Word Have Meaning

Member Group : Lincoln Institute

WORDS HAVE MEANINGS – UNLESS CHANGED TO MEET A LIBERAL AGENDA

Have you noticed how the left deals with rejection of its ideology? Not by logical argument (they are into feelings and emotions, not logic); it’s by changing labels and the meanings of words.

Start with their self-description. For decades, it was "liberals." When that became a pejorative term, they reverted to the long-forgotten "progressives." But a rose is a rose… and vice versa.

Five decades ago, the mantra of doom was "global cooling." Then mercury rose in thermometers for a while. New mantra – "global warming." For the past decade or more, temperatures have remained relatively constant. Finally realizing that world climate is in a perpetual state of flux, liberals adopted the perfect scare phrase to justify their draconian anti-energy measures – the natural phenomenon "climate change."

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the substance we (and other animals) exhale and which is necessary to sustain plant life. Human existence is dependent on plants. Yet, to the radical Environmental Protection Agency, CO2 is a "pollutant."

We prod children to get the best education they can and to work hard to become financially secure. It is axiomatic that workers with better educations, experience and levels of responsibility are more valuable to employers and to society. When people are paid what they’re worth – based on productivity – liberals call the gap between low-paid workers and employers (those who risk capital, build businesses and create jobs) "income inequality." But that invective is not used for the gap between low-paid workers and venerated athletes or pop stars.

"Choice" means selection among options – except in the liberal lexicon. On abortion, "choice" means you have one choice – theirs; pro-life does not count as a "choice."

"Fairness" has several meanings: In education it is equalization of grades and in athletics it is not keeping score (so no one’s feelings are hurt); for jobs, it is equal pay despite performance/non-performance differences (it’s the union way); in voting, it is allowing anyone who shows up to cast a ballot (non-citizen, felon, whatever).

"Tax fairness" is liberal-speak for redistribution of wealth (stealing from producers and giving it to others who choose not to work).

"Fair share" means you must pay for union representation even if you opt to represent yourself.

When people from other countries come here in defiance of U.S. law, they are, by definition, "illegal aliens." But you dare not use a negative term to describe lawbreakers. So, we’re told to call them "undocumented immigrants." Not for long – liberals are giving them drivers licenses, Social Security cards, etc. that will make them "documented illegal aliens."

"Border security" no longer means securing the border against those not legally qualified to enter; it is now keeping borders secure for safe – illegal – passage into this country.

"Workplace violence" now includes Jihad against the U.S. military (even when accompanied by shouts of "Allahu akbar").

The term "Indians" dates to when Christopher Columbus thought he found his way to India. But that became politically incorrect, as did "Redskins" (though defining groups by skin colors as "Whites" or "Blacks" passes muster). Call them "Native Americans." Since anyone born in this country is a "Native American," let’s all check that block on forms asking for racial identity.

Whites committing crimes against Blacks are often called "racists" who perpetrate "hate crimes." Blacks committing the same crimes against Whites do not qualify as "racists" and do not commit "hate crimes." Just ask Attorney General Eric Holder who is prosecuting the rare White on Black knockout game thug but not any of the far more numerous Black on White knockout game thugs.

Blacks cannot be found guilty of racial "discrimination," they can only be racially discriminated against. When a White is subject to racial "discrimination" it is labeled "reverse discrimination" (not eligible for censure).

Government spending (even for waste, fraud and abuse) is promoted as "investment."

A budget "cut" means planned spending is higher than last year but less than what is wanted. Such budget "cuts" increase spending.

"Prevailing wage" is employment compensation that prevails at some mythical place and which is higher that warranted by supply and demand in the free market.

"Gay" described joyous and lively behavior, until it became a euphemism for "homosexual" (which description, apparently, caused liberals some angst).

"Diversity" does not encompass different political points of view, only liberals of multiple races, genders, ethnicities and sexual orientations.

For thousands of years, "marriage" has been the sanctioned union of one man and one woman. Liberals say it should include homosexual, transgender and a myriad of other relationships. But why limit it to humans? With current technology, why not "marriage" between robots?

"Negroes" defines a race. It was abandoned, probably because it was too easily bastardized into the despicable term euphemistically known as the "N" word (which may not be used… except within that community). "Colored" (as in National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was once OK, until it, too, was mostly discarded. "Afro-American" was in style until "African-American" took hold. But, since humankind is said to stem from "Lucy" (the hominid whose descendants moved from Africa to populate the world), aren’t we all African-Americans? Meanwhile, "Black" seems to have weathered the storm over the centuries, albeit not by all. Now, "person of color" has become an acceptable alternative (though that really describes anyone other than an albino).

Obamacare increases premiums and deductibles for most – a double whammy – except for the president (who gets lifetime medical care at taxpayers’ expense) and members of Congress and their staffs (who get subsidies not available to the rest of us). Among the most egregious changes in the meanings of words is "affordable," as in the "Affordable" Care Act – Obamacare.

Finally, "dictionary" now means a list of words with meanings written in pencil to accommodate whimsical changes by liberals.

Al Bienstock