Taking back the language

I am generally against starting any sentence with "Taking back our ...". This is different. When political demagogues use those words they are railing against something that was never taken away, ex. Take back the country, take back our party. Our language is being hijacked by real people and I believe for their own selfish reasons.

Advocates that will not describe their views in plain language worry me. That doesn't mean they are nefarious, but it does make me look closer at their claims.

Both left and right use these tactics and it is scary. Pro choice advocates now use the term "Women's Healthcare". Whether you believe in a right to choose or not, calling it Health Care is changing the subject at best. People who support the Iraq war are called "Pro War". No one outside the mentally deranged is pro war.

Affirmative Action is an old term that has lost its meaning. When JFK coined it I believe he meant it to be just that. Trying to find and promote and hire previously under-represented minorities. Today Affirmative Action as implemented by the government and Supreme Court is pure and simple quotas. That being said we use the same term.

You may say, what is wrong with a little creative marketing. While it is true that every group from businesses to advocacy groups are going to put the best face on their views, we are moving toward camouflage. Political parties this time of year stoop to outright lies to paint their own candidate as the savior of the world, or their opponent as Hitler and Goebbels rolled up into one.
We have a problem of disinterested voters. Too many people do not get involved with the political process. This is one of the reasons. I know that politics has always been dirty, and a little less than honest, but the desire to hide true intentions I don't believe has ever been as high as now. We cannot continue to allow these spokesmen to hide behind euphemisms. Tough issues are tough for a reason. We can disagree and in a legislative perspective one side will lose, but we must discuss them openly.

The debate of what to do with Social Security is crucial. In between twenty and forty years the system as we know it will bankrupt. Whether you believe that or not it must be discussed honestly. The side that disagrees can give alternatives projections, but why must the reform minded be painted as wanting to dismantle it, or turn it over to Wall Street robber barons. Likewise I disagree that people on the left who want us to pull out of Iraq, but I don't believe they hate America. I believe they are wrong. Nothing more nothing less. I believe Education is not going to be corrected by massive inputs of money into the same broken systems that exist today. That does not mean I am against children.

Have a debate, not a playground insult match.