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Oh God. Get some people in the White House press office with at least a rudimentary understanding of English grammar.
The White House has now, at least three times that I’ve seen, sent out this announcement about President Obama’s event today at Georgetown University:
On Tuesday, May 12, President Obama will participate in a discussion with Robert Putnam, professor of public policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, at the Catholic-Evangelical Leadership Summit on Overcoming Poverty at Georgetown University.
I live in the DC area. I guarantee you folks, THERE IS NO POVERTY AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY. Quite the contrary.
You like that? Here’s another one I saw recently:
First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver remarks at a White House convening on Creating Opportunity for Native Youth in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
I’ve covered the White House for many years. I’ve been in that building, which is part of the White House campus, countless times. I can assure you, there are very few opportunities for young Native Americans in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Okay, yeah, I know, I make grammatical mistakes too. But I work alone. I’m the writer, and the editor, a dangerous combination for the well-being of the English language. And many of you are helpful enough to correct my mistakes. I mean that seriously.
And this is “White House Dossier.” Not “White House.” I’m not responsible for the nation’s nuclear stockpile. You’d expect those who are to at least be able to construct a sentence in their native language.