Walks Upright

The gooey oil washing into the maze of marshes along the Gulf Coast could prove impossible to remove, leaving a toxic stew lethal to fish and wildlife, government officials and independent scientists said.

via Gulf Oil Spill: Cleaning Wetlands May Be Impossible, Scientists Say.

Let’s stop and think about this… 1500 farmers in one day. One thousand five hundred people in one area of a country in one day killed themselves. Well over two hundred thousand have killed themselves in that region since 1997.

The agricultural state of Chattisgarh was hit by falling water levels.

"The water level has gone down below 250 feet here. It used to be at 40 feet a few years ago," Shatrughan Sahu, a villager in one of the districts, told Down To Earth magazine

1,500 farmers commit mass suicide in India – Asia, World – The Independent.

Fourteen of the council's 15 members voted in favor of the resolution, with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice abstaining from the vote on behalf of the United States.

Security Council calls for cease-fire in Gaza – CNN.com.

..that’s right you read that correct, “abstaining from the vote”. Even UN Security Council member China voted in favor of this resolution at a time when they themselves have unclean hands with regard to the situation in the Sudan. While the images of a brutal lopsided war against Gaza loom in our eyes in pure digital for the world to see, the Bush government and its minions (with complicity from Congress of course) have seen it fit to give all hope for all causes of human rights in the world one more swift kick in the balls. Within in a few days I deeply hold hope that we will see a changed course on this approach and that it is a course that has a true soul and an existing conscience.

One of the key things the left needs to do to bring politics back to the left of center is to regain the community perception of reality that is has been under attack by the right-wing marketing machine. The right and it’s lemmings have proven themselves oranized in taking talking points and language handed down by it’s strategists and turning our culture’s use of everyday language on it’s head. It sickens me to see them frame the debate and re-frame our language and get away with it.

Example I: Tree Harvesting
This is a term I hear used often living in the Pacific Northwest. No longer will you hear the term Clear Cutting used in reference to the massive deforestation that occurs daily—it’s no longer a term referred to in our popular culture. Tree Harvesting sounds so much softer and kinder… oh that 90 year old oak was cut down.. it was harvested! It’ll be back next year with the annual picking of strawberries and turnips. It’s no coincidence that clear cutting has been blunted to fruit picking as the juicy profits of big timber are quite sweet I’m sure. A harvest has always been in reference to things that grow anually and does not apply to something that has taken 80 years to grow. “Oh go ahead and chop it.. it’ll be back next year.” Umm… no it won’t.

Example II: Climate Change
Sounds nice doesn’t it?

“Ah… look… that silly mother nature…. she’s at it again.. climate change. What’s for lunch?”

It was and always will be remembered as GLOBAL WARMING. It’s more than obvious things are warming faster than they should. It’s not something that should be framed politically or marketed in a softer gentler framework. This is serious business and we need to take the language back. Repeat after me: Global Warming, Global Warming, Global Warming. Ok.

Example III: Torture is still Torture

All of the best minds in the intelligence and military world will tell you the same thing: torture doesn’t work. It didn’t work on Americans in World War II in bringing down the allies and it certainly won’t work if we do it. Holy hell I can’t believe I even have to say this. Put anyone in the whacky column if they come back with the “yeah but what if there’s a bomb that’s going to go off and…” line. But let’s face it… we know we’ve lost all credibility on this matter. So at least reclaim the language and the ethics that lay beneath the words. Torture is still torture.

(to be continued)

For more on how they use language to frame reality check out this article which is based on a 1996 memo by Newt Gingrich with what he refers to as Optimistic Positive Governing Words ›

I grew up in Southern California. I remember when there was a specific window in which you would see brush fires occur and that was usually 3 or 4 weeks of October. Now it seems like the window is gone and it can happen year round. My suspicions seem to have some ground to them ›