: He was stupid first.

PeezPix by Ted Pease

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Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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