2021 archive
What’s in a Word? 0
Actually, as the Angry Grammarian points out at the Inky, quite a lot. He discusses the current federal administration’s efforts to remove the language of hate and bigotry left behind in regulations, policies, and pronouncements by its predecessor. Here’s a bit of his article; follow the link for specific examples
Language of persecution and hate permeated government websites, press releases, and laws for much of the last four years. As the Times detailed, it’s because of Miller’s linguistic influence that President Biden has had so much work to do since taking office to change the language of government to reflect values of dignity, equity, and fairness. Biden’s team is making quick progress undoing the damage.
“Nobody Expects the Spanish American Inquisition”*
0
At the Des Moines Register, Connie Ryan reminds us that the freedom to practice your own religion (or lack thereof) does not grant the privilege of imposing it on others.
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*With apologies to Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
“But It’s the Only Possible Explanation” 0
At the Hartford Courant, Edna Friedberg explores the attraction and power of conspiracy theories, pointing out that they can seduce persons desiring easy answers to hard questions. Here’s how she opens it:
The entire article is worth the four or five minutes of your time reading it will take.
The Voter Fraud Fraud, Facts Are What People Think Dept. 0
In the light of the previous federal executive’s loss in the recent national election, a number of Republican legislators are proposing bills to gut out the vote. One of their justifications* can be loosely paraphrased as “well, lots of persons think that something was wrong, so we must act.”
At the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Howard Kirtz has a suggestion for them. Here’s a bit of his article (emphasis added).
Here is another solution: tell the voters of Georgia the truth! There was no fraud in the recent elections, so there is nothing to fix. If there is a perception problem, tell the voters the truth. That will fix the perception problem. If the legislators do not think that will fix the problem, then they have no faith in their own ability to persuade. They should retire from the political arena and let those who can speak the truth in a convincing way lead the state.
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*The “justifications,” of course, are just for show; gutting out the vote is the goal, not an unintentional side effect. Said “justifications” make your local used car dealers claims about that used Yugo that’s been on the lot for two decades look truthful.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Resolve political differences with politeness.
“That Party’s Over” 0
Gordon Weil suggests that we no long have a two-party system, at least not in the traditional way of two principled parties with different policies, platforms, and goals. Rather, he submits that we have one party that’s for things and another that’s against.
Methinks he’s onto something.
QOTD 0
Robert Peel:
Agitation is the marshalling of the conscience of a nation to mold its laws.
(This is a second post that was inadvertently published early and then rescheduled. My lamer excuse is that I’m still getting used to the keyboard on my new laptop, as it’s a slightly different size from that on my old laptop, which has started showing signs of age.)
Just the Vaxx, Ma’am 0
Warning: Short ad at begins at about the six-minute mark.)
You can blame a lot of this delusional thinking on the disinformation superhighway and persons’ willingness to believe anything they see on a computer screen when they wouldn’t believe the same damn thing if it happened right before their eyes.