Bev Perdue: Okay, I Wasn't Joking. I Was Using Hyperbole.
Still No? Okay, My Point Was Sarcastic. Does That Do The Trick?

Oh, and a bonus "out of context" claim to boot.

"My point was one of sarcasm," Perdue told reporters in Thomasville. "We really just need to encourage our leaders who are elected to work together and solve America's problems."

She added: "It was taken out of context from my perspective. But honest to goodness, who would think something like that would be said seriously. It's ridiculous to have this kind of discussion about it."

People always claim that -- "out of context." Pro-tip for the media: The proper follow-up question here is "What context in your statement gives your words a different meaning?"

If you are vague on this point, as almost all Democrats are (because they're never asked the follow-up), you can just claim that some unknown context of earlier remarks completely changes the meaning, in context, of the quoted words.

"Out of context" is not just a Get Out of Jail Free card. I know Democrats and their media enablers believe it is, but it has a specific meaning: That in fuller context, with a fuller quotation provided, the quoted material gains a different meaning than the one suggested when that quote stands naked on its own.

So what "context" is Bev Perdue referring to?

In fact, the entirety of her remarks on this subject were in fact quoted.

“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, N.C., according to the Raleigh News & Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”

The context I see is "I hope that someone can agree with me on that," which expresses, in the common understanding, a hope that someone can agree with her on the claim she is making. (I know, it's a stretch, huh?)

posted by Ace at 11:15 AM

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