Who cares???

The man is an idiot.

I'm no Bush supporter, but so what? Why not make the best effort to pronounce the names correctly? Why is this news?

Hey, Bush Jr...take off the polka-dotted dunce cap and listen up for a second. It's "NU-klee-er"...not "Nu-kew-lar".

Yes, the man is an idiot, but who cares about pronunciation guides?

this might be the most stupid(STOO-pid)thing I have read today.

Doug -- It's another piece of evidence (not that we need anymore) that the guy is an idiot. The leader of a nation should know how to pronounce Mauritania, for Pete's sake, or at least know how to sound a word out or use a dictionary. This guy does none of those things...

I would want that too. Come he is the President of the United States of AMERICA! Those are so easy to say, everything else requires training...and with that said, he is too busy to remember all of the pronunciations...I am glad that the nation's speechwriters are finally helping the President.

Example of Bush stupidity #8,566,792

And still he somehow has a 28% approval rating? I guess 28% of Americans are even dumber than he is. Unbelievable.

I wish I could just Tivo through the rest of GW Bush's presidency and fast-forward through the next 16 months. So darned embarrassing.

What's up with you people? So what if the president needs help saying a few words? Can you say Kyrgyzstan correctly off the top of your head? Leave the president alone, he works very hard for all of you and he deserves your graditude.

Most children today are not taught phonics. I think that it's a mistake not to teach them phonics. I'm not sure why this is news though. Dictionaries have phonetical spellings as well and I've used those many times to learn to pronounce words.

This is a cheap shot. Although Bush's pronunciation is weak, anyone who speaks publicly would appreciate such a guide. Everyone mispronounces something on occasion. Given the opportunity, I can show you clips of Jay Leno, Bill Clinton, and anyone else getting tongue tied. It just happens when you speak as much as they do.

I think many of the comments posted here are unnecessarily harsh and snobbish. Any world leader or high ranking individual would get the same level of support from their staffs. Don't think for a minute that other world leaders can properly pronounce every other leaders name in their native language/dialect without some help. If you want to get partisan and nasty, Republicans can go to that pillar of Democratic glory, JFK and say "Ich bin ein Berliner" ...I am a jelly donut!

Oh please, there is plenty to insult about the man without having to dig for this stuff. The speech writers probably have standing orders to add pronunciation guides for all proper nouns. Doesn't seem like such a bad idea to me. Most of them are going to be easy enough, but I certainly wouldn't mind a phonetic guide to Kyrgyzstan.

Good point, Rob!!

This is such a childish story. I have an advanced degree and cannot pronounce every American name, much less every African name. I did not realize that liberals require American Presidents to fluently speak every language in the World. Good for Bush on being well prepared!

This was not put on the un website by accident. It is another vile attempt to discredit the great leader of our country by democrats and liberals. They are why are country is divided, not because of President Bush. We all got the same intelligence. Democrats voted for the war too. They just want to surrender, cut and run, stop funding our troops so more die and place blame instead of finding real world solutions. Democrats and Liberals are a bunch of losers.

Yawn, No news today I guess.

The actual contents of the speech wasnt available, only the pronunciation guide? right......

I am dismayed not by the utterly lliteracy of President Bush but by the fact that so many people think it is normal the leader of the USA to be utter illiterate!

ABC's choice of story content here reflects the unhealthy culture and atmosphere of the ABC news room. What's notable is the absence of reporting the content of our President's speech. His call for other countries to join him in efforts for freedom for Burma by implementing sanctions. I wonder if its possible for ABC news could shift its perspective from anti-Bush to pro-USA.

I'm sure the "Hate Bush" crowd will knee-jerk a quick hateful response before realizing that it is proper procedure and SOP (standard operating procedure)in speech writing and delivery to ensure good understanding for the people listening. In the global environment a quaint deviation in pronunciation can take on a completly different meaning depending on the nationality of the listener. This is always taken into consideration whenever possible.

Great idea since names in other languages aren't always pronounced likes they look in English. Heck, English words and names often aren't even pronounced the way they look like they should be. This is not an uncommon thing. When the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs songs in other languages, the words to the songs are spelled phonetically on their sheet music.

The President of Columbia University, in his speech denouncing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stumbled over many of the words of his speech.

Nobody is calling him an idiot, now are they?

Well, except for the Iranian Hitler.

