If you see enough clips of Barack Obama speaking without a prepared script you'll hear this verbal tic he has. Many of us will inject the phrase "you know" into our speech as we talk. I'm not sure why we do it, but it could be because we can talk faster then we can compose, and "you know" serves as a space filler while we think of the right words. I do know that it's a hard habit to break.
Barack Obama does it with a twist. He drops some of the letters, so it comes out "You owe." If you haven't heard it yet, listen to him, and you will. It could be that he's trying to quit the "you know" habit, but he's only part way there. Or maybe he's subconsciously telegraphing what he thinks and where we fit in his view of the entitlement environment. "You owe." He's certainly given us plenty of forewarning about tax hikes and sharing the wealth, so maybe this is part of that early warning system. If you already pay taxes, you'll owe more. You know?
George, you've done it! The theme for this year's campaign ... the Tic Campaign! Barack O'Bama's "you know" and Sarah Palin's wink (and all this time, I thought she was coming on to me).
:-)
Posted by: Jeff | October 23, 2008 at 06:14 PM
HA HA! Go for it, Jeff!
Posted by: Geo | October 24, 2008 at 05:46 AM