Old Uncle Joe Biden seems to think that is a bad thing. What's his alternative? Not making America great again? Making China or Iran great? CNN refers to this as him 'sharpening his midterm message,' but it had better get sharper than this if he wants to make any sense to voters -- who happen, ex officio, to be Americans.
Man, the journalism and political class do this all the time, using the emotive, connotative, and instrumental qualities of a term rather than its actual meaning very soon after it becomes popular.
ReplyDeleteScrewtape mentions it right away in his letters, of getting the patient to focus on whether a philosophy is modern, or strong, or progressive while not letting him try to work out whether it is true.The point is to not think about things clearly, but rather to respond the the advertising and fashion. Chilling, really.
Whether this is an intentional manipulation on their part or the only way they can even conceive of an issue now is no longer discernible. The two streams have fed each other since middle school for them. There are sins of the intellect, and this would be one, making yourself more stupid that you need be because it's more comfy.
Whether this is an intentional manipulation on their part or the only way they can even conceive of an issue....
ReplyDeleteWords are the stock in trade for journalists and politicians; they know what they're saying, and they know what they're going to say as they form the thoughts. That's why they say what they say.
Too, those on the Left have never had anything but contempt for us average Americans, this has been especially apparent since they began disparaging the Tea Party movement.
Of course their manipulation is intentional.
From the OP: What's his alternative? Not making America great again? ...
Biden and his Progressive-Democratic Party syndicate cronies aren't bothering to offer an alternative. They're just interested in maintaining and extending their personal power.
Eric Hines
Keep in mind too, that postmodernism has metamorphosed into the idea that words ARE reality*, so that if something is declared to be the most dangerous philosophy, it must therefore be the most dangerous philosophy. Combine that with the belief that the side with the most intense emotional reaction is in the right, because truthfulness of an idea is determined by intensity of the speaker's feelings. The result is the warping of speech and the corruption of language (and other things) we see today.
ReplyDeleteLittleRed1
*This is where the plaint that "Your words are literal violence" originated from.
I should take all that more seriously. I just ran a bear hunter off my land last night with that .30-30, bracketed by another rifle. That wasn't even actual violence, by my standards, because nobody got hurt. Everyone left in the same condition in which they arrived, and with a clearer understanding of the world in which they lived.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe the words we spoke were the real thing. I think I said: "You can go. But don't come back."
Dude was about five months early for bear season in addition to hunting on private property. You showed a lot of restraint. Some people I used to know up there wouldn't have been so kind
DeleteSome people I knew up here might not have been, either. Did you know Eddie Queen? He died last year of a heart attack while working, as you would expect a man like him to do. He was the one who used to run poachers off this land before me.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure. I might've recognized him in person. I knew some Queens up there, but Eddie doesn't ring a bell. Were they on Hwy 281 about halfway on the long straightaway before you get to the recycling center?
DeleteI think it's intentional too, the Progressive Left has decided that it's useful to re-purpose words to change public attitudes. It's kind of like 'push'-polling, where they call people posing as a political pollster but are actually trying to shift their ideas, subtly, nefariously. Isn't the destruction of the meaning of words one of the working tactics of Marxism? This is just a variation on the theme.
ReplyDeleteHey, at least they aren't calling it Über-MAGA
Aggie, that's only because everyone knows that umlauts only belong in rock-band names. ;) (Marko Kloos has opined that if he ever forms a band, it will be called the Egregiöüs Ümläüts.)
ReplyDeleteLittleRed1
@Mike G: No, he lived up on Dodgen Ridge, where you were saying you rented a house for a while. That's why I thought you might have known him. He later moved up Charlie's Creek Road. His first house, wherever it was, burned to the ground: that's the origin story of the Canada Fire Station. After it was lost, the community got together at the PTA meeting of the Canada School and voted to establish the fire department. The school was closed and the PTA dissolved later, but the fire department is still there. Eddie was a founding member.
ReplyDeleteMy late brother had a tree farm on Dodgen Ridge. I lived for a time on Neddie Mtn Road, next to another tree farm belonging to someone else.
DeleteBo Brown lived up there. His property butted up to my brother's property. So Bo sneaks onto my brother's land and plants some Pot. The DEA helicopter spotted 'em and Jim Cruzan went up to talk to my brother about it. Brother said they weren't his and asked where they were. Jim showed him and they looked around a little bit and found a water hose. They followed it to Bo's trailer where the hose was attached to the hose bib on the side of his house.
Brother waited until Jim left, then told Bo if he ever did that again, he'd better hope he had his affairs in order.