Last night, after discussing the empty gestures of the State of the Union Address, Dag looked into the sky and cried, how can this go on for another three years?
I replied, maybe after the midterm elections the Democrats will try to save the party by surrounding Obama with the "counsel" of wise elders, a kind of regency...
Dag seemed instantly cheered by the thought and cried, I like it! But... regency isn't an American word, though it's appropriate for a man-child, a man with a limited grasp of reality.
I said, but if the Republic can have umpteen Czars, why not a Regent, or maybe an Obama Czar, a Presidency Czar?
Anyway, just out of curiosity, i today see that the number of Google hits for `Obama' and `regency' is currently 438 000 (and only 761 hits for the exact phrase "Obama regency"); among the top returns, it seems these are mostly pages that refer both to Obama and a certain hotel. Since there are only 17.8 million hits for the word `regency', Obama is associated with 2.5% of them. I'd say that's proof enough it's an American word; then again maybe not. Anyway, a purely sporting "pool" is now open: place your bets on how many such hits for pages combining the two words, Obama and regency, we will see in three years.
4 comments:
regency is a word in the English language of course, but its more or less devoid of literal meaning in the American vernacular. It's pretentious enough for European tourists of the the nineteenth century to want to stay a night or so in a hotel with such a name, but for the average American it's very likely meaningless otherwise. I seem to recall my mother owning a Regency vacuum cleaner. America, recall, is a Republic, and that was a vivid reality some decades ago, even tot he point whereat some people raged through Manhattan sawing off the little cast iron decorative crowns atop a fence in Tompkins Square park, for example, as a sign of their hatred of all things "royal."
Still, the idea of a regency, whatever we call it, is brilliant. But I expect no less from Truepeers. Put me down for a million!
a mob cutting down cast iron crowns? That's the kind of behaviour sufficiently crazed to suggest they are not truly republican in discipline. I mean, unless there was some more serious provocation. Sounds to me like a crowd in need of a Regent... No doubt Obama voters.
I'll say two million!
I'll see your two and raise you to five. Let's keep in mind that we have over 300 million people in the nation, though, so this could escalate if word gets out.
Well I just added one to the hit count; check out my lastest post :)
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