It was my own private mondegreen moment, but I heard "pees" when he almost certainly meant "peas." Didn't he?
Of course, it wasn't helped by the preceding image, "Pull off the Band-Aid." Now, I don't know about you but my mommy always told me not to pull off the Band-Aid since that always exposed the boo-boo to infection. He might be the mommy to his base but he ain't no mommy to me.
What strange syndrome is the cause of these increasingly bizarre metaphors? Is it just that he's running out of ways to express the same tired ideas or is he getting some input from somewhere that tells him he's a really great spontaneous orator and he should just go with whatever the voices in his head are telling him to say without pause or filter.
And speaking of the "voices," there was the weird self-referencing gesture to the head when he spoke about listening to "voices." It was immortalized by the much maligned but still brilliantly blond(e) Ann Althouse here:
Yes, we must all beware of "listening to voices," especially when they are all in your head. The ancient Romans employed a man who walked behind the current Caesar-in-Chief in public ceremonies while he was being cheered on all sides. The man behind Caesar was to whisper in his ear, "Remember you are mortal."
I wish there was some evidence that there's somebody in the White House with the same job, but as far as I can see the only thing being whispered into this president's ear is, "You go girl."
Posted by Vanderleun at July 11, 2011 9:56 AM
When I was very little and refused to eat my peas, my Mother would make me sit at the table until they were gone, no matter how many hours that might be. Finally, in frustration, she started playing the "feeding game," where she would sing, "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians," pop went the spoonful of peas force fed into my mouth, "Four little, Five Little, Six Little Indians," peas popped into mouth, etc. etc.
One evening, my Grandfather was there and he told my Mom that making anyone eat peas was abuse. As an ever vigilant child who learned very early in life to listen to adults' private conversations if I wanted to learn the really good stuff, my Grandpa became my very favorite person. He felt the same about spinach, which made him twice as cool in my child's eyes.
Posted by: Sara (Pal2Pal) at July 11, 2011 11:18 AM"Barry, eat your peas." Now that's a political slogan for you.
Posted by: ahem at July 11, 2011 11:58 AM"..input from somewhere that tells him he's a really great spontaneous orator and he should just go with whatever the voices in his head are telling him.."
I think he's been one to many times around the track with the "head" man; where is that pic you have of homey hitting on a doob?
Only 29% of voting age population turned out in '08. If that just goes up to 39% in '12 he looses in a landslide. Fingers crossed. But what really should happen is a fast and furious impeachment proceeding for gunrunner - if the house had any gumption, and we know they don't, elsewise there wouldn't even BE any negotiations to raise a debt ceiling that if raised every time its reached plainly isn't real anyhow.
Posted by: John Hinds at July 11, 2011 12:23 PMThird-stage syphillitics also hear voices in their heads....but they usually can't/don't ruin the nation.
Posted by: Blastineau at July 11, 2011 12:35 PMMr V
Precisely ... WTF is up with the mangled language
"Eat our peas" ? .... I love peas. Was he alluding to some Floyd lyric. But that referenced meat and pudding, not the noble legume. Maybe his synapses have been fried courtesy of years of weed, Kools and slurpees. What was Lord 'Bongo attempting with this malaprop ? I suspect he was off-'prompter. I also suspect his leash will be shortened dramatically in the future. Given the instantaneous character of the world I-stream, his handlers cannot allow him more air time.
Znayu ?
Posted by: OhioDude at July 11, 2011 12:43 PMThird-stage syphillitics also hear voices in their heads....but they usually can't/don't ruin the nation
Not so much anymore, anyway, but George III and Henry VIII sure did try. :-)
Posted by: Don Rodrigo at July 11, 2011 1:15 PMThe I-have-a-gift man's cheese is slipping off his cracker.
Posted by: G-Rope at July 11, 2011 1:19 PMSrsly? "Eat our peas." ???
That is the most delicious political soundbite the man could ever deliver to his adversaries. The puns just write themselves, the illustrations just leap into the collective consciousness unbidden. Haunt! Haunt! Haunt him with this. The GOP could never hope to pay someone enough for this gift of gaffe.
Posted by: Joan of Argghh! at July 11, 2011 1:23 PMDuuuuude! That sounds like what a parent would say to a child. I have parents, wonderful folks they are, they're the only people who'd talk to me like this (yes, still do, Asian parents). Talking like this shows contempt for me as an adult.
Seems like he used stuff that made an impact on hims as a child, like Sputnik and that statement about tonsil surgeries, to try to get his point across, but it only made him look (and sounds) like he was stuck in the 60's.
What next? Maybe a speech delivered from the White House near a fireplace with him wearing a smoking jacket holding an unlit pipe trying to be all fatherly-like.
Posted by: Blademonkey at July 11, 2011 7:59 PMVisualize Whirled Peas.
Posted by: azlibertarian at July 11, 2011 8:32 PMI hated peas until I read James Joyce's The Dubliners at school. One of the characters has a plate of peas with vinegar and pepper. Never would have thought of that combination. I always eat peas that way now.
Posted by: Brett_McS at July 12, 2011 2:10 AMShow up at the next Bozo fund raiser with a peashooter and a bag of dried peas. Feed him his peas.
Posted by: Peccable at July 12, 2011 6:21 AMThe pea-shooter is the best idea yet.
John, don't get the cart before the horse. There is plenty of time in the coming year to play out Gun-Runner. To do it this summer would be a waste of ammo.
Posted by: Casca at July 12, 2011 11:18 AMCasca:
On the other hand, we don't want to give them enough time to allow the agencies involved to shred the relevant documents and erase hard drives. I'd bet real money they're already doing that at a Fast & Furious pace.
The Won™ is all wee-wee'd up about peas.
He sounds like he's addressing a group of 6 year olds.
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