Friday, September 12, 2008

What May Really Said, for the slow of hearing



It's a minor nuisance, but here's a slowed-down recording of the audio clip being misrepresented on the web.

Do politicians really think people are stupid? I generally judge that by their their stunning election promises.

Noni

9 comments:

RP. said...

OK, so whereas I was on the fence before, it's now clear to me she's saying "I" and not "they". Or am I wrong?

Saskboy said...

I too think the campaign promises indicate better which politicians talk down to us with 2¢ buying of our votes, and which talk to us like adults who can understand economics.

MarkG said...

Sounds like "I" to me, though I'm sure she meant "they". It seems to be a Freudian slip that perhaps explains why she feels ridings such as Central Nova require advanced gerrymandering for her to obtain the results she desires.

Lord Kitchener's Own said...

How anyone could listen to that and hear "I" is well beyond me.

It's CLEARLY "they" (imho).

Erik said...

How anyone could listen to that and hear "I" is well beyond me.

Well, John Bennett thought it was "I". Here's what he initially had to say about the recording:

"It’s an attempt by the Conservatives through a front website to attack the credibility of Elizabeth May," Green spokesperson John Bennett told The Tyee. "They took what she said, cut it up, then put it back together."

Actually, John might have said, "They took what I said, cut it up, then put it back together." What do you think?

KEvron said...

the threat of lawsuit was a blunder. been retracted. fine. but i don't believe leftdog's going to rectify hyer deliquency, but leave it up to tvo instead.

she clearly said "they", and the ambiguous (to some - i say she agrees that there is little political will for a carbon tax; in order to answer the question, "why is the so little political will", she must first agree to the lack thereof) editorializing afterward supports this (why would she agree to her own assessment? "i think canadians are stupid, and i agree with that"? it doesn't add up).

KEvron

Erik said...

I think we can all agree that "clearly" isn't the right word to describe the specific part of the tape. Anyone who professes otherwise has clearly better ears than most of us :)

What bothers me most in this case is that the obvious confusion (rightly/wrongly) is being strategically abused by the Green Party, specifically by John Bennett.

During his initial reaction to the tape, he never objected to the transcript ("I think Canadians are stupid") of the tape, but solely to the origins. If he so clearly heard that the transcript was wrong too, then why did he NEVER bring that up in the first place?

The answer is less difficult. It's all strategy to cover this thing up: fine with me.

I learned a lot about the Greens' spokesperson John Bennett. Acusing others of forgery first, and then apologizing by stating that "Elizabeth May clearly says "they" think Canadians
are stupid"
is nothing more then a non-apology to me, and a dishonest one too.

I look forward to the debates. I'm glad the Mayniak is in it!

KEvron said...

"I think we can all agree that 'clearly' isn't the right word to describe the specific part of the tape."

lol! "inarguably", then, in light of noni's slo-fi clip.

KEvron

Noni Mausa said...

Hi folks.

I must mention that I needed to slow down the tape to hear the "they" also.

But the bald statement of saying voters are stupid is so unlike eMay and in another way unlike any career politico, that I would have been seriously surprised to hear it from anyone, least of all May.

But I have to say, when I hear some of the Sarah-worshippers out there, I think you could easily make a case for it.

Did you catch the book review/interview the other day of "The Myth of the Rational Voter"? I tend to agree with the author -- but the trouble is, who decides who the "rational" voters are? All I can hope for is that most of the irrationality cancels out on all sides.

Noni