Current Events Watch

“Sic: Intentionally so written — used after a printed word or passage to indicate that it is intended exactly as printed or to indicate that it exactly reproduces an original.” Merriam Webster.

We’ve all seen it, the “sic” between those square brackets in newspapers, magazines, transcripts, online, whenever the writer of the piece wants to make it clear that, whomever it is they may be quoting, the author knows that this word, this phrase, the grammar is wrong, incorrect, misspoken, a mistake of some sort, but they are simply reporting exactly what he/she actually has said or written, verbatim. Adding “[sic]” takes the responsibility off of the reporter, because, really, who wants to be blamed for someone else’s stupidity?

Oddly enough, you seldom see “[sic]” in the news reports quoting George W. Bush following whatever his latest and greatest speech might have been. Then again, the reporters do have limited column space. I’m sure I could be sic-ed too, if I was quote-worthy, but I’m not, so I don’t worry so much. At least I’d never say something as Bush-classic as, “Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?” Or, “You’re working hard to put food on your family.” Both definitely bracketed sic-worthy. Not to mention the thousands of times the man has said “nucular.”

So he’s had a few misspeaks [sic]. We all do from time to time, but generally not every time we open our mouths.

Today he had his press conference explaining why the economy is strong despite some economists’ opinion to the contrary. Okay, whatever fantasy world he’s living in, I want to go there, too. He did support his position, though, by saying that, “Inflation is down, markets are steady, unemployment is relatively low, exports are up and corporate profits seem to be healthy.” Hmmm, wonder which one of those five he’s considering the primary indicator?

There were the requisite “sic moments”, of course. Moments (plural) within just this one sentence, for example: “There is no question that there is some unsettling times in the housing market and credits associated with the housing market,” the president said. If you can’t answer the question “What’s wrong with this sentence?”, you ought not waste your time trying to figure it out. You no doubt have better things to do, like putting food on your family.

Even when well-spoken, there are certainly things that should require a sic tag, not for the grammatical and spelling errors. Sometimes I would think that a reporter would want to make it clear that “he said it, not me!” In his economic “all is well” speech today, when pressed about whether he thought there was a risk of recession, Bush said:

“You need to talk to economists. I think I got a B in Econ 101.”

Well, considering we have a self-admitted C-student president running the show, apparently Econ 101 was actually one of his stronger subjects. Still, apparently not strong enough. The president doesn’t know if there’s a risk of recession? As I watched the speech, it seemed to me that he was in a quandary about what the word even meant. “Talk to economists.” Should the president, particularly when delivering a speech about the state of the nation’s economy, really be deferring to others when asked a simple question about, well, the economy? He didn’t even try to bluff his way out of that one. That was unusual. No wonder we’re in such a mess. This would qualify for one of those quotes warranting a bracketed disclaimer in tomorrow morning’s newspaper report. “I’m just reporting what he said, folks, don’t blame me.”

Of course, economy out of the way, the nation having been assured that everything is A-OK (except for the potential recession, which is still up in the air, since there was no economist in the house to answer that question), the focus turned to other issues, like it usually does. Another special bracket moment here, when asked about progress in Iraq, and why he thinks people there are dissatisfied with the central government. At least Bush continues to amuse. He actually said this:

“Part of the reason why there’s not this instant democracy in Iraq is because people are still recovering from Saddam Hussein’s brutal rule. Sort of an interesting comment, I heard somebody say, ‘Where’s Mandela?’ Well, Mandela’s dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.“

This in reference, of course, to Nelson Mandela who after spending three decades in prison in South Africa for his anti-apartheid activities, became the first democratically elected president in South Africa, and helped reconcile his country after decades of racial division. No more of that burning-tire necklace murder thing going on against the black folks that was the norm under apartheid. Mandela is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a leader known worldwide, yet I have the impression that George thinks the Mandelas are (or were, past tense, since apparently Saddam killed them all!) just another tribe or sect in the cesspool of Iraq. The Kurds, the Sunnis, the Shiites, the Mandelas!

By the way, Mandela is alive and well. In South Africa. And I doubt if he or any of the Mandela clan have at any time ventured into Iraq.

I’d suggest that reporters covering and quoting any Bush speech simply end every article with a single, bold, all caps [SIC]. That would pretty much cover it all, while saving valuable column space. In fact, [SIC AND TIRED] might be more appropriate when it comes to reporting on all things Bush. Bold, all caps.

george w bush, iraq war, economy, bush speech, nelson mandela