Written by Mairead   

There was once a time when elocution was regarded as a symbol of education, upward mobility, intelligence. Emphasis on the was. Listen to FDR say "The only thing to feah, is feah itself," and it's almost unimaginable that ordinary Americans trusted someone who sounded like Thurston Howell III from Gilligan's Island. Today, Sarah Palin speaks to 1/4 of the electorate, even though when she opens her mouth it sounds like she's translating into Korean and back again. Even the rhetorically gifted President Obama has been heard dropping g's while tryin' to sell health reform.

I can't believe we live in a time where soundin' "folksy" has become more important than sounding educated. Meanwhile, our country's biggest competitors are learning proper English and, judging from all the Indian call centers, learning it quite well. Our country was built on people striving to move up, not dumb down.

Let's all take a moment to think before we speak.