Saying What You Mean

By William L. Garvin

‘Intelligence is derived from two words, inter and leger, inter meaning ‘between’ and leger meaning ‘to choose between.’  An intelligent person, therefore, is one who has learned ‘to choose between.’  He knows that good is better than evil, that confidence should supersede fear, that love is superior to hate, that gentleness is better than cruelty, forbearance than intolerance, compassion than arrogance, and that truth has more virtue than ignorance.”  J. Martin Klotsche

In their search for independence, generations sometimes differentiate from their elders by their use of language.  Sometimes they invent new words such as “Daddio,” “gremmie,” “homies,” “brah,” “bling,” and “selfie.”  Sometimes they develop generational “cool” by changing spelling such as “phat,” “dat,” and “def.”  Another differentiation is to change the traditional meaning of a word as has happened with “boss,” “hot,” “lame,” “bad,” “gay,” “gnarly,” and “booty.”  Most of these are merely cultural phases, harmless and ephemeral.  There is a much more serious issue when the press, government, or societal transmogrification obscures reality and the truth.

The Obama administration promised that its cornerstones would be the “rule of law” and “transparency.”  Those were its words but hardly its actions.  Throughout its scandal-plagued six years, the public has been inundated with obfuscation, stonewalling, “misremembering,” and blatant hypocrisy.  Anyone opposing the progressive transformation has been subjected to the full force of government retribution much as Tea Party and conservative groups have had to endure.  There is a campaign of “eradication of opposition” that has been aided and abetted by establishment Republicans with their “go along to get along” policy of appeasement and a complacent, compliant media that willingly follows White House marching orders.  Therefore, just as in a Brian Williams or Dan Rather newscast, you will never get the full truth.

When American soldiers were slaughtered at Ft. Hood by a Muslim shouting praises to Allah, Islamic terrorism became “workplace violence.”  The Jews slaughtered in a Jewish deli in Paris became “folks” who were killed at “random” even though the murderer said he was after Jews.  Now we have 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS in Libya who are identified as “Egyptian citizens” and “innocent victims.”  However, when Craig Hicks executes three Muslim students, they are immediately identified as victims of their faith and manner of worship.  In genuflecting support of this knee jerk reaction, liberal media has tried to paint Hicks as representative of the “white, right wing extremist.”  They deliberately ignore the fact that he is an ardent atheist, a fan of the Southern Poverty Law Center (an extremist group that calls out others as extremists!), the Huffington Post, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, many anti-Tea Party and anti-conservative Facebook pages, and of course, MSNBC’s resident White House apologist—Rachel Maddow.  Some blame the movie AMERICAN SNIPER for these murders.

Even though the police have reported the murders to be the result of an ongoing dispute over a parking space, the confluence of a “perpetual grievance mentality” with the “perpetual liberal guilt mentality” has resulted in a new hashtag campaign of “Muslim lives matter.”  Of course they do along with Black lives matter, White lives matter, Christian lives matter, Hindu lives matter, Buddhist lives matter, atheist lives matter, etc., (unless they are in a liberal womb!).  This was epitomized by MSNBC’s peripatetic Chris Hayes who anointed it a “Trayvon Martin moment,” “a Michael Brown moment,” typifying the “routine stereotyping and marginalization of Muslims.”  He went on to say “It takes place in a context where subtle, persistent, anti-Muslim bias is a part of American life and this feels like a wake-up call.”  What a crock of horse manure!  First of all, there is no similarity at all between a couple of street punks and these young students.  Secondly, there is no wave of Islamophobia in this country even though the President and Muslim leaders think there is.  Thirdly, who cares what it “feels like” to you?  Where are your facts?  Reality check--you don’t have any.

Meanwhile, swastikas are painted on a Jewish fraternity in California, Jewish and Christian cemeteries are desecrated in Europe, American marines are forced to destroy their weapons before abandoning our embassy in Yemen, a Christian genocide is occurring throughout the Middle East, 300 marines are about to be surrounded in Iraq, the embassy in Kabul is now within reach of the Taliban terrorists (rather the “armed insurgents who resort to terrorist activities,” and another estimated 20,000 “boots on the ground” have joined ISIS.  Still President Obama fantasizes that “ISIS is on the defensive” and “morale is low” because of his “smart diplomacy” and “strategic patience.”  This is all Obama-speak for “dithering” and “I don’t have a clue.”  That is truly “cray cray” and since SNAFU, YOYO, and GLTA!