Okay, my take on Obama… he totally agrees with his pastor. His pastor hasn’t suddenly changed, his views have always been such. So why, if Obama didn’t agree with Rev. Wright did he ever go to his church in the first place. I think Obama is a great orator and very savvy, much like Clinton, who I also think was a liar. But, that’s just my not so humble opinion.

I feel very torn though because I don’t see a good option. I will admit to liking Ron Paul though… I know he doesn’t have a chance though.

I’m not saying Obama is or has been right to stick with the church & former pastor. I’m saying I understand & respect his explanation of things. If I’m being hoodwinked here, so be it. Time will prove whether I’m right or wrong in supporting Obama. Given the choice of the three current candidates, however, I choose to raise my children in the America of President Obama. I don’t make that decision lightly.

I like your discussion of the linguistic issue at hand. I find this scenario fascinating not only because I’ve never encountered a vowel change in English like this in my lifetime, but also because of the way it’s been raised to my attention–namely, by a presidential candidate. Do you know of any literature on the subject (this particular word, if possible) that you could point me to?

Thanks to everyone so far for their great comments.

Remember that English as spoken and written in America seems to have taken on a life of its own. Spellings such as color, check, and gray, are the products of many years of misspelling to the point that they are now accepted forms of the words. The same could be said of pronunciation, with the example of the word schedule, which properly would be said shed*yule, and not sked*yule.

The only point I have on Barack’s speech, would be that he used two different pronunciations. Where some would like to say this is a gaffe like President Bush’s, I would quickly disagree.

the pronounciation can be found here: http://aolsvc.merriam-webster.aol.com/dictionary/divisively

I think the short i version is from across the pond.