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The Political Distortion of Language
Wall Street Journal ^ | October 7, 2018

Posted on 10/08/2018 3:36:35 AM PDT by reaganaut1

American political discourse gets worse by the day, a lesson we’ve seen first-hand again this weekend. The Twitter mob on the political left is claiming that our Saturday editorial headline, “Susan Collins Consents,” was intended as a sly “rape joke.”

The editorial praised Maine Senator Collins for her thoughtful speech on Friday explaining her support for Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. We said her thorough consideration was an exemplary case of fulfilling the Senate’s “advice and consent” duty under the Constitution. Senators are supposed to offer their advice and then offer or withhold their consent for a presidential nominee. The editorial mentioned advice and consent no fewer than six times.

Yet for some on the political left the editorial wasn’t about the Senate’s constitutional duty or praising Sen. Collins. They said we were making fun of rape. A reporter named Emily Stewart even wrote a story about the headline for Vox, the left-wing website, saying “it seems like a rape joke” and calling it an “apparent double-entendre.”

Ms. Stewart may be angling for a job at the New York Times alongside Maggie Haberman, a reporter who retweeted something from someone named Rosa Goldensohn that “It’s a play on words, get it? With rape.” This is the political culture that New York Times reporters like Ms. Haberman marinate in and promote.

Like several readers in our comments section, our first reaction was that these people should get their minds out of the gutter. But the distortion of our headline is worse than that and reflects the left’s corruption of language to serve its political ends.

The left-wing mob doesn’t want to credit Senator Collins with making a considered judgment, or our endorsement of her speech as praise for the correct way the Senate should behave in assessing a nominee.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: collins; dncstrategy; kavanaugh; maggiehaberman; nyt; susancollins; wsj
The full title of the editorial was Susan Collins Consents: The Maine Republican restores reason to the Kavanaugh confirmation.

I did not give the title a second thought when I saw it. The left has become deranged.

1 posted on 10/08/2018 3:36:35 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1
I didn’t think a thing about it either. I’m glad they published this piece in response though. Good observation below:

But the distortion of our headline is worse than that and reflects the left’s corruption of language to serve its political ends.

2 posted on 10/08/2018 3:44:27 AM PDT by livius
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To: reaganaut1

The only Commandment for the left:

The leftist orthodoxy is thy god. Thou shalt have no god before it.


3 posted on 10/08/2018 3:52:58 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Always believe women except: clinton rape, ellison assault, booker groping, ted kennedy murder)
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To: reaganaut1

The left is very mean. And they will try all means to get to their end.


4 posted on 10/08/2018 4:38:26 AM PDT by poinq
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To: reaganaut1

The LIVers on the left do not even know that a Senator’s job is to advise and CONSENT...or not. Understanding the Constitution is not for the left. Dem leadership must keep their voters uninformed or they might break away.


5 posted on 10/08/2018 5:35:47 AM PDT by Freee-dame (Best election ever!)
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To: reaganaut1

Hegelian dialectic


6 posted on 10/08/2018 5:41:48 AM PDT by griswold3 (Just another unlicensed nonconformist in a dangerous Liberal world.)
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To: reaganaut1

“I see your lips moving. I am offended by your hate speech.”
— The Left


7 posted on 10/08/2018 5:58:57 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The MSM is in the business of creating a fake version of reality for political reasons.)
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To: reaganaut1

The left has no decency remaining. They used it all way back before I was born. They are an angry, self-loathing cancer on the skin of this country. They need to be rendered incapable of further damaging this country.


8 posted on 10/08/2018 6:35:56 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Cynicism is the only refuge in a world that is determined to eliminate itself.)
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To: reaganaut1

Leftists distort everything.


9 posted on 10/08/2018 7:16:23 AM PDT by Retvet (Retvet)
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