Re: OT: Bush quotes (was: Slow Script)
2009/2/5 Eduardo M KALINOWSKI <eduardo@kalinowski.com.br>
>
> Chris Jones wrote:
> > On Wed, Feb 04, 2009 at 01:57:04AM EST, Alex Samad wrote:
> >
> >> -- "It's a school full of so-called at-risk children. It's how we,
> >> unfortunately, label certain children. It means basically they can't
> >> learn. It's one of the best schools in Houston."
> >>
> >> - George W. Bush While speaking about KIPP Academy in Houston, TX
> >>
> >
> > In the future, Samad, please refrain from posting stuff like the above
> > concerning my country's former President.
> >
>
> Strange... I thought you Americans value freedom of speech so much.
> (Can't remember the number of the amendment, though.)
>
> > You and your pals may think it is funny but some of us around here may
> > find it quite offensive.
> >
>
> It's not like he's saying anything offensive about the ex-president.
> He's just quoting what mr. Bush said. If anyone is to blame, it's who
> said the unfortunate sentence.
I think Bush was often quite offensive (in this case, to the children
at KIPP Academy, who he said can't learn), so I can see why Chris
might have been upset at seeing such offensiveness repeated on this
list. As an American myself, I can confirm that having a President
like Bush is not fun, and is surely a painful experience to be
reminded of.
That said, it's easy to take these quotes out of context, especially
in email footers. Bush went on to say that, "these young, mainly
Hispanic youngsters are some of the best learners in Houston." So
clearly they *could* learn after all. At any rate, although this
rendered his argument less consistent, it did perhaps make it slightly
less offensive.
Finally, I think it's worth acknowledging that any quote is
potentially offensive, as it's impossible to accurately judge a
stranger's sensibilities, and we are mostly strangers to each other on
this list.
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