Walks Upright

Defense Secretary Robert Gates questioned a fallen marine’s award forcovering a grenade to save his comrades.

Peralta's mother, Rosa, has said she will not accept the Navy Cross award out of protest, saying it is a slight against her son, who was born in Mexico in 1979 and enlisted in the Marine Corps the same day he received his green card.

Heroic act, medal denied – and a debate | csmonitor.com.

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 ›