Just a bit over a century
ago Ambrose Bierce published The Devil’s Dictionary. A humorist by trade, Bierce intended this as
wry commentary on the passing scene.
Often more cynical than amusing, its definitions are still frequently on
target.
For instance, Bierce defines
“optimism” as “the doctrine, or belief, that everything is beautiful, including
what is ugly, everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is
wrong.” This gives the flavor of how he
turns meanings on their head, while providing insights into human nature.
Among his other definitions
is “politics,” which he describes as “a strife of interests masquerading as a
contest of principles. The conduct of
public affairs for private advantage.” Similarly
he defines “twice” as “once too often” and “truthful” as “dumb and illiterate.”
Nowadays we are being
treated to an analogous reworking of the English language. This one is being perpetrated at the hands of
liberal Democrats and is not intended to entertain, but to persuade. In short, familiar words are being given new
definitions in order to pull the wool over the public’s eyes.
Typically crafted by being
tested in focus groups, these definitions are more about connotation than
denotation, more about atmospherics than substance. They are linguistic gymnastics that
advertise, not inform. They are the
equivalent of Madison Avenue’s use of “new and improved” to mean “a smaller
quantity at a higher price.”
So let us start with a
sample of familiar definitions. One of
the more common involves the word “balanced.”
Whenever a liberal Democrat utters this word it basically means
“unbalanced.” It is tantamount to saying
“the other side should do it our way.”
The recent usage has
entailed depicting hugely increased taxes as exactly matching invisible
spending cuts. Listeners can identify
this sort of legerdemain whenever they encounter every Democrat who pops up on
television spouting precisely the same language.
Incidentally, this mindless
repetition is usually described as “remaining on message.” Moreover, politicians are proud of it. The more discipline they show, the more
professional they apparently feel. This is
probably because they understand that the endless duplication of misinformation
transforms dross into gold, i.e., into a facsimile of truth.
Anyway, this process of
turning the language inside out is proceeding at a breakneck pace. So for exhibit number two I present
“bipartisan.” Once upon a time
bipartisan meant that two parties worked together to produce a compromise
satisfactory to both. Now it means they
may not even be talking to one another.
Thus, when liberal Democrats
assert that they are being bipartisan, they mean that Republicans “should do it
the Democrat’s way.” As with “balanced,”
the word always tilts to their side of the ledger. Evidently what Republicans want is partisan
because they want it, whereas what Democrats want is not because it is in the
interests of the public and therefore neutral.
Another word that has been
twisted totally out of shape is “transparent.”
Once upon a time transparent meant that you could see through
something. With respect to politics, it
implied that ordinary people would be allowed to witness government decision
making first hand.
In fact, Barack Obama told
voters they would be allowed into the room when important choices were being
discussed. This, of course, became
non-operative during the political machinations that led up to ObamaCare. The resultant horse-trading was too
disreputable to open the doors for anyone.
What then is the liberal
definition of transparent? Essentially, “we
will let you see what we want you to see and not what we don’t want you to see.” Moreover, we liberals will certainly not
provide accurate information about the Benghazi cover-up. That might make us look bad and so we won’t
even permit you to talk with the survivors.
And so the melody plays
on. It’s the same old music, but with
freshly mangled lyrics. Stay tuned—there
is more to come.
Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University
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