The danger of buzzwords.
I’ve been reading Al Gore’s new book, The Assault on Reason. I really love this book, even though I’m not very far along yet. He speaks of things that I’ve been waiting, dreaming, wanting desperately for someone to say right out loud for awhile. One thing he speaks of is the clever but dangerous use of buzzwords in politics: terrorist, liberal, libs, patriotism, support our troops (that one makes me want to gag).Everyone who isn’t a conservative is asking the same question these days: since when is it bad to be a liberal? When did America begin hating us? The answer is, of course, that it’s not bad and it never has been. Given that, in the last election, the majority of people voted Democrat, one can’t even logically say that America hates us. In fact, liberals are looking mighty damn fine right now.
So why is it such a bad thing to be a liberal today? Is it because we’re reasonable, sensible people who don’t agree with the current administration? My God, what a coup that was. In his new book, Al Gore mentions that there was more press coverage on his inappropriate sighing during his debate with GWB than there was about any of the issues they discussed. As much as I hate to generalize about a party’s behavior, I have to say that certain Republicans have turned our free press into a propaganda free-for-all since the middle of Clinton’s second term. They took the election away from Gore by making him look like a crybaby because some votes weren’t counted correctly and he wanted a recount in the opposing candidate’s brother’s state–wahhhhhhhhhh, wahhhhh, our democracy is being tampered with, someone is trying to usurp my rightful presidency, I’m telling my Mommy!
If I don’t want our troops invading a more or less innocent country, I am unpatriotic. If I don’t think it’s right to spy on me, to tap my phones, to create long lines at airports and give up all of my privacy, I’m pro-terrorist. If I want the Earth to be a safe place for my children’s children, I’m a selfish hippie tree-hugger. If I want to use environmentally safe fuels and natural materials, well, I’m still a tree-hugger. If I want to raise taxes to decrease the deficit, boost the economy, and fund government programs, I’m accused of wanting to tax the poor out of existence. Let me tell you something, honey–I’ve been poor, I’m still poor, and the Bush tax cuts didn’t help me a damn bit. Three hundred bucks spread over a period of a year is about 25 dollars a month–what poor person wouldn’t sacrifice $25 or so a month to increase their health care benefits, their child care opportunities, their educational opportunities (didn’t we all notice a tuition hike right after Bush’s election?), and ensure some sort of retirement so that they don’t have to wait tables or scrub floors their entire lives?
This is the effect of buzzwords in politics. Things that all reasonable people would want are made into evil, heinous, fear-provoking issues that get ‘talking point’-ed to death on Fox News until they are completely unfeasible. Buzzwords only work if people believe them, though; they also only work if people hear them in the first place. For the sake of America, maybe we should all turn off the news.
Primary concerns.
Generally, I adore the primaries. Knowing that, within months, a certain grand old party will be taking as many pot-shots at my beloved Democrats as they can, it’s nice to watch them turn inward and harp on each other for awhile. A particularly heartening moment that Al Franken recalls from the 2000 elections: Bush, when asked about a political biography that he was supposedly reading, completely choked and began spouting his usual rhetoric about changing the tone in Washington or whatever the current hot topic was at the time. When asked his next question, John McCain answered it quickly and spent the rest of his time filling in the information that Bush should have learned from the book he’d supposedly just read. Classic.
This upcoming Democratic primary has me very worried, though. I’m not racist and I’m not sexist; I believe that a man or a woman, regardless of race, could do an amazing job as president. I am, however, concerned that we get a Democrat in office as quickly as humanly possible. I am afraid that our forerunners, Clinton and Obama, might hurt our chances. I’m not certain that America is ready for a woman to be president, no matter how badly the Bush administration has fucked up. Obama is a man, and he may be able to make history despite the remaining presence of racism in our country, but I think that Mrs. Clinton would have a very difficult time pulling this election off. For one, she’s a chick, which is still worse than being a man in this respect. Secondly, she’s seen as being cold and callous, thanks to the Republican slander and lie machine. There are enough people who hate Hillary to make her a risky candidate. There was enough scandal regarding herself and her husband during his administration for the GOP to have more than enough fuel for its hateful, America-hating, selfish, money-grubbing fire. Yes, fire can be all of those things.
Democrats prevailed overall in the last election, but barely. Are we willing to risk it on Hillary? I have no doubt that, if she’s anything like her husband, her presidency would create another strong period of time for America; I just doubt that Americans will give her a chance to do the job. We desperately need a Democrat in office now. Just something to think about.