Well, the man's no genius. I don't care where he graduated from. But, in his defense, those are words with a lot of consonants. I'm sure many of our fine journalists and news reporters need some pronunciation guides when it comes to names and places. However, he's been in office for a while now. If he can't recognize and pronounce these proper names by this time in his career - perhaps we all had better reconsider who we vote for next time around. Maybe instead of all the mudslinging, there should be a spelling bee? Or some sort of grammar bee?

Can anyone really be surprised that he can't say words properly? Come on. At this point, we should know better! Actually, we should probably be giving him a piece of candy for every word he says right the first time!

Those who are quick to accuse Bush of being an idiot for mispronouncing words...do you consider JFK a "dunce" and "idiot"? Afterall he prononced "Cuba" as "Cuber", and yet I never heard anyone describe him as a dunce. Makes you wonder.

To Toma_Zachary:
There were a couple of problems with your sentences as well.

You said:
"...so many people think it is normal the leader.."

You may have meant:
"...so many people think it is normal for the leader.."

You said:
"...utter illiterate"

You may have meant:
"...utterly illiterate"

Go get an education then come back and criticize others.

God bless him - he's doing his best.

Once again, our Idiot-in-Chief, has shown the world that he is a first-class moron. The next Democratic president, who will be inaugurated in just 484 days, will have a monumental task in restoring the prestige of the United States in the world, as well as daunting tasks of cleaning up the many other DickNBush messes. I wish the best for our next Democratic president.

It's too bad they got the pronunciation of Mauritania wrong. The actual pronunciation is mawr-i-TEY-nee-uh. Idiots guiding an idiot! Is it any wonder the US gets no respect?

Oh really? Come on ABC NEWS, you're better than this! You put two darn reporters on this garbage piece and made me take time out of my life to read something that isn't news worthy! I have a Ph.D in Psychology and speak around the country and sometimes, I have a hard time pronouncing some of the long medical terms so spell them out in a way I could pronounce it without sounding foolish.

I think most people forget how nervous you get when making a speech in front of a group of people. Now add to that, having to pronounce the names of African tribes and countries, French leaders, and places you hardly ever hear of. Now I'm the furthest thing from a Bush supporter, but this is simply a silly and useless story.

**YAWN*** This must have been a slow news day. Where is the terrorist dictator that were were covering yesterday... NOW THAT'S NEWS!

Oh really? Come on ABC NEWS, you're better than this! You put two darn reporters on this garbage piece and made me take time out of my life to read something that isn't news worthy! I have a Ph.D in Psychology and speak around the country and sometimes, I have a hard time pronouncing some of the long medical terms so spell them out in a way I could pronounce it without sounding foolish.

I think most people forget how nervous you get when making a speech in front of a group of people. Now add to that, having to pronounce the names of African tribes and countries, French leaders, and places you hardly ever hear of. Now I'm the furthest thing from a Bush supporter, but this is simply a silly and useless story.

**YAWN*** This must have been a slow news day. Where is the terrorist dictator that were were covering yesterday... NOW THAT'S NEWS!

When 9-11 was happening, I saw videos,pictures of Bush sitting in a Kindergarten Class. My question is, was he a guest speaker, or fellow student?

The Whole World must be THRILLED!

But.......

Bush is still a liar.

Bush is still an embarassment.

Bush is still a disgrace to every American.

Hi, I hope that A-B-C realizes
that this is COMMON practice in speeches.

I understand exactly how all you Bush haters feel. I feel exactly the same way about Bill Clinton. Now HE was embarrassing. I haven't been so ashamed of a president since Jimmy Carter and his brother, Billy, who urinated in public.

I the words of B. Kliban..."The Madonna does not function".

Leave the PRECEDENT alone!!!! sniff...sniff...sniff...you people don't even deserve the work this man does for you....leave the PRECEDENT alone!!!! sniff...sniff...sniff...do you want to see me cry my eyes out for the next 20 years to teach you non grateful losers a lesson...because I will...you just dare me...you are all CREEPS...sired by nixon most likely....LEAVE THE PRECEDENT ALONE....sniff...sniff....sniff....dear hollywood and the networks I am ready to sign up to the best offer...WORD UP

Actually, yes I could (and have) pronounced "Kyrgyzstan" correctly with no prompting.

If I was going to present a speech, I would want to pronounce names correctly. Hats off for the effort...why is this even news?

Ronny badmouthing Dubya? I thought all Repubes loved one another.

Some people have brought up mispronunciations which JFK made in speeches and asked why he didn't get criticized the same way as Bush does. The answer is that JFK was one of the best, most respected presidents in U.S. history. Bush on the other hand has one of the lowest, if not the lowest, approval rating of any president this country has had.

