Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A Word About Words
In Rules for Radicals Saul Alinsky takes time out to write a chapter about words. He quotes Mark Twain: "The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." William McGurn points out in today's WSJ that Nancy Pelosi is using the word "un-American," and land-swindler Nevada Senator Harry Reid is using the words "evil mongers" to describe Americans who show up at town hall meetings to ask questions or express dissent. Do Pelosi and Reid suffer from an ailment Alinsky diagnosed as "tongues-trapping-their-minds" disease, or by purposely choosing words such as "mob" and "un-American, are Speaker Pelosi and her "evil monger" friend Harry Reid hoping to use the media to shame us into our previous silent mode of refraining from showing up in public to ask questions and express dissent?
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3 comments:
I can't of her name but the young woman in PA who said you have awakened a sleeping giant is now shocked she is being called a racist. The cynic in me says hey lady I'm from Alabama so I'm automatically a racist just live with it...and her experience is not unique. Look what they did to Sarah Palin. The point being that attacking someone with words works until they don't care what you call them anymore.
Terri,
Yes! People like Rush Limbaugh have made a good living ($38 million per year, according to Rush) playing back the vicious things people say about him, then ridiculing the person who made allegations about him! A strong ego and thick skin seem to be imperative for people who are in the arena of politics.
So if I understand you, Rush and Saul are cut out of the same cloth as far as tactics in dealing with people? I'm not saying you're not right, I'm just making sure I'm drawing the correct assumption here.
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