December 22, 2016

Finally, a job title for Kellyanne Conway: "counsellor to the President."

I said that out loud to Meade and he said, "Good. He needs a counsellor."

From the NYT article:
Mr. Trump had wanted Ms. Conway to have a spokeswoman role in the administration. She declined that role and publicly discussed working with an outside political group backing the president, even as she held out for a West Wing position that would have a title on par with those of Mr. Priebus and Stephen K. Bannon, the chief strategist....

Mr. Trump is deeply fond of Ms. Conway, whose job as counselor will give her frequent access to the president. A “Trump whisperer” during the campaign who was particularly adept at explaining his appeal to voters, Ms. Conway will serve as one of the chief protectors of Mr. Trump’s political brand.
So... "counselor" or "counsellor" — which is it? I know there's this rigorous American trend — when adding suffixes — to strip out double letters whenever possible.

For example, "shipping" will probably never become "shiping,"  "worshipping" is becoming "worshiping." You can see the evolution occurring — occuring?! — right now in the NYT, which has 2 articles on the same event.

In one, written by NYT reporters is "Member Charged in Arson of Black Church With ‘Vote Trump’ Scrawled on Side,"* there is the line "After the fire, Hopewell congregants began worshiping at the First Baptist Church of Greenville, a predominantly white congregation." In the other, an AP story about the same event — "Fire Marshal: Politics Unlikely Motive in 'Vote Trump' Arson" — you find the same sentence, but with the other spelling: "After the fire, Hopewell congregants began worshipping in a chapel at predominantly white First Baptist Church of Greenville. "

I found myself naturally writing "counsellor," but the Grammarist tells me that's not the "American spelling," though it is the preferred — prefered?!! — spelling everywhere else. Am I not an American?
__________________________

* Yeah, it wasn't a pro-Trumper who spray-painted "Vote Trump" on a black church. Big surprise.

71 comments:

AllenS said...

hop -- hopping

hope -- hoping

Thems the rules.

MisterBuddwing said...

I'm reminded of the story of how Benjamin Franklin, having met Dr. Samuel Johnson, said of the English lexicographer: "I do not trust a man who spells words only one way!"

rehajm said...

...but the Grammarist tells me that's not the "American spelling"...

I have forsaken Jeopardy! for the British show Countdown. During the word games I am routinely flummoxed by the British vs American spelling puzzle.

Bay Area Guy said...

If Conway were a liberal Democrat, she'd be hailed as a political genius, who smashed the glass ceiling of campaign strategists.

She is really smart and savvy.

rehajm said...

Another win for the administration. Conway's talent would be wasted in The White House Press Room.

MayBee said...

"counselor" or "counsellor"

canceled vs cancelled is the worst

Etienne said...

For some reason the image of a court jester popped (poped) into my heed (hed).

Mick said...

She is not smokin hot in the classic way, but she is smokin hot nevertheless. What a beautiful brain.

Ann Althouse said...

Some like "hoping" for "hopping" are so bad the doubled form will survive, but the trend is, as I said, to cut the extra letter when possible.

mezzrow said...

She'll make a fine Tom Hagen. She serves as the voice of reason concerning things that are political in nature.

Please don't read this as pejorative - this is simply the best metaphor I can find. If you're not impressed with Kellyanne Conway, you're not paying attention.

Bob Ellison said...

The rule I was taught that the doubling of the consonant kept the previous vowel short, rather than long. So "worshiping" should rhyme with "war-typing".

As Maybee points out, "canceled" is a terrible mess. I can never remember or get that one right.

Bob Ellison said...

Also, "judgment", or "judgement"? The comment system here seems to think both are fine.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

OT: A crazy unhinged democrat murdered an innocent UPS driver, saying he thought the guy was Trump. Media ignores the story.

AllenS said...

A special rule needs to be added so that adding the suffix ing to hope, becomes hopeing.

Then, hoping or hopping can live their own lives.

traditionalguy said...

The #*&*# spell-check has taken over. Do as you are told.

tcrosse said...

Grab 'em by the gerund.

Heartless Aztec said...

I use British spelling: harbour, colour, etc. So the double letters will probably stay for me. At 64 I'm too old to be au currant anymore.

traditionalguy said...

Sorry, that was #*&**#.

I should confess that listening to Kellyanne is my secret vice. She has Youtube cornered. So I understand DaTrump very well. A sweet mutual admiration society is a nice job if you can find one.

Virgil Hilts said...

Michelle and the hideously repugnant and malignant Jarrett replaced by Ivanka and Conway as the power behind the throne; almost makes one optimistic that America's decline may decelerate a bit.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I wonder if Conway will wear her Supergirl uniform during press briefings? Or maybe just as everyday wear.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3998142/Trump-mulling-Cabinet-picks-attends-lavish-costume-party.html
The reason Trump is looking at the camera instead of Conway is the photographer had bigger tits.

David said...

Che the infigghting.

traditionalguy said...

Morning Joe had Kellyanne on for a long interview. The first Female President may have emerged.

SayAahh said...

There are many people trying to get a piece of The Donald's ear.
Good thing he has big hands.

Anonymous said...

As a professional copy editor, I'm required to spell a lot of those words with undoubled final consonants in past tenses, participles, and gerunds. That really bugs me, as I was taught in elementary school in the 1950s that final consonants following short vowels are always doubled, and that seems more logical to me: I'd pronounce "worshipped" as "WURshipt," but "worshiped" looks as if it should be pronounced "waarSHYPED."And the principle's not applied consistently, or with any clear rationale that I can see, so it calls for memorization instead of learning a single simple rule.

rhhardin said...

A gf noticed and remarked on the effect in a Miame Herald headline, "Girl Kidnaped."

I myself always write subokeper for subbookkeeper.

Denever said...

The worst: "busing," absurdly pronounced "bussing."

BarrySanders20 said...

Traveling
Tunneling
Refueling
Barreling

All very compelling.

Michael K said...

I just hope Kellyanne keeps time for her kids. That was her original reason for declining a White House job.

Maybe Trump promised her enough private time.

Karen Hughes stuck it out for a year or two before going back to Texas.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Whenever I see the term, no matter how spelt, I am inescapably reminded of Deanna Troi on Star Trek TNG. She was a counselor (some detractors called her a "political officer") stationed on the bridge to keep Picard from doing anything crazy or contra Federation policy. Of course being Picard, he never would. One finds it hard to imagine Kirk putting up with such a thing. (So the analogy breaks down somewhat as Trump is definitely more JTK than JLP..)

Left Bank of the Charles said...

The North American meaning of counselor/counsellor is "a person who supervises children at a camp."

mikee said...

Unk, remember that Troi had "empathy" to such an extent that it worked essentially like ESP. She was able to provide information about others (i.e., she filled plot holes) for Picard that otherwise would have been impossible for him to know.

As to her role as Federation commissar (double letters twice!), I'll take your word on that, as I never saw it myself. Too busy enjoying her luxurious hair.

Chuck said...

Of course, in "draining the swamp," Corey Lewandowski has been set up a block from the White House in his own new consulting firm designed specifically to lobby the executive branch.

There is no explaining that hypocrisy. Don't try. Better to acknowledge that Washington is a giant enterprise that operates by its own rules.

https://www.avenuestrategies.com/lewandowski/

tcrosse said...

The North American meaning of counselor/counsellor is "a person who supervises children at a camp."
That's one meaning, not The meaning.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

>Too busy enjoying her luxurious hair.

And vast.. tracts of land.

MisterBuddwing said...

I have a suggestion. Forget "counselor" or "counsellor." Let's use "consigliere." (Cue the music.)

Nonapod said...

Counsellor Deanna Troi to Trump's Will Ryker.

Captain Drano said...

Great interview of Conway this morning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2pj_7Fimo

Marc said...

Kelyane?

Captain Curt said...

The rule for American English spelling as I have always understood it is this:

In a multi-syllable word, if the last syllable is unaccented, the final consonant is not doubled when the suffix is added. (In this case, the vowel in the last syllable is neither long nor short, but a "schwa".) So "travel" becomes "traveler".

But with "compel", the final syllable is accented, so it becomes "compelling".

BarrySanders20 said...

Good general rule. Refueling must be an exception.

traditionalguy said...

If counsellor sounds too mild, then go ahead and call Kellyanne, Trump's Consigliere.

traditionalguy said...

