Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Pock-i-stahn v. Eye Raq.

It seems a lot of people on the right are upset with the way Obama properly pronounced the name of the country of Pakistan. But, it's just great for Sarah Palin to mispronounce the name of Iraq. 

Why is ignorance so celebrated but speaking correctly excoriated? See this take on the subject over at Tapped.
To pronounce something correctly is to be "ostentatiously exotic," while pronouncing something incorrectly is raised to the level of something like a presidential qualification. Meanwhile, there are thousands of Americans of Pakistani descent who are themselves "ostentatiously exotic" by virtue of their names (and it would be elitist of them to expect anyone to pronounce them correctly) and ancestry.
Keep in mind that these are the same people who insist that a culture of ignorance that hold black people back while lauding Sarah Palin's vast ignorance of public policy as some kind of tremendous virtue. They demand merit from others and only mediocrity from themselves, because said mediocrity is touted as proof of authenticity.

No comments: