Palin and many other politicians speak in a kind of Joycean stream of consciousness. They don't know what they are talking about (whether they realize it or not) and merely keep talking, usually on topics unrelated to the question.

Never mind the meaning; the idea is to fill up time so that the questioner is defeated and time runs out.

Exactly. There's also one other huge problem with her thought... An English teacher would have read extensively enough to be aware that a truly talented, educated individual can convey their thoughts without resorting to long, convoluted sentences. As one professor I had long ago pointed out, excessively complex structures in writing are often used to make the author look far more educated & intelligent than he or she really is.

One person I knew is a great example... The pretentious jerk had a inferiority complex over not finishing college, so he overused polysyllabic words and quoted Latin phrases he'd memorized whenever possible. As I pointed out to him once, people I knew at any level of education at two of the nation's top-ranking universities were usually concise and kept their everyday communication accessible to anyone. Contrary to the article author's claim, the real indication of intelligence or knowledge was -- and is -- primarily content.

Agreed.

And that is why I seldom read postings more than half again as long as yours.

If writers can't say it in a short post here, they probably don't know what they are talking about.

Ouch ;-) The military may not be known for its contributions to literature but they had one thing right: accuracy, brevity, clarity. The ABCs of a good briefing.