But a good one in my opinion
If I made such a list, I might have at least a dozen objections to the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States.
My list wouldn’t include her gender or religious affiliation or the fact that she is a stereotypical Trump woman, pretty, white, blonde with a ditzy voice. None of these has anything to do with being an impartial, competent jurist.
There would be significant red flags on my list, however. That she is anti-LBGTQ+ or determined to block safe abortions in the United States, are high on the list.
Here’s the thing, though. When she gave her acceptance speech, from a written manuscript, she mispronounced two words, which either obfuscated or blocked the meaning she intended.
So my questions are, how could a Notre Dame professor make such mistakes, and if she does, how could she be a candidate for the Supreme Court?
The words were poignant and mores. Amy Coney Barrett, nominated by President Trump, and sure to be confirmed by the Republican majority in the Senate, can’t understand and correctly pronounce her own words. Damn.
Poign·ant /ˈpoin(y)ənt/ adjective — evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret.
I like to screw up this first one on purpose for the fun of it by saying “pog-nant” when it should be “poin-ant” (as in boing). That Barret said it my way was startling, but at least a little humorous to me.
The problem is the negative effect it has on the listeners. Most people know what it sounds like so it is jarring; it makes it hard to stay with the sentence.
For those who don’t know how it is supposed to be pronounced are not listening all that carefully anyhow, so it goes in one ear and out the other.
Mo·res/ˈmôrāz/ noun the essential or characteristic customs and conventions of a community.
Saying “mores” the way this ‘brilliant’ scholar did, bothered me much more(!). What does she even mean when she mispronounces the word?
The way Barrett said it sounded like a toddler who wants “mores” cookies. It reminded me of the campfire treat “smores”.
In the context of her talk, she wrote it to mean, “more-rays”, as in eels. However, since she mispronounced it, it meant nothing.
Amy Coney Barrett shouldn’t be confirmed to the high court but in the end, it seems, she will be. With this President, we expect pathetic appointments, but the US Supreme Court should be different. A 48-year-old partisan, right-wing nut ought not to get a lifetime spot in such an important body, one of the three branches of our government.
Words from Warren 