Our own dangling participle...

 

 

"We hear your words Mr. President, but we are confused on what you mean..."

Most of us can remember those painful lessons from Freshman English. Rules like "don't use double negatives" and "watch out for dangling participles". As time goes on, and memories fade, we forget what a dangling participle is. Quite simply it is "an ambiguous grammatical construct...which can lead to unintentional humor or difficulty in understanding..."

So what in the world does bad grammar have to do with our 44th President. Nothing as far as grammar goes, but quite a bit in how his words and actions don't mesh. Even his most loyal supporters get confused. Our citizens don't understand him, our allies have lost trust in him, and our advisories have long since quite taking him seriously.

The latest example of a dangling participle was the continued delay of the Keystone Pipeline. Even though just about EVERYONE has advised him this was the RIGHT thing to do for national security, jobs and balance of trade, his Loony Left has him frozen in his tracks. The pros and cons of building this pipeline are not even close - the pros outnumber the cons by an order of magnitude or better.

What has really been a slap in the face for President Participle has been the backlash from senators in red states up for re-election. In particular, vulnerable senators in energy states like Louisiana. Mary Landrieu, who in the latest straw poll has a slim lead over her Republican challenger, is livid. She knows this is a "red meat" issue for her state. Words such as "unnecessary, irresponsible and unacceptable" came out of this loyal Democrat's mouth. Nobody, except the fringe Left can understand how a simple decision such as this can take over five years and counting.

In 1957, John F. Kennedy help put together a book called Profiles in Courage. This book told stories on how some in Washington would cross party lines to accomplish brave and bold things which were good for the country. My advice to the President is simply this - on your next vacation to Hawaii, take a copy of this book with you. It might help your grammar, especially with those dangling participles.