Up early, I finally saw the Kerry speech

[JohnKleeb]

He was great, simply said.

[muse]

1. I finally saw it, also

He was pretty pissed off, huh? He just laid it all out.

I loved the part where he said if he had been elected, no way would he have put the Senate in this situation and that, as a matter of fact he would have sent judges to the confirmation process who would NOT be controversial.

[TayTay]

2. It's funny, but he seemed very much a Masshole to me

in that speech. There were certain speech patterns that appeared that were just common around here. The most notable was that moment when he repeated some moronic Rethug talking point and he paused for a second. He face screwed up into a grimace and he loudly said, "What!" while stepping away from the podium and shifting to his right.

OMG! That is pure Masshole. I have done that hundreds of times. It means that you are encountering something so stupid and unreasoned that you physically and well as mentally can't believe it. (Ahm, I have made that gesture to my teenagers. Sigh!) I loved that. It was one of those signs for long time Kerry watchers that he was supremely pissed off and ready to fight back.

He also used that 'Hellbent for leather' expression. I don't know if that is a regionalism or not, but as I use it it means that someone is about to head out at full speed on a foolish mission. I loved this. I know this is a national debate, but there were a lot of things in this speech that were regional speech patterns and it amused me no end.

[whometense]

3. That gesture

he loudly said, "What!" while stepping away from the podium and shifting to his right.

made me laugh out loud. It was my very favorite part of the speech (even though I know it wasn't the most high minded part).

[TayTay]

4. Seriously, was that something you've seen, oh about a

thousand times before. I really thought that was a Masshole Moment. I don't want to bore the other folks in this forum with this stuff, but, OMG, that was just so familiar it was funny.

Sen. Kerry is much too polite and well-spoken to follow up with the rest of the "What!" sequence. This is, of course, "What ah you, some kind of friggin idiot? Give me a f*cking break." But I know how that sequence goes. I've used it myself more than a few times.

[whometense]

5. Oh, yeah,

I've seen it a million times (and, yes, used it myself including the followup). I didn't realize that was a regionalism. I thought everybody said that. :-)

[Blue_In_AK]

6. That's right....

....except up here we say "What ARE you, some kind of fucking idiot? Give me a fucking break." Otherwise, exactly the same.

[WildEyedLiberal]

7. I think everyone does

I've done it plenty of times, and I'm as Midwest as you get, I imagine.

[karynnj]

8. Common in Chicago area and in NY/NJ

and I could not say with a straight face that the followup doesn't occur in those three polite(?) areas. I think Kerry will be understood nationwide - if it's seen.

[TayTay]

9. Oh I think so too

But sometimes people get carried away saying, he's so polite and formal and whatnot. I see that sometimes, but certainly not others. I see the anger and indignation. And I saw some of that in the speech yesterday. And I think we will see a whole lot more of it.

In so many ways this speech was a longer version of the one he gave on April 21st. I thought he was terrific back then. But I thought he was even better yesterday. The anger is so focused sometimes that you can miss it. Not yesterday. That was just so great.

I adored the part where he said that if he had been President he never, ever would have sent these awful judges up for confirmation in the first place. He also never, ever would have had the idea to ask for a rewrite of the rules. Loved that wholeheartedly.

[elshiva]

10. Isn't he hot when he's angry?

;)