Trump sent a retired teacher a letter about gun policy. She fixed the grammar and sent it back.

[Demovictory9]

When Yvonne Mason first opened the letter, she read it all the way through. It did, after all, have the president’s seal at the top and his signature at the bottom.

But sometime around the third read, something began to irk the retired teacher, who had spent 17 years of her life refining the English skills of middle and high school students:

Look at all these unnecessarily capitalized letters, she thought.

“Federal” and “Nation” and “State” and “States” — common nouns capitalized as if they were proper nouns. And too many of the sentences began with the ninth letter of the alphabet: “I signed into law” and “I also directed.”

The letter, with her name on it, was written on heavy, official-feeling paper. Some would see such a letter from the president as suitable for framing. But for Mason, there was an itch that could not go unscratched.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/06/01/trump-sent-a-retired-teacher-a-letter-about-gun-policy-she-fixed-the-grammar-and-sent-it-back/?utm_term=.9a0310c00f3a

[riversedge]

1. k for visibility

[keithbvadu2]

2. Stable genius... something about highly intelligent.

Stable genius... something about highly intelligent.

[oldlibdem]

20. He has the best words

bigly!

[tymorial]

3. Oh my God. It's incredibly hubristic but it's so damned fantastic

[Different Drummer]

4. A woman after my own heart. n/t

[krispos42]

5. I would have Xeroxed it and marked up the copy.

Then Xeroxed the marked up one and sent him THAT one.

At some point there will be some sort of monument to Twitler, and they will need exhibits!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. that's a beautiful article

Mason told The Post that her catchphrase for students was “language is the currency of power.”

“If you can’t communicate what you want or what you need … you’re not going to get what you want,” Mason said. “Writing clearly and consistently gives you power.”

I especially like the ending.

[ZeroSomeBrains]

7. Awesome

I just wished the Post would've taken a better picture of the letter so that I could read the feedback.

[Neema]

15. It was probably just the photo the teacher took.

Since she mailed the original back to the White House.

[Tribalceltic]

8. My mother (an editor) would have used a big RED marker

and she would have gotten a big kick out of this

[MontanaMama]

9. My grandma usd to correct my letters

and send them back to me. Tough love. My mother used to fine me for grammatical errors. She would takenitnout ofmy allowance. I still have anxiety when I use lay vs lie and my mom has been gone for many years. 😏

[Hotler]

10. This is a good read. I never had an teacher mark me up in purple.

I had a first year college English professor that was a hard-ass. I never knew I could get yelled at in red ink with big fucking letters. "Your inability to comprehend the subject will not cut it in this class." That was scrawled all the cover sheet of my first abstract. I rewrote it and handed it back in and he gave me an A. He also preached using plain English. That was 1993 and I remember it word for word to this day. The assignment was to read Martin Luther King Jr. "Letter From Birmingham Jail" and summarize it in 4-6 sentences. That professor and that class was the switch that turned on my ability to do better critical thinking. I was 38 years old and college was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.

[former9thward]

11. It is funny that people think these letters are actually written by whoever is President.

They are not. They are written by college interns in the White House Communications office.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

12. That may be true

But how come this has never happened to other Presidents ...

[fescuerescue]

14. grammar errors?

I would be shocked if no prior presidents made errors in their letter, staff or otherwise.

The reason that other presidents don't have English teachers marking up their letters is simple: Trump is hated more than prior presidents.

[former9thward]

17. It has.

Now it is very easy to get social media presence. We forget how new some things are.

[lastlib]

13. (No one really thinks THIS pResident has the capacity to write ANYthing that's coherent...)

[LanternWaste]

18. Quite the assumption.

Regardless, it is funny that people think derails are original and unique.

[Cheviteau]

21. Nope

When you affix your signature to the bottom of a letter, YOU wrote it. Period. End of story.

[former9thward]

23. So sad you believe that.

All presidents use auto signature machines. These machines sign letters and routine documents. The communications office uses these machines to sign letters to constituents. This is 2018 not 1818.

[Cheviteau]

24. Wow, Just Wow.

Do you think I'm too stupid not to know that presidents use signature machines, that businessmen and women don't have secretaries who write letters for them? I've sent hundreds of letters with my signature affixed at the bottom, all typed by my secretary. BUT, when I signed those letters as the principle, they became my correspondence and mine alone. In short, it was I who wrote them. I can't disown my own damn letter with my signature on it.

How sad you believe otherwise.

[former9thward]

28. Do you get a letter from a President so you want to believe it was really from him?

That is the only explanation I can think of.

[Cheviteau]

29. My Dear Former9th Ward

I have neither the time nor the desire to explain to you the significance of your signature on the bottom of a letter attesting to the contents of that letter. But, I'll take the time, and against my desire, to do so.

Try this little experiment: have someone type a threatening to, say a school. Sign that letter and mail it. I'd like to be a fly on the wall in the interrogation room when you try to blame the writer for making the threat. Again, when you sign a letter, you own that letter. With all the mistakes, truths, lies, love, threats, and agreements contained in it.

Are you from the 9th Ward in New Orleans? My aged aunt lost all in that flood and now resides in Lake Charles. My wife was born and reared in New Orleans, but we now live about 60 miles north of the city across the lake. We're both retired and up in age now. If you are from the 9th Ward, in what area are you now living? If you care not to answer, I won't be offended. I'm just curious where some of those have gone.

[former9thward]

30. The president did not sign that letter.

He did not see that letter. A machine did. Just as other president's before him. Enough of that. We disagree and have a nice day.

No, I am not from NO. My poster name refers to a minor elected political office I once held in Chicago. I have been to NO however and it is a beautiful city.

[33taw]

26. I agree. I find it unlikely that he would use the term "evidence based".

He also speaks in blips of 280 characters. There is now way he would write someone this long.

[Neema]

16. Since we know his lazy ass didn't write the letter, is it

someone’s job to emulate his terrible grammar, spelling and general idiocy? I’m guessing it is because it matches his tweets (well, the ones we know he writes). God what an awful job that would be.

[sl8]

19. This sort of tepid and questionable criticism dilutes valid criticism

Last edited Sat Dec 8, 2018, 06:03 PM - Edit history (1)

1. This a 6 month old article.

2. Trump's grammar is the least of our concerns

3. Trump didn't write this letter and almost certainly didn't dictate it.

4. This teacher's letter doesn't address the substance of the topic, gun control, at all, but only the grammar. How would that type of response be received in a DU thread?

5. The grammar correction is questionable. See the NYT article, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/27/us/politics/trump-letter-english-teacher.html, and refer to the GPO style manual. The letter may be completely grammatically correct. Opinions on this point are welcome.

Consider that we are talking about, arguably, the worst President in the history of the United States. How is it at all helpful to spend any time focusing on this particular partisan letter? At best, it's a "grammar Nazi" type response.

This distracts attention from all the real and substantive complaints against Trump and his administration.

[SergeStorms]

22. Trump's always had an "I" problem.

His ego seldom allows him to talk about anyone other than himself. His "eyes" aren't very good either. He desperately needs reading glasses, at the very least, but once again his ego gets in the way of being a productive member of society.

Oh, and the "president" IS A TOTAL FUCKING ASSHOLE! Just my opinion of course.

[lilactime]

25. When I worked for the government, we followed the GPO Style Manual

when writing documents and according to its rules Government and State were capitalized. That book contained many other rules I never learned in English class, but to this day I find myself automatically using them because they were ingrained in me for so many years .

[spanone]

27. K&R...