Like most of us, your Uncle Rave is getting older by the minute. And, with getting older generally comes getting crankier. I really don’t mind being cranky though, because I think it shows that I’m still thinking, and that I still care. Too many people nowadays seem to demonstrate that they’re either NOT thinking, or they just DON’T care. Maybe it’s a combination of the two. I don’t know, but I think that THAT is just plain sad.
Some of you regulars to these pages have read some of my rants on the hijacking and bastardization of the English language, by the right-wing conservafasciadorks. They go out of their way to take an ordinary word, or phrase, and turn it – through inflection and steady repetition – into some sort of insult/accusation. As in the case of the word: L-l-libereal. Turn on FOX (Faux) News, or attend a McCain or Palin rally, and you hear them spitting out the word liberal like Joe McCarthy used to spit out the word communist . . . or, like how a lazy/bad: parent, babysitter, or older sibling would talk about the bogeyman. Uh oh! He’s out there! And he’s coming to get YOU! (Keep the kiddies scared, and keep ’em in line.)
Well, another word they LOVE to play with – very often in conjunction with the word L-l-liberal – is the word “agenda”. They just love to rhetorically ask: What’s their agenda? By the way they use the word, apparently only Democrats/Liberals have agendas! Of course the Republicans/Conservatives actually DO have their own agendas, but when they speak of theirs they use words like “goals” and “objectives” in place of the word agenda. Those words, by default, have more positive connotations. Their goals and objectives are lofty aspirations! While the other guys have some kind of agenda. It’s an evil plan! It involves Godless, homosexual, communists, who want to drink the blood of aborted babies, and undermine the troops! And, why? Because they HATE America! That’s what they try to convey when they throw down the agenda accusation. Of course, they’re playing off the phrase hidden agenda, and everybody knows that only dishonest people have hidden agendas. So, why not just shorten it to agenda, and make people believe that those others – with agendas – are, at the very least, less honest than us “Real Americans“.
It’s all just part of the politics of fear. Instead of talking TO their constituents about, oh I don’t know, maybe about something like . . . the ISSUES, they would rather talk AT them, and appeal to their emotions rather than their intellect. Jingoistic, accusational catch phrases, that make great soundbites: You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists! They HAVE to make the other guy – who puts his pants on, has bills to pay, has dreams and aspirations, and loves his: parents, wife and children, AND country the same way we all do – seem somehow . . . different and scary.
How patronizing of these manipulators, to fill people’s heads with such nonsense! How petty! How pathetic! Well, at least now we’re clear on what THEIR agenda is.
YUR
Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
A Semi-Andy Rooneyism
Published October 24, 2008 Commentary , Current Events , Language , Politics 2 CommentsTags: agenda, liberal, McCain, Palin, words
Like most of us, your Uncle Rave is getting older by the minute. And, with getting older generally comes getting crankier. I really don’t mind being cranky though, because I think it shows that I’m still thinking, and that I still care. Too many people nowadays seem to demonstrate that they’re either NOT thinking, or they just DON’T care. Maybe it’s a combination of the two. I don’t know, but I think that THAT is just plain sad.
Some of you regulars to these pages have read some of my rants on the hijacking and bastardization of the English language, by the right-wing conservafasciadorks. They go out of their way to take an ordinary word, or phrase, and turn it – through inflection and steady repetition – into some sort of insult/accusation. As in the case of the word: L-l-libereal. Turn on FOX (Faux) News, or attend a McCain or Palin rally, and you hear them spitting out the word liberal like Joe McCarthy used to spit out the word communist . . . or, like how a lazy/bad: parent, babysitter, or older sibling would talk about the bogeyman. Uh oh! He’s out there! And he’s coming to get YOU! (Keep the kiddies scared, and keep ’em in line.)
Well, another word they LOVE to play with – very often in conjunction with the word L-l-liberal – is the word “agenda”. They just love to rhetorically ask: What’s their agenda? By the way they use the word, apparently only Democrats/Liberals have agendas! Of course the Republicans/Conservatives actually DO have their own agendas, but when they speak of theirs they use words like “goals” and “objectives” in place of the word agenda. Those words, by default, have more positive connotations. Their goals and objectives are lofty aspirations! While the other guys have some kind of agenda. It’s an evil plan! It involves Godless, homosexual, communists, who want to drink the blood of aborted babies, and undermine the troops! And, why? Because they HATE America! That’s what they try to convey when they throw down the agenda accusation. Of course, they’re playing off the phrase hidden agenda, and everybody knows that only dishonest people have hidden agendas. So, why not just shorten it to agenda, and make people believe that those others – with agendas – are, at the very least, less honest than us “Real Americans“.
It’s all just part of the politics of fear. Instead of talking TO their constituents about, oh I don’t know, maybe about something like . . . the ISSUES, they would rather talk AT them, and appeal to their emotions rather than their intellect. Jingoistic, accusational catch phrases, that make great soundbites: You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists! They HAVE to make the other guy – who puts his pants on, has bills to pay, has dreams and aspirations, and loves his: parents, wife and children, AND country the same way we all do – seem somehow . . . different and scary.
How patronizing of these manipulators, to fill people’s heads with such nonsense! How petty! How pathetic! Well, at least now we’re clear on what THEIR agenda is.
YUR