People don't hate Bush just because it is a crappy public speaker - although that doesn't help. They hate Bush because of his actions as president, including: using military power to wrongfully invade Iraq, spying on Americans with the excuse of fighting terrorism, allowing the national debt to increase to trillions of dollars (which will have to be payed off by higher taxes for future generations), and making almost every other nation our enemy by accusing them of either having WMD's or of withholding freedom from their citizens.

The Anti-Bush sentiment has a mile long list of reasons behind it. So when he slips up, even on the smallest matters, people are going to criticize him, because they already hate him.

I wish I had a time machine.

Why is standard speech writing and its procedures, now considered news?

Just another way to take a stab at our President. I am really tired of the jour-na-list-ic slants that are not true journalism.

haha..

The reason JFK seemingly mispronounced words was due to his thick New England accent, not for lack of schooling or low I.Q. Bush is another story. And yes, I can pronounce Kyrgyzstan just fine without any help - so could 90 percent of all college students.

The funniest thing about this is that somehow Bush (BOOSH) STILL manages to screw up his words every single time he speaks. That's how stupid this man is.

The whole UN is full of idots. They should take it out of America and put it on an island of its own and call it UN Island and make it an independent country of it's own.

I cant believe this man is our President! Over the past six years when you hear Bush speak he comes off like an idiot. Like he has no clue on whats really going on in the world. Sometimes you need to call a spade a spade. He is stupid. I am not partisan either because I think Reagan and 1st Bush were very smart men. And Clinton might have been alot of things but he was not stupid like this joke of a President!

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

Why is this news? Okay, so world leaders' names were spelled out phonetically to help our president pronounce them. Big deal.

The UN building should be immediately converted into condos, at least then it will serve purposes that are more productive than what I have seen.

What a ridiculous story. ABC news, no wonder no one cares what you guys are talking about when this is one of your top stories. How completely unproffesional and foolish.

Bush is one quarter less than a (Haff-witt)

I don't think this will help. For heaven sakes, two or three weeks ago he mispronounced Australia by saying Austria.

"How completely unproffesional and foolish"

It is spelled 'unprofessional.' Looks like ABC is in good company.

I loathe the man as much as any patriot should, but phonetic pronunciations are a non-story. It's done for newscasters and other, um, talking heads all the time.

Anything to avoid acknowledging the truth in the words of his speech, I guess. How are we to take this site seriously if this is all that was taken away from today's events?

Why is it that when right-wingers rise to defend stupidity they merely end up,...uh....defending stupidity? As the articulate fellow below says...
"We all got the same intelligence." Uh huh. OK.
"great leader". Whatever you say...

______________________________________________

"This was not put on the un website by accident. It is another vile attempt to discredit the great leader of our country by democrats and liberals. They are why are country is divided, not because of President Bush. We all got the same intelligence. Democrats voted for the war too. They just want to surrender, cut and run, stop funding our troops so more die and place blame instead of finding real world solutions. Democrats and Liberals are a bunch of losers."

Posted by: No2demosandlibs | Sep 25, 2007 2:59:16 PM

To djconklin:

You are worried about spelling on a message board?

Kendal - as a matter of fact I CAN say Kyrgyzstan correctly the first time and I would hope that my President could, too.

Excewz me wile I chek on how to sae mishon accomplisht n espanyol. & y caint I jes meet thez fellers n crawferd nsted of new york ceetee? (Jenna tole me I wud b n awesum textmessajer)

No2Demsandlibs - nice try, pal, but this was a gaffe by the White House and had nothing to do with either Dems or Libs, no matter how much you hate them. Stop lying.

OK, I can see some of these like Kyrgyzstan, but Caracas? And then why not Pyongyang? Weird.

I wonder what the teleprompters look like for all the tallking heads on TV newscasts? What kind of a story would you have used if he had mispronouced some of the tongue twisters?

When did he learn to read??

Someone who graduated from Yale, is the commander-in-chief of what should be the most highly advanced civilization on the planet, and who is now old enough to be a grandfather should not have to be shown how to pronounce Mauritania.

Don't destroy your own wonderful beautiful countery by yourself by believing the deceitful vitriolic comments of your enimies about your president.

from Germany

I hate Bush. I think he belongs in prison. But here I have to give him a break. I do public speaking myself and this is a common device to help ensure a smooth delivery.

There's one important thing to remember here - this'great leader' of the 'free world' is apparently unable to assimilate information through his ears, let alone his proud boast that he never reads reports and newspapers.
it's not as though Mugabe appeared out of nowhere - all you have to do is open your ears and you'll hear that swine's name on a hundred news bulletins a day.
Bush appears more and more like a mouthpiece every time one of these stories breaks.

