This is an interesting article where Berkeley Linguistics prof. George Lakoff dissects the “war on terror” and other conservative catchphrases. It should be no suprise to anyone that conservatives are much better at framing issues to make their positions seem more favorable. For instance, the term “tax relief,” has a built in implicaton that taxes are an onerous burden that we need to be liberated from.
Archive for August, 2004
Why isn’t this news? George Bush should be impeached. Recall for a moment that the GOP and the vast right-wing conspiracy (which exists, by the way) persecuted Bill Clinton for 6 years until they exposed that he recieved a blowjob in the Oval Office, at which time they tried to impeach him on the basis of lying under oath about it. “No, I did not recieve a blowjob,” is, I think what he said.
Skip to the present day, where it’s been exposed by numerous members of George Bush’s own party, including most recently Rep. Doug Bereuter, (see
this link) who said in a letter to consituients that “I’ve reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action,”that ”a dangerous, costly mess.” He further states that, “Left unresolved for now is whether intelligence was intentionally misconstrued to justify military action.” Considering that over 900 U.S. soldiers have died, I think it’s scandalous that this isn’t a bigger deal. It should be a HUGE deal, and as I stated, I believe that George Bush should be impeached.
I hate SUV drivers. These people, either through ignorance (willful or otherwise) or indifference, buy SUVs despite the fact that they are irresponsibly dangerous to the rest of us. How dangerous? In a collision of SUV and passenger car, the passenger car passengers are 4 – 6 times more likely to die. Thanks SUV drivers, for looking out for your own safety at the expense of everyone else!
But in a delightful bit of irony, the New York Times reports here that SUVs are more dangerous than passenger cars! SUV passengers are in fact 11% more likely to die in an accident than people in cars, thanks to the magic of rollovers. I call it karma.