Posted on 10/05/2001 1:25:54 PM PDT by Hegewisch Dupa
They say the world has changed. As will occasionally happen, "they" are right. At the same time, the world doesn't change without modifications to language. Here are a number of words and phrases that now take on new or expanded definitions and connotations.
Life as Normal: Fully refined definition still in the works. We'll return to life as normal, but right now it's impossible to say what "normal" will become. And unfortunately, we may stray very far from our old definition for quite a while before settling on a new one.
Silence: The word takes on new local meanings for the people of Rosemont, Bensenville and others near O'Hare who constantly seem surprised that an airport moved in nearby. "Silence" has become something they hope they won't hear again.
Religion: Something many of us rediscovered. Definition no longer includes NFL activity. Religion is not cancelled during times of national crisis.
Liberties: The difference between liberties and conveniences needs to be made clear. Would Patrick Henry really rather have chosen death than to live in a country where email can be monitored - of course with proper cause and judicial consent - just as we can tap a suspected mobster's phone? Who but the most fundamentalist libertarian would complain if we tighten up our border with Canada - knowing it's a weak point in our emigration system? The enemy would love for us to suffer the loss of our freedoms, but simply because some minor activity is curtailed is not the reason to cry "Totalitarian state!" I doubt that the Founding Fathers randomly picked the order of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
Racial Profiling: Not to be confused with "Racism." If an enemy has a certain look then it would be a disservice to pretend that such difference does not exist. If you have an ACLU buddy who is up in arms over this subject you should:
1) hang out with a better crowd, but first
2) ask this person if they would send their child on an airplane with a handful of suspicious passengers. If not, ask how they defined "suspicious." I sincerely doubt it will have anything to do with ticking noises.
Of course racial profiling can easily slide into racism, and that must be avoided at all costs. There is nothing wrong with authorities asking to check the contents of the satchel of a man who fits a certain description: there is everything wrong in hating the man simply for fitting that description.
One more danger associated with racial profiling is falling into the trap of believing all the tools of the enemy look a certain way. Recall that the plane brought down over Scotland years back was destroyed by a bomb unknowingly carried by the pregnant English girlfriend of one of the most cowardly of the Mid-East's terrorists.
Bipartisan: Formerly meant falling in line with Democratic/mainstream media thinking. Now the word truly signifies the nation working together toward common goals. Luckily I got this re-definition in right before adjusting the meaning of…
Enemy: Now includes those politicians and media members (I'm looking at you, Peter Jennings) who take petty partisan pot shots at the opposition in this time of crisis. When I'd play sandlot football one of my favorite tricks (as I lacked actual football talent) was to make a few comments here and there designed to eventually turn the other team into a group of guys bickering with each other. With lives on the line, I abhore the idea of our own people falling into such a childish trap.
Friends: This definition expands to embrace those Muslims who do the right thing, and turn in the sub-humans who commit their evil acts under a perverted version of Islam. At times like this is it not enough to simply denounce those you claim are twisting the Koran's message. If those who claim Islam is peace-loving really want to back this belief up, they must distance themselves from the killing sects, as well as any groups known to finance such terror. To have knowledge of these matters, and yet remain silent, is to aid the terrorists. This goes for those at home or abroad.
Again, just because every Muslim on the street doesn't have a lead to offer the FBI doesn't mean they are enemies. Certainly there are few enough terrorist pockets that not everyone in the Muslim community has knowledge of those involved and connected.
In the end, the moderates of Islam would do themselves a favor by eliminating the terrorists: Throughout history the moderates are the first to be exterminated when the terrorist-types takeover. Silent Muslims in this country don't have to fear a takeover, but many of those abroad sign their own death sentence with their silence.
True Friend: see "the English people", God bless 'em.
Resolve: Soon we will truly see how this word currently applies to Americans. May the world's slime not need another lesson in the meaning of America's resolve in our lifetime.
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