The White House's unprecedented use of "unprecedented' (global warming, Reagan, polls)

[roysoldboy]

Have you heard the use of the word, unprecedented, coming from the White House in the past few months? If so did you ever give any thought to whether or not what was being described as that really was unprecedented? It seems that the word has been misused many times in that time and it is about time somebody exposed that to us.

The White House's unprecedented use of 'unprecedented' - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091125/pl_politico/29896 - broken link)

[kingchef]

exactly...please add: sustainable, carbon footprint, green, leed, and traditionally historically black to the list.

[saganista]

Thanks, I'll take an unwarranted use of "unprecedented" over an unwarranted use of "weapons of mass destruction" pretty much any day of the week...

[sanrene]

The White House’s announcement of its unprecedented — “a first by an American president visiting China” — town hall meeting with students in Beijing, for instance, drew a collective eye roll in certain circles back home, namely among former aides to President George W. Bush, who had already been grumbling about Obama’s carefree application of “unprecedented.”

Did the Chinese pull the plug on 'W' like they did with the dunce?

[roysoldboy]

Originally Posted by saganista

Thanks, I'll take an unwarranted use of "unprecedented" over an unwarranted use of "weapons of mass destruction" pretty much any day of the week...

I don't really think you read much of that fairly long link, or you would have known that so many of his unprecedented acts have been preceded by other Presidents. Now I don't know what his speech writers are told to do but if he isn't first his deal is not unprecedented. As I said in another thread today words do mean something and Obama said that more than once in his campaign. Precedent has a meaning but evidently he and his speech writer don't know what it is.

I suppose you didn't see what the author of the article said about all the Presidents who have preceded him in Q and A sessions in China. Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan just to mention the most recent.

Now he did come in with an unprecedented hole in the budget. He did get a $1 trillion stimulus and has spent an unprecedented amount of money in his first 10 months, but the word has just been used by him too many times. How does he maintain credulity when he does this?

[LauraC]

I can't remember which presidential administration used the term but I remember "Herculean effort" was all the rage during one administration and I was so taken with it, I used it in reports.

[roysoldboy]

Originally Posted by LauraC

I can't remember which presidential administration used the term but I remember "Herculean effort" was all the rage during one administration and I was so taken with it, I used it in reports.

Would that effort made be one that would precede Obama? I think that that effort would preclude his talk about an unprecedented effort since it came before his.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by roysoldboy

How does he maintain credulity when he does this?

Unlike so many right-wingers, I don't think that Obama is out to maintain any level of credulity at all. Neither do I think that incidents of technically inappropriate use of the word "unprecedented" comprise any sort of issue at all. The whole thing strikes me as yet another low-brow stretch-and-strain effort by right-wingers to manufacture an issue where none in fact exists. They have all the time in the world to wail over teleprompters, wagyu beef, date night, and death panels, but their budget has no numbers and their health plan doesn't insure anybody. This is just another example of what a party exclusively engaged in disservice to America actually looks like.

[BigJon3475]

Obama has relied on “unprecedented” in more than 90 instances, using the word at least 129 times in everything from major addresses to small speeches, statements, memorandums and proclamations. (Bush, by contrast, used the word 262 times over eight years.)

Obama even treads on unprecedented territory in ways he’s not trying to highlight. At this point in his presidency he’s spent more time on the golf course

A little Thanksgiving humor. His massive use of the word "unprecedented" is unprecedented.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by roysoldboy

Would that effort made be one that would precede Obama? I think that that effort would preclude his talk about an unprecedented effort since it came before his.

I think "Herculean effort" belonged to the George HW Bush administration but I could be wrong. It was used in a speech, maybe the State of The Union, and it caught on big time. It showed up in government and non-Government reports. The media used it. I think it was even used on a TV show. It was not mocked as far as I can remember. It just became popular. Then, like all good phrases, it was out like John Travolta's white disco suit.

I'm thinking "unprecedented" will go the way of the dinosaur, too. It's just not special enough and can be applied too willy-nilly. It's not even a phrase. It's just an adopted and overused word.

Think of the Obama phrases that never caught on like "overseas contingency operation" for the war on terror. That never caught on because, well frankly, it was wussy. It kind of conjurs up images of some guy dipping his big toe in the swimming pool to see how cold the water is.

Then there was "man caused disasters" for acts of terrorism. I think regular people were aghast at that one and liberals thought it sounded sexist. That one never really got out of the starting gate.

"Global warming" was around before Obama but the switcheroo to "climate change" was to cover all bases just in case the earth started to cool in the middle of trying to pass some big spending bill to combat global warming. Well, that and the polls starting to show people weren't buying global warming.

Where, oh where, is this administration's "Axis of Evil?" I throw down the gauntlet to President Obama's State of The Union speech writer. Give us a phrase, man. Give us a phrase!