NB: Kellyanne was born to and raised by an Italian mother in New Jersey. That alone makes Consigliere is her correct title.

mccullough said...

She's the new Valerie Jarrett or Karen Hughes.

rcocean said...

Yeah "compelling" is really Compel-ling.

I'm glad we got rid of "Ski-ing"

rcocean said...

Now, we need to get rid of cancell

JRoberts said...

I can see the comparisons between Karen Hughes and Kellyanne Conway, but Valerie Jarrett?

I'm more inclined to compare Jarrett to Rasputin.

tcrosse said...

So Kellyanne could be the Macchiavelli to Trump's Cesare Borgia. Now it all makes sense.

buwaya said...

Most leaders have an informal inner council of trusted personal advisers. There is a Spanish word for this, "camarilla".
There are several English terms for the same, "kitchen cabinet" or perhaps "brain trust".
But its curious to create a specific formal post of this sort. Most such informal advisers have some other post or occupation. Royals often gave such favorites titles and court sinecures. Clerical posts with few duties were favorites.
Also probably due a revival is the custom of the maitresse-en-titre, the offically recognized royal mistress, and often also the chief political adviser. This would, for example, have saved Bill Clinton a great deal of trouble.

madAsHell said...

It's my re-collection, that most of a President's staff will leave during the course of the term. Besides Timmy the Tax Cheat, and hillary, did anyone else leave the Obama administration?

I figure Valerie Jarret must have pictures of Obama in bed with a dead boy.

Kevin said...

So if I'm following the thread we're now supposed to spell her name Kelyane?

Anonymous said...

Kevin,

"Kelyane" sounds like one of the creatures in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars novels. . . .

buwaya said...

That does sound like a name Burroughs would have used.
But few in US politics look much like a Frank Frazetta Martian Princess though, except Mrs. Trump. Melania is another name Burroughs would have used.

buwaya said...

Actually come to think of it, Melania Trump looks very much like a Frank Frazetta Martian Princess. Besides everything else, its the eyes.

Kevin said...

Actually come to think of it, Melania Trump looks very much like a Frank Frazetta Martian Princess. Besides everything else, its the eyes.

Cue Laslo.

Chuck said...

What a weird White House. Kellyanne Conway began the campaign, working for a Ted Cruz-supporting Super PAC, and complaining that Trump seemed to be intent on "offending his way to the Presidency." Oh, and observing that Trump had huge problems with female voters (I guess not), and prepping anti-Trump tv ads.

I understand; none of these people hold grudges, or hang onto memories very much. Because I don't think any of them have much in the way of principles.

Kevin said...

Can we break that down?

Kellyanne Conway began the campaign, working for a Ted Cruz-supporting Super PAC, and complaining that Trump seemed to be intent on "offending his way to the Presidency." Oh, and observing that Trump had huge problems with female voters (I guess not), and prepping anti-Trump tv ads.

So she was working for a Republican, who was getting his butt kicked by Trump. In doing so, Trump offended a lot of people yet kept rising in the polls - so much so that he was "on his way to the Presidency". Women overwhelmingly voted for Trump's opponent - as they have done with every Republican nominee since...forever? And in working for this other candidate, she was preparing anti-Trump TV ads to help her candidate narrow the gap, as pretty much everyone in a non-Trump-supporting SuperPAC was doing at the time.

And when her candidate lost, she supported her party's nominee to victory and is now taking a job in the White House.

Oh, the horror!

johns said...

spelling is whatever Microsoft Word says it is

Kevin said...

Why was it never reported that Hillary had "problems" with male voters and "offended" at least 25% of the electorate?

In fact, if we're to believe some of the post-election reporting, it was exactly the "offensive" basket of deplorables remark which shifted the race in Trump's favor.

But no, the "problems" and the "offensive remarks" can only come from one side of the political spectrum.

And surely, had she won, no one would be saying how unprincipled it would be for men and Sanders supporters to take jobs in her White House given her "offensive remarks" and 'huge problems with male voters".

tcrosse said...

Because I don't think any of them have much in the way of principles.
The purity of one's principles must be a great warming comfort when one is out in the cold.


gadfly said...

Borrowing from the Hollies, "Hey, Kelleyanne, whats your game now? Can anybody play?"

