07
Oct
Oct
Look . . .
Andrew Berthoff
Tonight’s second Presidential Debate is sure to be exciting, and the economy is certain to be a focal point once again.
I have noticed, though, the sudden preponderance of the “look” command in political discourse and pundit commentary. Barack Obama has always used the interjection, but now everyone is saying it.
“Look . . . the American people are tired . . .”
“Look . . . Palin’s no dummy . . .”
“Look . . . the Cubs are destined to fail . . .”
Look . . . just count how many times the candidates and the commenters use the expression tonight and ongoing.
Look . . . forget “maverick.” Look is the word du jour.
My bias is clearly showing, but I feel this is much more of a “McCain”ism than it is an “Obama” ism. Or perhaps McCain’s use of it seems more blatant since it comes across in such a condescending way.
When McCain uses “look”, it has the same effect as “the fact is” or “I know better than you” or “you’re not so bright so let me dumb it down”. Similar to the tone that a grandparent takes when they are frustrated with the way the kids are today and they are about to rant about the challenges of having to walk to school uphill both ways.
And Look…don’t think I didn’t notice your jab at the Cubs.
I first noticed Obama using it a lot several months ago. It sounded pretty good and it came naturally to him. Then McCain adopted it, and then the political talking-heads piled on.
By my count, it was used at least a dozen times in the second debate.
I don’t think there’s much chance of Obama using McCain’s worn-out and patronizing “my friends,” though.
And any baseball team with George Will as its mascot is forever doomed . . .
But the Cubs were destined to fail.
The “look” command will always be associated with Rumsfeld in my mind. Taking a regular grilling from the press, he used the command to avoid repeating negitives all the time.
Rumsfeld: what ever happened to that old wrasslin’ coot anyway?
Another frequent user of “look” is Prime Minister Harper in Canada. As with many people who use this word to start an answer, I suspect he is thinking “…you idiot” in his mind each time it comes out. Whether it is Obama, McCain or Harper, I would prefer they just give the answer without the preface.