The pen is mightier than the sword.
It has long been a custom that the chief of state in any nation is an examplar of good usage in the language of that country.
Courtesy, also, is a set of customs and practices that people expect their leaders to follow, thus setting an example for everyone in the nation.
Rudeness, in the form of interrupting others, is frowned on in a civil society.
Combine these -- poor grammar, scattered speech patterns and rudeness -- and you have a sound portrait of the current president of the United States.
Journalists have long ignored lapses in grammar and sentence structure by interview subjects, editing and selecting phrases to improve the flow of a news report. Part of that is also courtesy. Few people always speak in grammatically perfect sentences when speaking informally.
But when a politician habitually insults and attacks the news media, showing rudeness and interrupting reporters even as he mauls standards of generally accepted language usage, it's hard to overcome the courtesy that reporters habitually give to their interview subjects.
However, there are ways.
One is to record and report exactly what is said, exactly as it is said, without editing for clarity or cleaning up the grammar.
Another is to print a full, unedited transcript of the interview, including all the interruptions and scattered thoughts, the rambling sentences and the ungrammatical usage.
If you want fair treatment, be fair. Journalists will report what you say, and they may well report exactly how you say it.
Be careful what you wish for, and always remember where the real power lies.
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