Chuck said...

Kevin, don't lay any of those Democrat hypocrisies on me! I was never trying to justify any goddamned thing on the part of any Democrats.

As for Republicans, there was never any necessity for Trump to insult other Republicans. And if I were one of those Republicans, I'd be nursing that grudge. I wouldn't soon forget it. It would be a huge ask, to get me to work for him.

Trump's winning doesn't change the fact that he's still a monstrous fucking asshole.

tcrosse said...

But he's our monstrous fucking asshole.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

A counselor?

He needs a summer camp for kids who are addicted to bullying people on late-night Twitter insult festivals.

Fabi said...

I saw Chuck's Monomania open for Van Halen back in '84.

Drago said...

"lifelong republican" Chuck: "As for Republicans, there was never any necessity for Trump to insult other Republicans."

LOL

Yes. You read that correctly. "lifelong republican" Chuck actually had the chutzpah to write that.

Drago said...

"lifelong republican" Chuck: "There is no explaining that hypocrisy."

Another lie (which just so happens to align with democrat talking points) from "lifelong republican" Chuck.

There is no hypocrisy for Lewandowski to set up and run a government services firm. He held no governmental role and he is not cashing in on any prior government service.

But good old "lifelong republican" Chuck. Always finding the lefty-talking point wrinkle to latch on to.

It's almost as if he can't resist anything the dems have to say!

Unexpectedly.

Unknown said...

"It’s very humbling to be asked by the president to continue to serve at a senior role," she told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo Thursday morning after her decision had been made public.

That wasn’t the best part of their conversation. At one point, Bartiromo asked Conway to respond to doubters who wonder whether she'll be able to manage a demanding outside counsel role while raising four kids. Cue a bold response from the no-nonsense mother.

"I would say that I don't play golf and I don't have a mistress so I have a lot of time that a lot of these men don't."

That's Counsellor, to you.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

It's almost as if he can't resist anything the dems have to say!

Yep. I don't need to read lefty talking points. Chuck types them up for me! Is there ANY associate or child of Trump he hasn't attacked yet? Was that Chuck that got kicked off the flight with Ivanka?

Anonymous said...

Not too bright these folks whose every insult denies them an opportunity to say what their objectives are and how or who they'll use to achieve them.

Flying commercial no less. probably setting an example. Then draining the swamp by ending the parties putting someone up for election, the donors finance he te, gets put on a committee, hands out pork per donor wishes, people reelect because they like the pork. A little more seniority a little more pork, another election more seniority, more voters an donors addicted to pork, eventually committee chairman, more pork, and power, and power for their party. The stamp he will drain, just as Eisenhower defined it. And now we find his family flies commercial. Class act, you folk are dummies and it's going to cost you an even bigger wipeout in the next election, not a single senator for the party of Stupid Bullies. Couldn't happen to nicer folks. How clever, all this does is add voters to the “American Party” total. Not bright at all. You think the rest of them would get tired of their anger being used against them. Stupid bullies Indeed, compare Fox with this in your face personal abuse, including spraying of spittle on a child or dirty tricks to create fake news that you’re the wife beater. No wonder no one believes what you say or even grants that your intentions are good, when all they see is distilled hatred if not evil. Rather than another coal miner losing their job it’ll be you fools, get a life and pray for salvation, you’re going to need it.

Chuck said...

Yep. I don't need to read lefty talking points. Chuck types them up for me! Is there ANY associate or child of Trump he hasn't attacked yet? Was that Chuck that got kicked off the flight with Ivanka?

So far, I have not attacked Barron or Tiffany. Just wanted to clear that up. As for Trump "associates," I haven't had time to attack all of them by name.

Chuck said...

Drago said...
...
There is no hypocrisy for Lewandowski to set up and run a government services firm. He held no governmental role and he is not cashing in on any prior government service.

He's cashing in on his reputed personal relationship(s) with the Trump campaign and personal staff. Which is why that history is plastered all over the Avenue Strategies website.
Corey Lewandowski like a Trump "Sidney Blumenthal."
But I understand; you won't accept any of this. You can't accept any of this. Arguing with the Trumpkin True Believers is like arguing with the fanatical Obama True Believers. Two groups in constant, unending campaign mode.