newspeak? clarifying some "conserva-speak"
If you have never read George Orwell's "1984", or at least seen the movie, you probably should... Orwell's prophetic insights continue to prove out, one by one.
"Newspeak" has been around for awhile now, but was more "officialized" during the past 8 bizarro shrub years. I'm sure you remember "Freedom Fries" and "The Death Tax", et. al... well, now we have even longer quotes that are even more bizarro, like McCain's "the fundamentals of our economy are still strong" - said, of course, as the US financial house of cards is tumbling down all around his strange little head... similar, in part, to that Iraqi general who went on TV during the US invasion and insisted that there was "no problem" and that they had defeated the Americans... while in the background you could see US tanks, et. al. rolling in. Yeah, it all just kind of makes me shake my head and wonder how in the hell did we ever get to such a point of ridiculous and obvious charades?
A friend just emailed the following definitions and/or explanations of conserva-speak, which is endlessly spewed from the republican spin machine and fits nicely as the new newspeak.
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• If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a 'token hire.' If you're a conservative and you’re selected for a job over more qualified; candidates you're a 'game changer.'
• Black teen pregnancies? A 'crisis' in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A 'blessed event.'
• If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential ‘American story.'
• Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kid Track, you're 'colorful.'
• If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're 'reckless.'
A Republican who doesn't fully vette is a 'maverick.'
• If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African American voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
• If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
• If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an 'arrogant celebrity'.
If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are 'energizing the base'.
• If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are 'presumptuous'.
If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a 'shoot from the hip' maverick.
• If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are ’an elitist-out of touch’ with the real America.
If you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions, you are a hero.
• If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an 'empty suit'.
If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an 'experienced executive'.
• If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are 'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are 'strongly principled'.
• If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you’re a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're 'risky'.
• If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
• If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you 'First dog.'
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you 'beautiful' and 'courageous.'
• If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion you're not a Christian, you're a murderer
(forget about if it happen while being date raped…)
• If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
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As Winston was told in "1984", "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?"
I believe it's working, Mr. Orwell... thinking seems to be considered either "exotic" or "arrogant" or even "dangerous" these days by these righty-tighty nutjobs.
Hmmm... haven't we seen this kind of "war on intellectualism" before?
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