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Level of semantic hysteria 'worst in history' (2008 Campaigns)
The Oregonian ^ | April 3, 2008 | Elena Ives

Posted on 04/08/2008 5:56:40 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Last week former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright pronounced the Iraq War the "worst disaster in American history," proving something that I've been suspecting for a long time: Those darn Democrats sure love their superlatives.

It's especially true this election season. You can't turn on your radio or television without hearing some form of shrill grammatical extremism: Usually "never/always/most/worst" frequently followed by "in history."

It figures. Immersed as we are in an election-year war of words, declaring something the "worst in history," has so much more punch than just saying that it "needs improvement."

Nobody mentions that all this hysteria going unchallenged could mean that the level of history knowledge in the United States may well be the worst in history.

Ironically, even as they swing wildly from one spurious semantic extreme to the next, Democrats still find time to accuse Republicans of scaring Americans into thinking that crazed religious fanatics want to kill us, because Republicans crave war more than anything -- except maybe Wal-Mart hotdogs. (Republicans love Wal-Mart. They always pick a line with an overworked checker, always snarl about the delay, and always choose "no" when asked if the store was clean.)

Presidential candidate Barack Obama, announces every hour that the War on Terror is a Republican delusion, cleverly designed to keep Americans from noticing the truly dire problem that our country faces: 5 percent unemployment.

It seems to be working. Both Democratic presidential candidates are so adept at semantic extremism, that they have got a large percentage of Americans believing that the office of the presidency comes with supernatural powers.

Bush, they cleverly imply, could use that presidential power to end poverty, illness, and Cialis commercials; but being as he is the most sadistic president in history, he prefers to let those things continue.

That is when Hillary angelically assures voters that she would use the presidential power to outlaw foreclosures, freeze interest rates, provide health care for all, and usher in a thousand years of peace.

If she is elected, I'm going to ask her to reverse the course of the Columbia River every year, so the salmon won't have to work so hard to spawn.

Not to be left out, Barack Obama says he would use the power to implement what he calls "shared prosperity."

Here's how it works: He will require that America's top wage earners, small business owners, and corporations:

a. Buy health insurance for everyone b. Raise the minimum wage c. Increase teacher's salaries d. Provide the "best education the country has to offer," preschool through college, for all children e. Always make payroll f. Create more and more high-paying jobs g. And never ever lay anyone off

Sounds great. except one thing bothers me. If it is so easy, surely someone has tried it before. But in order to know when, you'd have to know your history.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Political Humor/Cartoons; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections; hillary; mccain; obama
Haven't heard of this author before. Pretty good, IMO.
1 posted on 04/08/2008 5:56:40 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Yes... as Micheal Savage points out..
Liberals are mentally addled..
2 posted on 04/08/2008 6:01:27 PM PDT by hosepipe (CAUTION: This propaganda is laced with hyperbole....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
This bubbles to the surface in the Peoples Republic of Oregon?
3 posted on 04/08/2008 6:05:20 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

4 posted on 04/08/2008 6:05:52 PM PDT by OCC
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Bump.

With the old media’s constant drum-beat of doom, the danger for McCain is in denying how awful our economy is. That will paint him as uncaring. He will counter with taxcuts, the Republican’s best friend, and hopefully spending cuts.


5 posted on 04/08/2008 6:06:39 PM PDT by Once-Ler (I sure am going to miss President Bush on inauguration day)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I cannot very well hold with any Democrat with their “worst in history” superlatives who would leave Iraq to its radical Islamic fate... while conveniently forgetting that is was their party which initiated and incompetently led a far more tragic and devastating war in Vietnam. And speaking of lying... the American public was told more than once about Vientam that there “was a light at the end of the tunnel” when the Democratic Administration leading the war knew full well that not to be the truth. At least we do know that at some point Iraq did have those “weapons of mass destruction” that consitutute the so-called lying of the Bush Administration. This irony is not lost on anyone familiar with the Vietnam era each time a Democratic member of Congress presumes to criticize the Bush Administration for getting us into this “worst mistake in history that we need to withdraw from” as a matter of getting elected to and staying in office. There is no doubt that Islamic fundamentalism (and its nod to terrorism) is a more compelling and immediate threat to the US than was the fall of a country in Southeast Asia to what the Democrats of the time described as “monolithic communism.”


6 posted on 04/08/2008 6:08:25 PM PDT by yetidog
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Worst “Worst _____ in history” superlative in history.


7 posted on 04/08/2008 6:13:21 PM PDT by RepublitarianRoger2
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Have Ms. Albright explain Waco to us ... killing kids to save them with no repercussions?????


8 posted on 04/08/2008 6:21:56 PM PDT by SkyDancer ("I Believe In Law Until It Interferes With Justice")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
The internet is a wonderful thing.....a quote from Ms. Albright.....1998

"We must stop Saddam from ever again jeopardizing the stability and security of his neighbors with weapons of mass destruction." - Madeline Albright, Feb 1, 1998 |

9 posted on 04/08/2008 6:26:15 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Being Challenged Builds Character; Being Coddled Destroys Character)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Is the term ‘shared prosperity’ the new, progressive way to say Socialism?? Mr.Obama??


10 posted on 04/08/2008 7:30:39 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: RepublitarianRoger2

Never in history has a campaign been so hysterical.


11 posted on 04/08/2008 7:36:08 PM PDT by tbw2 ("Sirat: Through the Fires of Hell" by Tamara Wilhite - on amazon.com)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Great column. Thanks for posting it.

The superlatives used by the Democrats undermine whatever case they are trying to make. At least, for those who know history.


12 posted on 04/08/2008 7:43:55 PM PDT by Rocky
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My favorite, although I don’t remember which Democrat said it. “Never has America been so divided.”

Since we once spent four years doing our damndest to kill each other, I pronounce this to be uninformed hyperbole.


13 posted on 04/08/2008 8:02:31 PM PDT by Sherman Logan (Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. - A. Lincoln)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

OK to breathe yet?


14 posted on 04/08/2008 8:13:04 PM PDT by Waco ( Impatient Lib.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They have no sense of scale or perspective. The half of them that realize it’s not as bad as they say it is, know that they are just flat-out lying to the other half of them that actually believe the lies.


15 posted on 04/08/2008 8:13:05 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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McCain camp calls on Obama to denounce ‘smear’
CNN | 4/08/08 | Rebecca Sinderbrand
Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 02:58:20 PM by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998573/posts

{ Jay Rockefeller } Rocky Apologizes to McCain
West Virginia MetroNews Network | 4/8/8
Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 04:10:01 PM by SmithL
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998613/posts

Rockefeller Apologizes To McCain For Calling Him A Hit-And-Run Aviator
elections.foxnews.com | 04/08/08 | FOX
Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 04:07:50 PM by Froufrou
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998612/posts


16 posted on 04/08/2008 8:54:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
If it is so easy, surely someone has tried it before. But in order to know when, you'd have to know your history.

The money quote.

FMCDH(BITS)

17 posted on 04/09/2008 12:58:32 PM PDT by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
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