{"id":48635,"date":"2014-12-04T19:03:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T02:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/04\/dont-listen-to-what-i-say-listen-to-what-i-mean.html"},"modified":"2014-12-18T15:22:47","modified_gmt":"2014-12-18T22:22:47","slug":"dont-listen-to-what-i-say-listen-to-what-i-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/04\/dont-listen-to-what-i-say-listen-to-what-i-mean.html","title":{"rendered":"Don't listen to what I say, listen to what I mean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Um … what?<\/p>\n

Ben Carson thinks people get overly upset over his comparison between the US and Nazi Germany because they get all hung up on the reference to Nazi Germany. Which was the reference he made. But not what he meant to refer to, at least not in the way that some listeners are interpreting. <\/p>\n

Sounds like the guy would do great at meetings with heads of state.
I realize that there can be differences in opinion about what something meant, and in how people interpret different references. The differences in meaning as the speaker \/ writer intended and as the listener \/ reader understands it is a danger in all communication. Carson made a comparison on particular aspects (that the Third Reich's government intimidated the populace, which didn't speak up soon enough to stop it), and apparently did not intend to include all the other various baggage that Nazi Germany calls to mind.<\/p>\n

It seems to me, though, that not realizing those kind of misinterpretations can happen is a sign of a bobble in communication skills. To handwave them later on seems to not only compound that error (implying the listener should parse the mind of the speaker) but also in this case minimize the actual magnitude of the Nazi past (Carson apparently considers having a gut reaction to comparisons between the US and Nazi Germany as "PC-ism").<\/p>\n

Carson has a large body of admirers for being an outsider in the political system and thus being something of a "maverick" in his opinions. However, his suggestion that when he uses metaphorical language ("Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery") we should take it for granted that he doesn't really<\/i> mean that it's "worse" than any other event, political or otherwise, since then, or that if he compares the the US to Nazi Germany he really only means in particular ways and (maybe) not to the same degree or (probably) not in other particular ways, strikes me as sloppy speech for an increasingly public figure. His resentment for being called on it doesn't bode particularly well, either.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nBen Carson Lashes Out At Wolf Blitzer: Don’t ‘Focus On The Words’ When I Compare U.S. To Nazis<\/a><\/span>
\nPossible Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson on Wednesday lashed out at CNN host Wolf Blitzer for “focusing on the words” that he used when he compared the United States to Nazi Germany.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Um … what? Ben Carson thinks people get overly upset over his comparison between the US and Nazi Germany because they get all hung up on the reference to Nazi Germany. Which was the reference he made. But not what he meant to refer to, at least not in the way that some listeners are … Continue reading “Don't listen to what I say, listen to what I mean”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,532,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-elections-2016","category-writing-and-language"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":136824,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/06\/23\/motives.html","url_meta":{"origin":48635,"position":0},"title":"Motives","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 23-Jun-18 4:56pm","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite WWII films is actually about the post-war period trying to come to grips with what happened during the war: Judgment at Nuremberg. A fictionalized account of the war crimes trials, it grapples in multiple directions with what happened in Germany to turn it into a nation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SxwC7Xm.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SxwC7Xm.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SxwC7Xm.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50447,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/06\/ben-carson-has-some-odd-ideas-about-the-judiciary.html","url_meta":{"origin":48635,"position":1},"title":"Ben Carson has some odd ideas about the judiciary","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 6-May-15 11:41am","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.rightwingwatch.org\/content\/ben-carson-federal-government-doesnt-need-recognize-gay-marriage-scotus-ruling1. Anyone who appears on NewsMax TV almost automatically disqualifies himself for pretty much anything. NewsMax makes Fox News look like Edward R Murrow.2. Carson seems to think that SCOTUS passes \"judicial law,\" which, because it's not real, Congress-passed law, the Executive branch can ignore it. That is ... a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49302,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/21\/ben-carson-needs-to-study-the-constitution-a-bit-more.html","url_meta":{"origin":48635,"position":2},"title":"Ben Carson needs to study the Constitution a bit more","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 21-Jan-15 11:28am","format":false,"excerpt":"Carson, who is sort of a darling \"outsider\" proto-candidate on the GOP side for the 2016 Presidential Elections, seems to think that federal judges have no business telling states that their laws are unconstitutional, esp. regarding civil rights for gays and marriage equality.'The states have a mechanism whereby they can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/07\/03\/and_while_were.html","url_meta":{"origin":48635,"position":3},"title":"And while we’re on the subject …","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 3-Jul-03 10:13am","format":false,"excerpt":"Ghost of a Flea has a fine post on the long-overdue memorial being put up in Berlin to commemorate the gay victims of the Nazi Holocaust. 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Will he now be accused of playing the \"race card\" to rile up his constituents, the way Obama has been? Ben Carson slams rivals who 'dare not call this tragedy an act of racism' \u201cWe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49036,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48635\/revisions\/49036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}