Semantics on the Fritz– To deal with today’s political climate, my favorite coping mechanism has always been apathy. After the election of 2004, I, in disbelief, ceased to care. And it works well, for in my microcosm, responding to the daily actions of the president seems all too obvious. That is, I have refused to become caught up, and am not compelled to join the leagues of Bush bashers, that world of tiny liberal pundits with tiny soap boxes stating the obvious and sometimes making wild and unfounded claims in an already saturated Bush-hating market. Sigh.All politicians are sycophants, seemingly soulless, easily bought talking heads, clamoring for validation amidst the ebb and flow of trends in public opinion. The recent hint that the president, and a good chunk of the Republican Party, would alter their stance by asserting that they had never been for a “stay the course” approach to the war in Iraq, as well as the reaction to it, really illuminates the phony nature of politics. Of course, I’m referring to ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos where Bush claimed he had “never been ‘stay the course,’” which in its pre-existing vagueness would have sounded like he had an inkling of desire to pull out of Iraq–that is, if he had not immediately followed that statement by saying we need to finish the job. Despite this being an issue of semantics, the left immediately sensationalized the matter with an anachronistic deluge to the contrary, coupled with interpretations along the lines of “hypocrisy of Orwellian proportions.” For one thing, calling situations Orwellian has become worn-out and tedious. Perhaps the “stay the course” issue is Bush’s typical stuttering ineloquence or perhaps it’s artifice, but in this situation, mincing words only seems to negate the real issues (and as Bush said in that interview, what’s at stake in the midterm elections is a reinstatement of No Child Left Behind, immigration reform and border control, social security reform, and the war in Iraq). So it’s irritating that my political alignment puts me into the same category as these left-wing charlatans who make the entire left look like a bunch of uninformed freaks. Please, people, quit taking these sucker punches, get a clue. (And please go vote.)
The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
