Making Light :: Mr. Bush outdoes himself :: comments

Mr. Bush outdoes himself

I wouldn't have believed this story, but it's in CNN's own transcription of the Crossfire that aired on May 28th,...

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #1 from Clark Myers

Thu, 30 May 2002 04:19:08 -0500

site for Spiegel:
http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,196865,00.html
Bush seinen Amtskollegen mit der Frage verblfcfft: "Do you have blacks, too?" ("Haben Sie auch Schwarze?")
Rice, 47, die bemerkte, wie erstaunt der Brasilianer ob der Frage war, rettete die Situation, indem sie Bush aufkle4rte: "Mr. President, Brasilien hat wahrscheinlich mehr Schwarze als die USA, man sagt, es ist das Land mit den meisten Schwarzen audferhalb Afrikas."

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Posted May 30, 2002 4:19 AM by Clark Myers

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #2 from Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Thu, 30 May 2002 05:02:22 -0500

Clark, I don't have more than a smattering of German, but that looks to me like the original of Carville's story, and I get the impression that Carville's version is a straight translation of it. Would that be correct?

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Posted May 30, 2002 5:02 AM by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #3 from Beth Bernobich

Thu, 30 May 2002 15:14:07 -0500

It's not exact, but close enough. (There's a phrase in there that comments how astonished the Brazilian president was at Bush's question.)

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Posted May 30, 2002 3:14 PM by Beth Bernobich

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #4 from Arthur Hlavaty

Thu, 30 May 2002 17:08:29 -0500

This may be out of date, but I remember reading that Brazil has the second largest black population in the world, after Nigeria.

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Posted May 30, 2002 5:08 PM by Arthur Hlavaty

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #5 from Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Thu, 30 May 2002 19:19:24 -0500

Thank you, Beth. I've been thinking that's the missing part of the story; that he must have been astonished. He cannot have failed to be astonished.

I fear Bush II's stupidity and ignorance, but I'm even more afraid of the unacknowledged debts you incur when you push an unsuitable candidate into office.

Arthur, I've seen that same stat quoted here and there, so it's either good, or it's false but unavoidable.

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Posted May 30, 2002 7:19 PM by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #6 from Bob Webber

Thu, 30 May 2002 22:55:16 -0500

I can usually do okay rounding off edges and emphasizing contrasts in a Babelfish translation for flavour. For this passage the Bobelfish produces:

Bush his Colleague with a Question astonishes, "Do you have Blacks, too?"

Rice (47) -- she remarking was, how astonished the Brazilianer by the Question was, rescuing was the Situation, inthat she Bush cleared up [on this point]: "Mr President, Brazil has probably more Blacks than the USA, they say, it is the Country with the most Blacks outside of Africa."

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Posted May 30, 2002 10:55 PM by Bob Webber

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #7 from Beth Bernobich

Fri, 31 May 2002 08:24:08 -0500

That's far better than some Babelfish translations I've seen. Babelfish has trouble with context, as you might imagine, and often leaves me muttering "Ist nicht korrektheit."

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Posted May 31, 2002 8:24 AM by Beth Bernobich

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #8 from Christopher Hatton

Fri, 31 May 2002 14:14:56 -0500

Am I the only one who thinks that Dan Quayle somehow replaced the Shrub some years back? You know, with cosmetic surgery or something?

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Posted May 31, 2002 2:14 PM by Christopher Hatton

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #9 from Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Fri, 31 May 2002 14:51:41 -0500

There's this scene in =The Wind and the Lion= that starts with the Secretary of State getting seated next to the Japanese envoy...

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Posted May 31, 2002 2:51 PM by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #10 from Bob Webber

Sat, 01 Jun 2002 00:41:12 -0500

Isn't it about time for Dan Quayle to be publicly acknowledged by his Poppy?

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Posted June 1, 2002 12:41 AM by Bob Webber

Mr. Bush outdoes himself -- comment #11 from Bob Webber

Sat, 01 Jun 2002 14:18:10 -0500

On mature reflection, I'd replace "astonished" with either "dumbfounded" or "gobsmacked."

"Seeing how gobsmacked the Brazilian president was, Ms Rice, 47, explained to Mr Bush..."

BTW, why do they mention her age?

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Posted June 1, 2002 2:18 PM by Bob Webber