Comma Trauma

I confess to a certain intensity (some might meanspiritedly say obsessiveness) when it comes to the niceties of writing: spelling, grammar, punctuation, you know. The sort of stuff most of us hated having shoved down our throats for years in school. Engineers are not supposed to be big on this stuff, but there are times when I wonder about my calling. I try to stay on the good side of trained professionals (editors!), both in the interests of getting it right when I write and to maintain any sort of cred. Thanks to them (well, Big K specifically in this case), I now have copies of Fowler's "Modern English Usage" both at work and at home. I confess these have turned out be more of an insurance policy than a frequent consult. While I'm entranced almost any time I crack the cover, I have far too much other reading on my plate to make time to tease out the nuances in a 2-page+ article on the "Fused Participle"! And that's setting aside the minefields inherent in subtle Anglo/American nuances.

But olde H. W. will have his day:

Illogicalities. The spread of education adds to the writer's burden by multiplying that pestilent fellow the critical reader. -clip-

This semi-offputtingly-titled volume is liberally laced with similarly Mencken-lian (or perhaps G. Marxian?) stuff like this. Maybe we do need to set aside the Current Events reading agenda for a bit.

But back to the original program. I'm sure many of you, literate and enthused about the printed word, are at least aware of the bestseller "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" (Lynne Truss). Actually, most of you read it. It goes well beyond commas, but the titular gag and focus on in this case unneeded comma captures the essence of an excellent and entertaining diatribe pretty well. (And Lynne, I still would have preferred a comma after "Shoots"!)

The bottom line: Commas Matter!

Which brings me to tonight's The Word. Or it would, if this was The Colbert Report. Fortunately it isn't, as that would require wild dances with fake eagles, uncomfortable and expensive wool suits, and openly egomaniacal preening and stagework (I prefer mine in private).

BTW, he has Ms. Huffington as guest tonight!

Anyway, doggedly (woof, woof) trying to stay on track, about that comma. Ms. Truss affirmed my appreciation for it as a critical mark of punctuation, and Big K has got me more alert than any teacher ever did that it is needed after sentence intros that do not include subject. So the comma is a Big Deal.

When it comes to punctuation, that is. I'm here to tell you that I am struggling to integrate the offering on the subject of that mock-Texan frat-boy service-dodging delinquent who somehow stole a key to 1600 Pennsylvania into my understanding of this.

in the meantime im considering suspending any use of punctuation whatsoever

I'll have the transcript up as soon as CNN posts it, but George W. Bush appeared on "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" this afternoon and made one of those stunning remarks that could — or rather, should — become a political problem for the White House.

Blitzer asked the president to respond to the nightmare that Iraq has become, but Bush wouldn't hear of it. He dismissed the ongoing crisis as "just a comma."

Update: Here's the transcript:

BLITZER: Let's move on and talk a little bit about Iraq. Because this is a huge, huge issue, as you know, for the American public, a lot of concern that perhaps they are on the verge of a civil war, if not already a civil war…. We see these horrible bodies showing up, tortured, mutilation. The Shia and the Sunni, the Iranians apparently having a negative role. Of course, al Qaeda in Iraq is still operating.

BUSH: Yes, you see — you see it on TV, and that's the power of an enemy that is willing to kill innocent people. But there's also an unbelievable will and resiliency by the Iraqi people…. Admittedly, it seems like a decade ago. I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is — my point is, there's a strong will for democracy.

Even by Bush's already-low standards, it was a stunning comment. We're talking about a war that has claimed 2,700 American lives and seriously injured 20,000 more. It's a crisis that has, by any reasonable measure, made the threat of terrorism against Americans considerably worse. It's a misadventure that has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, to fight a war sold under false pretenses, and mismanaged with almost child-like incompetence.

Asked to explain himself, the president is unconcerned. Everything we're seeing is "just a comma." I'm sure that will bring comfort to the families of those who have sacrificed so much for Bush's mistakes.

Now, I think I know what the president means. As he sees it, history takes a long view, so three and a half years of mistakes, violence, poor judgment, and corruption are minor details that will be easily overlooked by a long-term triumph. Or so Bush says. Of course, by this logic, everything is "just a comma." Every life, every conflict, and every generation can be dismissed and made to appear trivial by backing up enough degrees.

