In the comments to this post, Angie Schultz of Machinery of Night commented on a startling phrase in this piece by Steve Schifferes on the subject of President Bush and Africa. She said:
Talk about your weird sentences:
And now that Mr Bush is essentially a lame-duck President, no longer facing re-election, he has even less clout with Congress…
Apparently, one runs for a second term as President so as to have clout with Congress during one’s first term, but heaven help you if you win, because then you’ll have to serve out four years as a lame duck.
Oh, well, I guess there’s all that oil money to squirrel away for four years.
Robert Conquest in We and They pointed out the clever technique of inserting the word “essentially” where mere facts merit the word “not.” The example he quoted was “America is essentially a totalitarian country.” “Essentially” suggests that the writer and reader have seen a deeper truth beyond the superficial appearances of a situation – without the trouble of actually arguing the case. Bush’s party has a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is difficult to see what more the poor man has to do to avoid being described as “essentially a lame duck president.”
“It is difficult to see what more the poor man has to do to avoid being described as “essentially a lame duck president.””
As far as the average Beeboid minion is concerned — Join the Democrat Party.
I think the Demo Underground would all drink poison Kool-Aid before they let that happen. No, what Mr Bush needs to do to shake off his “essential” lame-duckness is admit that he stole the first election, that Kerry is a war hero with ten times his own pathetic IQ, and that Iraq was a colossal mistake, and then resign in shame, sobbing his pathetic request for forgiveness at the feet of Michael Moore, who would administer a compassionate kick in the teeth. Not that all that would work, mind you, but it would be a start.
A good one for you this morning: the discussion on the EU constitution’s future was ‘balanced’ through the provision of:
1)former US ambassador to the EU who doesn’t care either way
2)British author who is pro-constitution
3)a spokesman from the French National Front.
Genius.
” I think the Demo Underground would all drink poison Kool-Aid before they let that happen.”
[RottyPup thinks this over for a moment] Join the Democrat Party! Now! Now! Now!
I don’t remember the BBC saying that Clinton was essentially a lame duck president at the same time in his second term!
Maybe my memory is not as good as it used to be!
Hmmm. It’s not just the Beeb. Sunday’s Houston Chronicle had an opinion piece masquerading as a news item which stated:
While Bush grapples with the limitations of being a lame duck president, Vice President Dick Cheney seems to find the situation liberating.
Also, my boyfriend asserts that Clinton was considered a “lame duck” in his second term, too, despite Peter’s recollection.
I still say it’s a bizarre description. For one thing, there’s the Presidential veto, should Bush ever get around to using it. And Bush would have to achieve late-Sixties-LBJ levels of unpopularity to keep Republicans who do have to run for re-election from seeking his support. And, again, unless he becomes really wildly unpopular by the end of the term, he’ll be picking the Republican candidate in 2008. Some lame duck.
Yes. Clinton was constantly referred to on the BBC and elsewhere as a lame duck. He had so many problems getting things through that it’s hardly surprising.
But when I was studying US politics, the lecturer insisted that all second-term presidents were referred to as lame ducks. It’s partly because of the pork barrel patronage element.
Others however said it refers to a president in the second half of a second term, or even to a president between the election and the inauguration of the new guy.
Dictionary.com gives, among others, this definition.
“An officeholder who has chosen not to run for reelection or is ineligible for reelection.”
This would include Bush I’m afraid.
…even to a president between the election and the inauguration of the new guy.
As far as I know, this is the original and correct meaning of “lame duck”.