Republicans: You're on Notice

I'm putting Republicans on notice for misuse use of the English language.

The current Republican leaders are masters of creating deceptive and manipulative (but catchy!) sound-bite sized phrases that can turn any large or complex topic into a bite-size straw man.

Examples:

"Intelligent Design" - Creationist mythology trying to disguise itself as science.

"Death Tax" - There is no tax on death. There is an income tax on income amounts over $625k that come from estate inheritances. And even then there are plenty of loop holes to ensure that your precious spoiled brat gets all the millions he/she deserves.

"Partial Birth Abortion" - A horribly twisted phrase that doesn't refer to any known medical procedure.

"Patriot Act" - Shortly after 9/11, who would want vote against anything with the word Patriot in it? Nobody would have voted for it if it was called the "Spy on America Act"

"Marriage Penalty" - Nobody ever intended to penalize marriage. The tax code is very complex, and yes there have been times when the tax code worked against low-income couples by placing them in the same tax bracket as a single person making their combined income. However, this tax code also benefited married couples at higher incomes. The marriage penalty is more about tax loopholes for the rich than anything.

"Cut And Run" - This phrase implies cowardice. There was never ever a single democrat who ever suggested "Let's order the troops to RUN AWAY."

"Tax And Spend" - Both parties drove us into the financial trouble we are in. But even worse than "Tax and Spend" is the current Republican policy of "Cut-Tax but still Spend".

"Liberal" - This used to be a good word, meaning someone who was open minded and willing to try new things. Now it's somehow become a slander word, somewhere between "coward" and "traitor".

There are plenty more examples.

Now, I don't want to unfairly pick on the Republicans, because I know all politicians have to be masters of spin to some extent. But I really think the Republicans are more cynical and manipulative with their sound bite spin than Democrats are.

When liberals twist phrases, it's usually in an attempt to put Political Correctness on a subject.

It's not done to scare people or paint the opposition as evil.

Interview Me

I volunteered to be part of an interview chain.

This is where you have to answer 5 questions about yourself to someone, and in return you can ask 5 questions of anyone else who wants to participate.

Here are the questions I got, and my answers:

Q: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up and why?

A: I wanted to be an astronomer. Once I learned about planets and galaxies, I just couldn't ignore them or get them out of my mind. Like in the movie "The Truman Show", once I got a glimpse of a bigger reality out across the cosmos, I couldn't stop looking for it.

Q. List three things you would do with more free time.

A:
1) I would travel more. I've always wanted to see Europe, and also some of the very remote spots of the globe not yet changed by humans.
2) I would read more. I've collected books for years, like I'm somehow gathering pieces of a puzzle. And someday I want to have the time to read all the books and put it all together. For now, I only have time to read little chunks....a chapter here....a chapter there...etc.
3) I would spend more time with my friends.

Q: If you had to choose between being blind or being deaf, which would you choose and why?
A: Oh my gosh that is a tough one to answer. I've never regretted hearing anything I've ever heard. But I regret seeing many things I've seen. Sight can be so awful. Sight is also a source of great distraction, and a killer of imagination (T.V., video games, etc.) So in many ways, the thought of being blind seems more interesting than being deaf. It would bring my whole world in much closer to me, and would allow me to use much more of my imagination. But from a purely practical aspect, I need my sight more than my hearing to do my job and to do most of the things I love. So, darnit, I guess I'd rather be deaf. That's my practical answer. Being blind would be my "romantic" answer.

Q: What do you most like about your life right now?
A: The security that comes from being "established"...having an established career, and having money saved. No matter what catastrophe befalls me next, I won't end up living under a bridge and digging through garbage. And that feels really good to someone like me who spent the better part of my life alone and living "on the raggedy edge", with little resources and no family to catch me if I failed. I'm really proud of how far I've come and what I've accomplished given the really awful hand I was dealt early on in life.

Q: If you could change one thing in the world, any one thing, what would it be and why?
A: I wish we could move the solar system closer to clusters of other stars. Our long-term survival depends on our ability to get off this Earth before we "use it up" or otherwise find a way to wipe ourselves out.

Okay, that answer went way out of bounds of the question. Let me try again:

I wish we had some kind of technology that could educate people more quickly and easily. Like in the Matrix where they could download lessons directly into the brain. Life is getting increasingly complicated and sophisticated and technical. And the education level of the general populous is not keeping up. So many important issues require at least a college degree (or equivalent study) to understand. I would argue that making informed decisions about global warming, evolution, genetics, stem cell research, foreign governments, health insurance, civil rights, economic theories, etc. requires about 20 years of total education. And the vast majority of people just don't have that. And so they are too easily swayed with appeals to over-simplified (and often religious) answers.

Global Warming? Don't worry, the Rapture is soon. Evolution? Didn't happen. Stem cells? Each one is a human being with a soul. Civil rights? The Bible says women must obey men. Foreign governments? If they aren't Christian, screw em'. Health insurance? God will answer the prayers of the sick. And so on.

The whole planet needs a way to get a lot more educated in a lot less time. I'm not going to be arrogant enough to say that if everyone is educated, they will agree with ME. But I do bet an educated populous would not fall for the polarizing tactics of the major political forces in this country.

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Okay, those are my answers. If anyone else wants to be interviewed with 5 questions, leave me a comment. :)

VL

When we choose to care

So all the news today is all about the mass murder at Virginia Tech. It was a creepy, scary, violent, and sad event. Sympathy, support, love, and money poor in from all over the country to the surviving families of this tragedy. The news media covers the lives and stories of the slain students.

But I am concerned about the narrow focus of this response. Thousands of people die from gun violence every year, and all those deaths go largely unnoticed. If you want to be remembered for a shooting death, make sure you die with a lot of other people. Don't be gunned down alone!

A family who's house is wiped out by hurricane Katrina gets national media coverage, national sympathy, and financial aid. A family who's house is wiped out by a tornado in Oklahoma is ignored.

15,000+ people are killed every year from drunk driving, and people barely notice. Millions die from war and famine in Africa each year....and we really couldn't care less.

But the 32 people who died at Virginia Tech will receive the full grief and support of our whole nation.

That many people are killed almost every DAY in Iraq, and we don't care (much). And then we wonder why the rest of the world hates us.

I'm not saying I don't understand why this happens. I've been a sucker for the news coverage and sad stories from the Virginia Tech massacre myself. But I do find it terribly unfair and unfortunate that our national sense of tragedy is only capable of such limited and narrow focus.

There is more death and suffering in the world than any person can deal with, and so we pick and choose just a very few people to help and feel sorry for. And we pick those people who are most like us, and who come in the most convenient packaging.

I'm sure there are many parents across the nation who have lost a child due to senseless violence, and watched their child pass into obscurity, never to be remembered. And I wonder if they look at the news coverage of the Virgina Tech massacre...and the video tributes to individual kids who died...and I wonder if they think "What about MY child?"