It is, in other words, the ultimate cop out. Conditions in Iraq are getting worse, not better. The attacks are growing, not shrinking. The casualty rate is going up, not down. More than ever, we're looking to the president for leadership, sound judgment, and clear answers.
Instead, we get, "just a comma." Amazing.

The Serenity of a Clear Blue Mountain Lake

Brief aside only, celebrating seemingly wild and random ganglial connections. Miraculous conjunction, deja vu, coincidence, and conspiracy are all out there on a regular basis if you are open to wishing on a star. (In the spirit of "Don't Think of An Elephant," whatever you do, don't think of Disney, Inc.!)

I was (again) entertaining in my head some Dylan lyrics the other day, including the words "boots of Spanish Leather," in this case I believe courtesy of Ms. Baez. Unfettered (i.e., bus-ride)brainambling eventually led to the song "Thirsty Boots." Speculating in more conscious state later as to the author of that tune. I thought I remembered a Dylan recording of it, and idly wondered if it might be his composition. That topic passed.

Subsequently my mother-in-law Donna mentioned that she'd enjoyed a PBS special on John Denver, and I found myself watching replay. I have eclectic tastes, and pop music is definitely a part of my play list. And I'm a sucker for reprises of the lives of popular musicians and their ouevres. Croce, Guthrie, Holly, J. Rogers, Orbison, H. Williams, Lennon, Cash, Presley, etc. are all potential grippers for me. This was a good one, leaving me agog over all the great Denver tunes that evoke memories and friends and places.

I pulled out my one JD disk when back at keyboard, wanting to listen to full version of a couple tunes shorted on show while doing some political blogging. Lo-and-behold (Basement Tapes!), here is John doing Thirsty Boots, an excellent tune just as I recalled, with composition credit to Eric Andersen. Mystery solved.

Lamont Calls Lieberman on NIE

Connecticut Senatorial candidate Ned Lamont has a great followup on the news of last April's National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that was the basis for the NYT article and Greenwald post that triggered my last post. I believe there is also a significant Washington Post article on the subject this weekend. Lamont's response takes the form of a letter to Joe Lieberman, Senator (D) who Lamont defeated in the Connecticut primary, largely due to Lieberman's shameless support for the Iraq invasion and occupation and his sniveling subservience to our misbegotten little tinhorn bully-boy george.

I'm not holding my breath in expectation that the cowardly Lieberman will even acknowledge the letter, never mind respond. But it is energizing to find another sign of a Democratic candidate willing to put the chips on the table.

Dear Senator Lieberman:

As I am sure you have seen, the New York Times today reported that the National Intelligence Estimate in April concludes “that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.” The NIE represents the consensus view of the U.S. government’s 16 major intelligence agencies. The Times notes that the Iraq War is a major “reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology” and cites one intelligence official acknowledging that the NIE “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse.” Let me put this news in terms that you can clearly understand: Our own intelligence agencies now confirm that the Iraq War is undermining America’s security and credibility at our nation’s peril.

With this report being released on the eve of your major address on Iraq, I and thousands of other citizens in Connecticut expect to hear your response to this news in your speech, considering you have echoed President Bush’s claim that the Iraq War has made our country safer, and that staying the course will help keep us safe. As the NIE now shows, that is absolutely not the case – in fact, the Iraq War has and continues to unnecessarily endanger U.S. national security. Never again can a political leader claim otherwise, lest they deliberately ignore the concrete facts presented to us by our intelligence agencies.

Senator Lieberman, I sincerely hope you will provide answers to these questions in your speech, because there are many who feel that Time Magazine was correct when it wrote that when it comes to Iraq, “Either Senator Lieberman is so divorced from reality that he’s completely lost the plot or he knows he’s spinning a line.” Clearly, Iraq is the most pressing national issue of our time and like many others, I was perplexed a few weeks ago when you gave a major speech on national security but failed to publicly explain your position on Iraq. As one newspaper editorial said, “Any politician worth his salt should know what he thinks about Iraq, off the top of his head – and he should be willing and able to articulate it.” Similarly, thousands of Connecticut citizens are perplexed that you have skipped half of all U.S. Senate votes on the subject, including votes that occurred while you were in Washington, D.C.

At a time of war, our state and our country need leaders in Congress who are willing to speak frankly with the public and who are willing to fulfill their constitutional obligations to hold the executive branch accountable. Our troops serving in combat and the millions of citizens concerned about this war deserve no less.

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