"At the end of the day ..."

[Cyrano]

Thinking is hard work which our "Decider" has proved time and again.

Yet, how many times over the past year or so have you heard some pundit use the phrase "At the end of the day ..." Perhaps 100? 200? 1,000? Beats me.

Similar phrases have caught hold in D.C. and the halls of Big Business from time to time. -- "Downsizing." "Let me be perfectly frank." "My friends, I come here today to ..." "God bless you all and God bless the United States of America." -- Well, you get the idea.

Every time you hear a phrase that is repeated endlessly, it should set off an alarm in your brain. The person speaking it is not not being sincere. He or she is conning you. He or she she is repeating a meaningless grouping of oft-repeated words that spare them the trouble of resorting to originality. And they're trying to deprive you of the burden of thinking. They're assuming that you're numb or dumb enough to buy whatever load of crap their words imply.

I don't remember Keith Olberman, Paul Krugman, E.J. Dionne, or the late, great Molly Ivins, using the phrase "At the end of the day," or any of the other above phrases in constant use by political or media whores.

My purpose here is to beg you to keep your ears open. When you hear a hackneyed phrase, ask yourself if the person speaking is doing anything more than just playing to, what they believe to be, your lack of attention to language? Please, please, stay alert and recognize a con job when you hear or read it.

[EarlG]

1. The one that really bugs me is just a single word...

"Look."

I don't know when I first noticed this but it really bugs me now. Pundits who participate in shouting-head shows on cable news simply can't afford to say "Er..." because if they do someone else will jump in and take over. So instead they use the word "Look" to string together sentences, just so they can keep talking. If they say "Look..." it sounds like something important and definitive is about to follow (it usually doesn't).

"What we're seeing here in Iraq is proof that the surge is working, but look, it's going to take time to see a real improvement on the ground."

"It's clear that George W. Bush is unpopular with the majority of Americans, look, he's not doing well in the polls anywhere."

Sometimes they get so carried away that they'll actually use it as the first word of their sentence.

"Look, this demonstrates that John McCain will now take the GOP nomination."

Occasionally they will substitute "listen" but "look" seems to be a lot more popular. I don't know why but it really annoys me.

[spanone]

2. what annoys me is 'that's a great question' no, it's just a question.

[Jane Austin]

3. That "Look" thing caught on so fast it made me think that pundits

only talk to each other.

Oh, wait . . . .

Another one I can't stand is the fact of the matter.

What, you have so much extra time to talk that you can't just say the fact is . . . .?

[EarlG]

4. So it's not just me?

This really only started happening recently? I feel like it did, but then I wasn't sure if it was only because I hadn't noticed it earlier.

[Jane Austin]

9. It's several months old, and they all started doing it -

First it was just the Dem and Repug "strategists" and they, every one of them, used it.

Then the pre-installed teevee pundits like Buchanan picked it up, and with him, between the karate chops and the "looks" it's impossible to track what he's trying to say. :)

The use of "look" implies exasperation (for me, anyway) from a superior perch.

As in, "Look, if you don't get it, I'm going to have to hammer it into your tiny brain."

It makes one wonder if they all went to the D.C. School for Second-tier Strategists at the same time. :)

[EarlG]

13. "Exasperation from a superior perch."

That's exactly it.

[Jane Austin]

14. Thankyew. Thankyewverymuch.

:)

[Cyrano]

7. At the end of the day, I agree with your disgust with the term "Look."

(Sorry, EarlG the more miserable part of my makeup just couldn't resist.)

[EFerrari]

12. Ha! Exactly! Doug and I wrote five minutes that began with "look".

"Look -- at the end of the day, the bottom line is, connect the dots!"

I think they use "look" because we are visual animals and no one really listens very much if they can possibly help it.

[CTyankee]

5. "When all is said and done"

to which is added: "more is said than done!":rofl:

[blues90]

6. I've alway hated that "at the end of the day" crap

It is exactly what it is too . At the end of the day , not a damn thing gets any better . Another day in history of complete failure .

[leftofthedial]

8. My fellow Americans, let me be perfectly clear,

in all honesty, you need to understand whatever I say. May gawd bless you all.

[EnviroBat]

10. Look, let me be perfectly clear, when all is said and done, we must fight them

over there... Wow, I sound like a total bullshit artist!

[karlrschneider]

11. One I hate is "The fact of the matter is..." which usually means I am preparing to lie to you.

:shrug:

[Cyrano]

15. Look, at the end of the day, as it were, my remarks were taken out of context,

I would like to clarify, if you will, this unfortunate misunderstanding. The despicable accusations regarding myself and my saintly daughter are beneath contempt.

There will always be those who hate America and seek to poison the well. When I take the oath of office, I will swear to almighty God that I will right the wrongs in our blessed country.

As the party of Lincoln, we must renew our sacred trust. We must stand for God's values and the values of every decent human being. We must always stand for truth, morality, God and country. We must always stand for purity and condemn the evils that our opponents seek to legitimize. It is our sacred duty to always stand by the teachings of both Jesus Christ and Ronald Reagan.

So in closing, let me say that the forces of evil will never triumph. I have always voted to cut your taxes, prevent gay marriage, stood for your right to own a Uzi, demanded the death penalty for any dark skinned person who has done things, have personally manned the Mexican border with my IEDs, and have sworn that I will never rest until every single Iranian is dead.

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

(If I left any poison pills out of this standard Republican rhetoric, please feel free to add 'em in.)