| What's Jean-François Kerry Saying? |
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October 19, 2004 |
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Listen to Rush…
(…play the Kerry speaking French to Haitian immigrants)
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
Grab audio sound bite number 17. I listened to this during the break here. We have Kerry speaking French to the Haitian immigrants in Orlando yesterday. This is taken from the Internet. My hearing is not the best so I asked the people who were listening with me, "Does that even sound like Kerry to you?" And they all said, not sure. Doesn't sound like Kerry. It sounded more like -- well, here, you see what this sounds like to you. This is ostensibly Jean-Francois Kerry in Orlando yesterday shoring up support from the Haitian immigrants.
And, by the way, don't forget this. Yesterday we had the story, that the problems in Haiti could, one Brazilian UN official who was in Haiti trying to stop the bleeding down there, says that the problems in Haiti may be traceable back to John Kerry seven months ago when he said he would have sent troops down there to prop up Aristide. Aristide is gone, he's in exile living in Africa somewhere, but Kerry said he'd have sent troops down there which is maybe giving a sense of false hope to Aristide supporters that he's going to be returning if Kerry wins. And so they're rumbling down there, and they're trying to keep hope alive and make it like their guy is going to come back. So he may have a sort of a twofer going down there with Haiti being the cause of the unrest. And now he's out there trying to shore up -- and this is going to be a huge constituency, you know, the Haitian immigrant vote. I mean, can't win the presidency without that, folks. Ha-ha-ha-ha. It's really trying to shore up the black vote. Here's what he said. |
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 KERRY: So many places we should be doing more, we should be doing more in Haiti where we need to help the Haitian people. We should be doing more -- we should be doing more -- we should be doing more (speaking French.)
RUSH: There you have it, 23 seconds, no clue what he's saying there, speaking in French, John Kerry to the Haitian immigrant audience in Orlando. Now, I have to tell you, folks, that didn't sound like Kerry to me. Did it sound like Kerry to you? Be honest, Mr. Snerdley. Did it sound like Kerry to you, Brian? Be honest. Could you hear a little bit of Kerry? Brian says, "Well, it has to be. I mean, it's Kerry." We're not making this stuff up, but I mean it didn't sound like Kerry. It sounded like some other world leader from World War II to me, some of those old tapes you hear in the beer halls. But I have a hearing problem. So, I'd love to know what he was saying. It sounded like he was saying something he kept repeating over and over. We need to do more? What, you speak French, Mr. Snerdley? That was in English? We need to do more? I mean you could hear -- let me hear this again. I thought the whole thing was in French. He's speaking English and I still can't understand him? Okay, the last sentence, okay, here, listen. You got it ready to go there Mike? Dooba dooba, let's listen to it again.
(Replaying of sound bite.)
RUSH: Sounds like we need you to do more? We need to be doing more. Well, that's -- no, Kerry, sir, you need to be doing more. Here you go sloughing it off on his supporters. I mean his wife did say -- who, you mean Teresa? His wife said let the kids go naked. That was not Haiti. No, it was Grenada after the hurricane. Yep. It was Grenada. We were sending clothes down there instead of food and Teresa said don't do that, let the kids go naked for a while, we need to send food, not clothes. It was Grenada. If she said it about Haiti, then that's news to me, but I wouldn't be surprised.
END TRANSCRIPT |
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Read the Articles... |
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Headline: Kerry Speaks French
Subhead: But does anyone know what he said?
Source: Slate
By: Chris Suellentrop
ORLANDO—Let's see: Your opponent is characterizing you as an effete internationalist willing to "turn America's national security decisions over to international bodies or leaders of other countries." In particular, he suggests, in all seriousness, that you want to call up Jacques Chirac for permission before deploying the military. At the Republican National Convention, you were portrayed as a beret-wearing poodle named "Fifi Kerry." How should you defend yourself against these slanders?
By speaking French on the stump, of course. Click here to hear John Kerry's foray into the language of Paris during a Monday rally here. I wasn't watching Kerry on stage when he made his remarks, but from the context he appears to have seen someone from Haiti and decided to acknowledge the person in his or her native tongue.
What does Kerry say? My knowledge of French is limited to the lyrics to "Lady Marmalade," so I consulted my friend John Wilkerson, a Washington journalist and French speaker. He translates the first part as, "You're Haitian? OK," but says the rest sounded like gibberish. "I think at that point he was just a character on Saturday Night Live," Wilkerson says.
Readers? Can anyone make it out? Post your explanations, serious or otherwise, in the Fray. Slug them "Kerry's French translation."
Scotland's Sunday Herald called Kerry's French fluency a "campaign secret" yesterday. Looks like the secret is out. Here's some suggested spin for the Kerry campaign: He wasn't speaking French. He was speaking Freedom.
Update, 10/19/04: According to the New York Times, Agence France-Presse, and bazillions of readers, Kerry said, "Je vais aider les Haitiens," which means, "I will help the Haitians." Sticklers say Kerry mispronounced both "Haiti" and "Haitians," which caused several people to think he said, "I will help the states." Canadians said they had the easiest time understanding Kerry, since they're used to listening to American-accented French.
Assessments of Kerry's accent ranged from "impeccable" to "good" to "mediocre" to "abominable" to "better than Bush's Texas-twinged Spanglish." One correspondent wrote, "It sounds more like, 'I'm going to help the Chechens!' "
My favorite fanciful translation: "I have a plan to learn French."
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