I wonder how many people posting messages critizing Bush have actually given a speech in front of several million people?

I would have used every aid possible so I could concentrate on content and not pronunciation.

Honestly ... wouldn't you?

The reason this is such a "big deal" is because it's yet another example of Bush's depressing ignorance. It may be common practice for speech writers as some have pointed out, but this is a man who rarely (if ever) left the country before becoming president, who didn't know the names of many world leaders, and who even recently didn't even know that one world leader was still alive! I may not know how to pronounce Kyrgyzstan off the top of my head, but I certainly expect the leader of the free world to! He is a disgrace and this is just one of myriad reminders.

The President of the United States of America can't even pronoun nuclear why would we expect him to be able to pronounce Caracas.

The most ill- lit- er- et and stoo-pid pres-e-dunt in the world.
My head hurts..........

You "journalists" got your degree out of a Cracker Jack box.

Investigate REAL NEWS!

Rob...sorry to burst your bubble...but that JFK 'jelly doughnut" thing is an urban legend (not true). Just Google it to find out. Unfortunately, none of Bush Jr's endless mistakes and incompetence are urban legend. The entire world wishes HE was just an urban legend. What an embarrassment he is to America.

I wasn't aware Bush could read. I noticed they didn't phonetically spell the word 'nuclear' for him.

The pro-NUN-see-a-tor!

Gee, if he'd had this at the APEC meeting in Australia, maybe he could have pronounced "Australia" and "APEC" correctly, instead of embarrassing his poor subjects (again).

"do you consider JFK a "dunce" and "idiot"? Afterall he prononced "Cuba" as "Cuber", and yet I never heard anyone describe him as a dunce."

That's because he wasn't one. JFK said "Cuber" because of his regional accent, not because he was unfamiliar with the word. Believe me, he was a well-educated man. On the other hand, I don't know if I could trust Dubya to find Cuba on a map.

I'm not SU-PRIZ-ED.

9/11 was an inside job by the way.

interesting that it seems to be about 28% of the posters are apologizing for, covering for, and/or supporting president landingstrip.

Why report unsubstantial info. Get enough of that from Republican websites and Fox news Jim

Why are most of the Amricans stupid like Bush?

don't you get it? the president should know how to pronounce these words... that's his JOB, to be dealing with WORLD ISSUES on a DAILY BASIS... if he truly believes in the policies he presents at a United Nations speech, and keep in mind these are KEY WORLD POLICIES THAT SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF HIS AGENDA, he should have been saying these words and names for YEARS, if not MONTHS... the fact that he does NOT no how to say these COMMON TO WORLD LEADER WORDS, is a sign he is a FAKE LEADER... something some of us have known since before the first election... guess what america, the EMPORER IS WEARING NO CLOTHES

C'mon guys, he's just a normal American. He doesn't read papers, or listen to the news or work with anyone who does. He decides on military matters/defers to military commanders (as politics dictates) and cuts brush in his spare time.
When would he ever have time to learn how to pronounce the name of the French president? Isn't that the job of some French professor in some college or something?

It's not like it's a test or anything.

I'm no fan of President Bush, but I can't see the big deal. Everyone needs help pronouncing things once in awhile.

What a double standard! The media makes a big deal out of phonetic spellings in the President's speech, but the Associated Press has for years included phonetic spelling in wire copy to broadcast outlets, so the media's "talking heads" can get the pronounciations correct. This has nothing to do with anything. Bush isn't the first, and won't be last President to have phonetic help in his speeches. I'll bet the same is true for every current presidential candidate.

* know
* EMPEROR

sorry LOL

What all this proves is that Democrats are incapable of any response other than personal attack.

of course it would be nice if the 'news' industry would actually report the real crisis that are going on in the world, and the insanity of the bush regime... but like steve colbert said 'rational thought has a liberal bias' according to the corporate cons who control the 'news' that is shoved down our throats... which would be bad enough if they were actually reporting what is really going on in the world... big brother has taken over people, and it isn't george bush in charge, it's the big corporations who are controlling everything

this is the same scholar that din't know the difference between Australia and Austria

Now I see why he doesn't e-mail.

Just more proof what a moron Bush is. He mangles the American language and sounds less intelligent than say, a rock.

None of the 'talking heads' or the candidates are president. This is what we can expect from the supposed leader of the most powerful nation in the world???? He has been taking up space in the WH for how long??? He really is an embarassment to all of us.