MAY 12 / Apology

I APOLOGIZE to the Houston Chronicle's editorial writers for saying they had tripped themselves up in trying to harmonize two figures of speech -- house built on a rock, five pillars -- from President Obama's Georgetown University speech on economic policy.

Wrote the Chronicle: "Underlying this new foundation [meaning the foundation built on a rock] will be what Obama calls 'five pillars' . . . ." 

Wrote Unca D: "How can something that rests on five pillars be called a foundation? What do the pillars rest on?"

Well.

After reviewing the videotape, Unca D sees that it was not the Chronicle that dreamed up the infelicitous vision of a foundation resting on pillars. It was our president, his own TelePrompTer-reading self.

It's a foundation built upon five pillars that will grow our economy and make this new century another American century.

This one sentence contains two Krazy Glued figures of speech, one instance of verb abuse ("grow our economy"), and one world-class generality -- just another day at the office for The Great Communicator.

This absolves the Chronicle of my charge, which I hereby withdraw.

In its place, I charge the Chronicle with modeling its editorial policy and stylebook on Bo, the Portuguese Water Dog -- happy to pad along behind the president wherever he may lead, even to a bowl of poisonous economic policies with laughable verbal conceits sprinkled on top.

Or is it laughable verbal conceits with poisonous economic policies sprinkled on top?

Whatever.

Comments

[madmilker]

tat wus funny!