We also provide the links, because Slate — leading online journal that it is — doesn’t.
Here’s Slate’s Bushism of the Day for today:
“I want to appreciate those of you who wear our nation’s uniform for your sacrifice.”—Jacksonville, Fla., Jan. 14, 2005
I take it the supposed humor comes from the ambiguity of “sacrifice”: Bush was obviously expressing his appreciation of soldiers, because of their sacrifice. (A bit clunky — “thank” would have been better — but “appreciate” is hardly risible here.) But it might also sound to some people like he’s appreciating their wearing a uniform to their sacrifice, which brings up visions of “sacrifice” in the sense of “human sacrifice” and death. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems to me like the only quibble that Slate can have with Bush’s line, unless they’re trying to make something out of the substitution of “I want to appreciate” for “I want to thank.”
OK, here’s the context:
[W]e’ve got a lot on the agenda. Obviously, winning the war on terror is still on my mind. And I want to appreciate those of you who wear our nation’s uniform for your sacrifice and for joining our great country’s cause of freedom. (Applause.)
Even setting aside the applause, does this sentence really look that silly in context? Or silly at all?
If you think it does look silly, then you wouldn’t fault Slate for omitting the context. But if I’m right that most people would find the quote to be much more sensible in context than out of context, then is the Slate excerpt really fair? Yes, it’s humor, but it’s a humorous dig that’s meant to make a serious statement. The question is whether it makes the statement fairly or not.
UPDATE: Several people suggested that Slate is trying to make fun of the “I want to appreciate” — Bush, the theory goes, is saying that he doesn’t really appreciate the soldiers, but just wants to appreciate them. That strikes me as a pretty weak quibble. “Want to” is a pretty commonplace empty filler; “I want to thank” equals “I thank,” “I want to suggest” equals “I suggest,” “I want to say that . . .” equals “I say that . . .” which really equals nothing at all. (Naturally, sometimes “I want to” does mean “I want to”; it’s generally clear from context whether or not it does.)
Like empty filler generally, it isn’t elegant, but it hardly seems laughable. No-one says “Ha ha ha, he said ‘I want to thank,’ which means he isn’t really thanking, but just wants to do it and for some reason can’t.” Likewise, I think, for “I want to appreciate” — a much less common phrase, but clearly an adaptation of the more common “I want to thank.”
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