Is, Is...

Once in a while I take note of a speech or writing habit that my pedantic self finds particularly annoying.  This morning, it's "is, is."  I regret to say that our President is Offender-in-Chief in this particular regard.  Have you noticed?  He's by no means the only one, but he should be setting a good example, shouldn't he?

It goes like this: "The problem is, is that..."  Or "What I know about this is, is [my friends on the Republican side of the aisle should...]"  And so on.  You'll know it when you hear it.  And what I have to say about this is, is that it's bad grammar, the second "is" is entirely superfluous, and it sounds faintly ridiculous.

Reminds me a bit of the old grammatical teaser: "John, where Jim had had "had", had had "had had."  "Had had" had had the teacher's approval."

Have a great day!