WHY TRUMP ESCHEWS GRAMMAR.
There appears to be a nexus between Republican leaning voters and candidates who facilely murder the English language, and I’m trying to puzzle out its meaning, which certainly must be profound. George W. Bush was a serial molester of the spoken word; and Donald Trump, on a daily basis, thwarts grammar convention from both the podium and the keyboard. Both men, despite their tawdry resumes, are darlings of Republicans.
Even many self-identifying right-wing conservatives, who one would assume embrace old-school values, like rhetoric instruction heavily salted with sentence diagramming drills, embrace the stumble-tongued politicians. This voting bloc appears to equate grammatical recklessness with authenticity. Where loose lips once were blamed for sinking ships, they now are equated with elevating the truth.
These voters support the strictest, pre-Wilsonian interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. They champion honest mathematics in the creation of federal budgets. But they mysteriously eschew Strunk & White and Fowler .
Dubya out “Yogied” Yogie Berra, the original All-American Malaprop. Spotting Dubya’s “Bush-isms” became a national pastime that generated hundreds of books and news features. Journos focused with unusual intensity on on every presidential pronouncement, looking not only for news of international import, but for the real nugget — the president’s latest linguistic atrocity.
May favorite Bush-sim is, “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
Another classic Bush-ism is, “And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I’m sorry it’s the case, and I’ll work hard to try to elevate it.”
One could argue in this instance that Bush meant what he said, because, subsequently, he delivered on his promise.
For those of you interested in a nostalgic stroll down memory lane, here’s a link to Bush’s most memorable mangled sentences: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/bushisms/2009/01/ws_greatest_hits.html
Trump is not as elegantly inelegant as Bush but, nevertheless, the glory hound quickly has established himself as a first-class butcher of the English language. Cunning as “the Donald” is, I can’t help to suspect that he is deliberately murdering grammar to put a lock on the anti-grammar GOP bloc.
No other member of the Twitter-gencia tweets with the un-edited abandon of The Donald. Here’s a recent entry:
“Strange, but I see wacko Bernie Sanders allies coming over to me because I’m lowering taxes, while he will double & triple them, a disaster! “
Notice the brilliant application of the misplaced modifier. “Wacko” modifies the collective noun “allies,” as does “Bernie Sanders.” Taken literally, Trump is proclaiming that the crazy people who were backing Sanders are now backing him because of his plan to slash taxes and this development is “a disaster!”
What Republicans read, however, is that Sanders is the nut and that his supporters are embracing Trump’s low-tax scheme, which l economists have shown would throw the country deeply into debt if ever adopted.
Here is another classic Trump-ism in a Twitter tweet: “Criminal deportations in the U.S. are the lowest number in many years. We are letting criminals knowingly stay in our country. MUST CHANGE!”
Read in accordance to the rules of grammar, Trump is saying that we must not let criminals know that they are breaking U.S. laws by remaining in the country. His supporters know what he really means.
Deliberately dispensing the rules of grammar is a brilliant political move, when you think about it. Trump can claim, “I did not say that! The press is misquoting me.”
Trump can rearrange the meaning of his words with impunity. They mean whatever his supporters want them to mean. He can utter no wrong. Small wonder he’s ahead of his competition in the polls.
(Note: Always dangerous for a writer to write about grammar! The grammar police are out there!)