The Language Vandals

 

I am linking to Jeff Deist’s article at Liberty Loft, because it is about defining terms.  The epigraph at the beginning of his article is a quote from George Orwell: "If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought."  

Today, “Political Correctness” is out. “Woke” is in:

Like culture, language is not property, and it cannot be “owned.” But it can be influenced and steered by linguistic vandals seeking to topple old understandings and leave us all overwhelmed and demoralized by the ever-shifting new terminology.

In the quaint, innocent days of 2015, we still called this progressive impulse “political correctness.” I attempted to define it then:

Political correctness is the conscious, designed manipulation of language intended to change the way people speak, write, think, feel, and act, in furtherance of an agenda.

PC is best understood as propaganda, which is how I suggest we approach it. But unlike propaganda, which historically has been used by governments to win favor for a particular campaign or effort, PC is all-encompassing. It seeks nothing less than to mold us into modern versions of Marx’s un-alienated society man, freed of all his bourgeois pretensions and humdrum social conventions.

Like all propaganda, PC fundamentally is a lie. It is about refusing to deal with the underlying nature of reality, in fact attempting to alter that reality by legislative and social fiat. A is no longer A.

Today, of course, PC is obsolete—replaced entirely by the far broader concept of “woke,” which goes well beyond language. 

Woke, whether a slur or not, may be used very broadly to represent strident left progressive beliefs regarding race, sex, sexuality, equality, climate change, and the like. Woke demands ever-changing language, and constantly creates new words while eliminating old ones. As a result, “cancellation,” de-platforming, and loss of employment or standing all loom large, giving pause to speakers and writers who must consider a new woke orthodoxy.

Ultimately, imposed language attempts to control our actions. . . .

Mr. Deist’s full article, which can serve as a preview of his forthcoming journal article, is at The Liberty Loft here.  

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The Trump Trash Tape Scandal Part 1

art credit: janebinnion.com

Trump’s locker room talk: 

he’s really finished now

Part 1 of 2

Adapted from a FB post by Tea Party’s roving photographer Pat Dooley:

Trump counter-punches when attacked. Senator McCain was one of the gang of eight who tried to ram the immigration amnesty bill down our throats. That bill passed in the Senate but failed in the house when Majority Leader Cantor was unexpectedly defeated in his primary by David Brat, who ran on an anti-illegal immigration platform. That gave the GOP reps cold feet, and the votes Boehner had whipped up evaporated.

McCain attacked Trump by saying "This performance with our friend out in Phoenix is very hurtful to me," McCain told Lizza, "Because what he did was he fired up the crazies." First, people who want to secure our borders are "crazies" and now we are "deplorable" and "irredeemable". Our open borders result in the deaths of 4000 US citizens a year at the hands of illegal immigrants. Our open borders have flooded the country with heroin and worse, killing thousands more. McCain is fine with that. Trump is not, so he responded. It might not have been nice, but McCain deserved it.

Obama and Clinton's disastrous ME policies allowed ISIS to rise. Obama has shown no ability to wage war against ISIS. Trump, at least, wants to take the fight to them. You can read his policy on ISIS at his website.

Trump has garnered the support of black pastors like Darrell Scott, who has known and worked with Trump for many years.

It is rare that the US elects a Saint for President. JFK was a sex-crazed adulterer during his time in office. LBJ was worse.

Johnson had ‘an unfillable hole in his ego,’ Moyers says. Feelings of emptiness spurred him to eat, drink, and smoke to excess. Sexual conquests also helped to fill the void. He was a competitive womanizer. When people mentioned Kennedy's many affairs, Johnson would bang the table and declare that he had more women by accident than Kennedy ever had on purpose.

Bill Clinton's history includes violent rape, sexual assault, and an affair with a vulnerable intern that he lied about until the dress was produced. His wife viciously attacked any woman who came forward to accuse her husband of sexual misconduct.

In this company, Trump's private locker room talk pales in comparison.

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Part 2 to follow.