Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Trainwreck



One of the small talents I've honed from taking acting classes is deconstructing dialogue to find what, at heart, the character is saying, what his point of view is, how he thinks. Maybe this is why I am frequently baffled at the apparent acceptance of Festus's complete and utter inability to speak coherently without a prepared text in his hand.

I was convinced after both sets of Presidential campaign debates that the country at large would rise up with gales of laughter at the very idea that Bush though he was presidential material. I see Festus's speach as an accurate reflection of the mental process by which he sees the world and makes decisions about policy.

Trust me, there's nothing there. . .

So here's a recent transcription of Festus-speak, then repeated with my snarkanalysis.

After all, the enemy wants to stop democracy. See, that's what they want to do. They want to kill enough people so that -- in the hopes that democracy won't go forward. They tried that prior to -- more than eight million Iraqis voting. They were unable to stop Iraqis from voting, because people want to be free. Deep in everybody's soul, regardless of your religion or where you live, is a desire to be free. And they can't stop it. And what we're going to do is help -- and they can't stop democracy from moving. And so what we're going to do is help make sure those elections are accessible to the Iraqi people.

After all, the enemy wants to stop democracy. Does he really see it in such simple terms? We have a radical Islamic insurgency that has declared war on us. From their viewpoint, democracy is irrelevant, they consider us invading infidels and want us off their land.

See, that's what they want to do. He's repeating himself.  

They want to kill enough people so that -- in the hopes that democracy won't go forward. This is classic Festus speak, he starts a sentence, comes to a complete halt and ends the sentence in a way that's discontinuous with how he started. How did he explain the connection between killing people and democracy not going forward?

They tried that prior to -- more than eight million Iraqis voting.  Again, trainwreck, he came to a full stop in thought and recycled something he just said."They tried that prior to what", I wonder? Who is "they"?


They were unable to stop Iraqis from voting, because people want to be free. No, they were unable to stop Iraqis from voting because the terrorists couldn't kill enough of them to scare them away. 

Deep in everybody's soul, regardless of your religion or where you live, is a desire to be free. How simple it all seems, why don't we get that? Now he's echoing a Rascals song, deep, huh?

And they can't stop it. And what we're going to do is help -- and they can't stop democracy from moving. Three consecutive disjointed phrases in a row, the third an instant replay.


And so what we're going to do is help make sure those elections are accessible to the Iraqi people. "And so" as if that was a closing summary of what he just said, which was devoid of content or explanation.

He said something, but didn't really say anything. I always wonder what thought process is he going thru? Does he just start speaking in hopes that he'll just come up with something coherent enough to pass for an answer by the time he stops? It's as if there are so many verbal landmines he's been programed to avoid that he self-censors himself so tightly that he can't simply articulate a smooth sentence that logically flows from the preceeding one and culminates in a conclusion. It's scary to me that this quality of intellect is running the country. . .

Oh, by the way, the question that was asked was:"Will what is needed to get this area back on its feet have any impact on the timing of troop withdrawals in Iraq?"