I’ll Tell You What’s “Inartful!”
Barack Obama’s response to Wesley Clark’s Sunday attack on Senator John McCain?
It was an inartful distraction.
There’s no such word. Well, distraction is a real word. An authentic word. But inartful is not.
There’s no such word in the dictionary as of this moment.
But I expect Google to be making a change soon.
I’ve certainly seen the non-word, “inartful” all around the blogosphere recently, flowing out of Democrat operative’s mouths as easily as the words Katrina and Abu Ghraib did during their hyped up eras. It’s one of the shortest and most inaccurate words Democrats have used recently to shield the Obama Messiah from his many gaffes and it’s not even a word! (Just like Obama’s not really the Messiah.)
William Safire pegged inartful as not a word over twenty years ago when writing about then Governor Mario Cuomo’s usage of it.
The use of the non-word, inartful reflects not only on Barack Obama but on those who promote and support him.
Obama has marketed himself as an authentic man of hope and change. He would have done better to have actually apologized to John McCain and then kicked Clark off his campaign.
Obama is turning into quite the artful dodger during this presidential campaign.
But inartful?
That buzzword won’t hunt.
UPDATE: Here come the obligatory media reports following up Wesley Clark’s attack on John McCain’s military service…
Military service: A diminished campaign asset?
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I hate to tell you, but there is no definition of English language. No one has the authority to declare something to not be a word. If people use it, it's a word, whether you or Safire like it or not. It may not be accepted by some, but it is a word nonetheless.
In the case of "inartful" it is contructed of a common noun and common suffix and prefix such that its meaning is clear to anyone conversant in English.
July 1st, 2008 | #
Well, if Safire found someone using the word 20 years ago, and it's still being used today, it's a word, even if it has not made its way to the dictionary. No matter that it's a word with an imprecise meaning. That means it's a perfect Obama word.
July 1st, 2008 | #
Good stuff. However, I still can't find any Bush-hating hippie who can tell me why decider is not a real word. Or at least legitimately what it is, which is succinctiude itself.
July 1st, 2008 | #
Poodle doodle. I tried to spell succinctitude.
July 1st, 2008 | #
He was the Law Review editor at Harvard Law. Who are we plebeians to question his use of the language?
Besides, how much difference can there be between unartful and inartful?
Of course, what he's suggesting is that Clark's attacks were valid, but just poorly expressed. That doesn't get either him or Clark off the hook for the cheap shot and the silly attempt to dismiss McCain's entire life based on his service in Vietnam.
It's particularly hypocritical for Democrats, who are still boiling over Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, to belittle real heroism.
It's true that being a squadron commander doesn't qualify you to be CINC, any more than being skipper of a Swift Boat does, but McCain isn't suggesting that is his major qualification.
I don't like McCain. I don't think he's particularly bright, but his experience in government and knowledge in foreign affairs isn't something Obama can dismiss this easily. Obama seems to have surrounded himself with some unsavory and sleazy characters and allowing Clark to speak on his behalf isn't particularly impressive either.
July 1st, 2008 | #
Inartful is a word, and I, a conservative Republican, have used it many times. There was no doubt what I meant when I used it. As for decider, both George Washington and John Adams used the word in describing the presidency. But they're dead white guys.
July 1st, 2008 | #
According to Webster's Third International, "artful" is synonymous with "crafty" and "deceitful." The invented word "inartful" could plausibly be taken to mean "not sufficiently crafty and deceitful." That would seem to be Obama's real concern regarding Wesley Clark's attack on McCain.
July 1st, 2008 | #
Well, it's certainly a word. Attorneys use it a lot, frequently in the context of criticizing an opposing party's brief or motion.
July 1st, 2008 | #
From the MSNBC Story:
"Retired general says not all tours of duty should lead to the White House."
Who the frig said all tours of duty should lead to the White House? Nobody.
It's just like Wes's comment that "riding in a jet" and being shot down doesn't qualify you to be president.
Who said it did?
Does being relieved of command as head of NATO and forced into early retirement qualify you to be vice president, Wessy?
July 1st, 2008 | #
Actually,the correct word here would be 'artless'...or has that not occurred to anyone?....people who think or say that 'inartful' is a proper English word are probably the same people who say 'irregardless'...let the 4 star clown Wesley Clark rave on...the more he tries to belittle McCains military experience,the more he does to call attention to the fact that Baroque Obozo has nothing comparable at all in his own resume that even comes close to McCain's.
July 2nd, 2008 | #
I find your lack of faith disturbing LAURA.
You will PAY for your lack of vision!
July 2nd, 2008 | #
What's interesting is that after saying the statement was inartful, Obama people then defend the statement on how artfully true it is that McCain's military service doesn't necessarily qualify him to be president.
Has anyone thought one reason Clark may have "inadvertantly" highlighted Obama's own thin qualifications is that he is actually working on behalf of his first choice - Hillary?
July 2nd, 2008 | #
Whether or not inartful is a word, let's just acknowledge that whether or not something is in the dictionary or is grammatically correct or it commits whatever perfidious linguistic indiscretion you think it does, it's almost inevitably completely irrelevant. You know this to be true, in the back of your mind, because you didn't think it was important enough to do five minutes of research.
July 2nd, 2008 | #
If a 'word' is used repeatedly then it is a word, irregardless of whether it occurs in Websters or not. Right?
July 2nd, 2008 | #
Skyler, Psterumber foth tuo sikcencer, wruth vetiang? Ud foll portiming eret werzed's bopprtion af, pero dintphrauk...ntonkeces. Are we clear?
July 2nd, 2008 | #
Broadsword,
What is it like to be that stupid? There is no Adadamie Anglaise. None. Clear?
This is like the kerfuffle over "beclowned" as used on the right by Blair, except that beclowned had been used by Shakespeare.
July 2nd, 2008 | #
In his "I am a patriot" speech, Obama praised America as it enters its "fourth century" as a nation, and said the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence (which his mother read to him when they lived in Indonesia), was "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ..."
So we have a candidate for president who can't get the basic facts of American history right. Small wonder he can't speak properly. And meanwhile, the MSM remains silent.
July 2nd, 2008 | #
'Inartful' is a perfectly cromulent word.
Btw, Broadsword, it is consistent and somewhat common use that makes a word, not any use (in this case singular and opaque as opposed to 'at least plausible' in the case of 'inartful')
July 2nd, 2008 | #
Uhhhh the antonym of "artful" is "artless". There's no such word as "inartful", even (or perhaps especially) when a politician uses it.
July 2nd, 2008 | #
Getting back to the real point of the post, it is likewise true that Senator Obama's bowels are comprised almost entirely of lukewarm water because he is a cringing fop who lacks the "stones" to make his own attacks directly and instead utilizes a disgraced former military officer (fired from NATO among other things)to do his dirty work!
Barack Hussein Obama is much, much more than an empty suit. He is a sniveling wimp with the spine of a canoli!
July 2nd, 2008 | #
Inartful! The discussions given stipulate that this is or is not a word. For those that believe it is, due to usage, then I guess frip could be a word too. Let's also use rel. What do they mean? Why,anything I want them to mean. All I have to do is to quote somebody using them. What a bunch of hogwash!(another word)
I was taught in high school that if the word was not in the dictionary then it did not qualify as an accepted word in the English language. Words which were not in the dictionary but were of somewhat common use were known as slang or coloquialisms. This was not, according to my high school English teacher, acceptable for public use because it portrayed the speaker as illiterate. Mr. Obama by his educational credentials does not seem to be illiterate, therefore, this must simply be carelessness. Which would you rather have, a president who is illiterate or one that is careless?
July 2nd, 2008 | #