Ten Political Expressions That Have Got to Go

Fri, 15 May 2009 02:10:26 +0000 – By Patrick DorinsonConservative Commentator

All professions have a lexicon of words and phrases that they use to converse with each other and to explain their profession to the lay people who are not in their profession. Over the years many of these words and phrasesenter into our everyday language.

Politicians are no different but their lexicon is filled with things that either don’t make sense or insult the intelligence of people they are trying to explain things. Many are oxymorons. Most are downright laughable. And some are so ridiculous that the time has come for politicians to wean themselves away from them and start speaking English.

I hereby propose 10 words and phrases that should be eliminated from the political lexicon or at least put on the endangered species list.

Fiscal Responsibility– Every day somewhere in this country a politician uses the term “fiscal responsibility”. If there were a drinking game where you took a shot every time you saw or heard this phrase we would be a nation of alcoholics. These words should never be paired together especially by those who exhibit no real knowledge or understanding of “fiscal” matters and for whom the word “responsibility” has no meaning.
Comprehensive Solution– No such a thing exists in politics at any level. It sounds good but solutions in Washington are dictated by the party that is holding the reins of power. I know that John McCain is fond of this phrase but he more than most should remember what happened to his “comprehensive solution” on immigration a few years ago and stop using the words. The majority proposes solutions based on what their supporters want done. That’s not comprehensive. That’s what elections are about.
Bipartisanship– The media is enthralled by this word. It is the most nauseatingly phony word in politics. It is used as cover by politicians to mask their inability to get or seek input from the other party when working on you guessed it, a comprehensive solution. Politicians use the word to get elected and then use it again to get re-elected. They also use it to decry the other party not seeing things their way on an issue. Other than that to them it’s just a word to hide behind.
Revenue Enhancement – This one makes my blood boil. Do the politicians think we are all hicks and rubes? A tax increase is a tax increase not a revenue enhancement. This is a phrase crafted by some cynical smart ass political consultant thinking the voters wouldn’t notice what it really meant. Politicians should have the decency to treat us like adults and the guts to tell us the truth, not use semantics to try to put one past us.
Entitlement reform– How do you reform something people feel entitled to? Isn’t that the reason why our political class has avoided it like the skunk at a garden party all these years? Not dealing with it is the only thing they can agree on. Now that’s bipartisanship.
The Czars– We have had a Drug Czar for many years. But this administration now has a Health Care Czar, an Environmental Czar and a Car Czar. We have more czars than the Romanov dynasty that ruled Russia for over 400 years. I thought we got rid of royalty when we said good bye to King George some 200 plus years ago? Demote ’em. Make ’em princes and princesses. I have no objection to a Car Princess or Drug Prince.
House or Senate Intelligence Committees– The words House and/or Senate should never be uttered in the same sentence as the word intelligence. It offends the taxpayer’s intelligence.
Anonymous Source– More and more we see these words in news stories. “The information we received was from an anonymous source that was not authorized to speak”. If they weren’t authorized to speak, why did they? And if they are so eager to speak they should be told by the reporter it’s either on the record or not. Anonymous source is another term to describe a weasel.
Crisis – Not everything is a crisis but if you read or listen to the news you would think so. If you call everything a crisis, what’s the next step? Catastrophe? When a word like crisis is used too often it loses its power and cheapens its value when a real crisis happens.
Advocates vs. Lobbyists– You are a lobbyist if you advocate on behalf of evil special interests like an oil company. You are an advocate if you lobby for sainted interests like environmental organizations. The appropriate term for both is salesman. Let’s start using that word.

These are but a few of the ridiculous words and phrases politicians like to use. I would love to hear from folks out there what some of their favorites are. This is a non-partisan exercise and has nothing to do with any particular party, office or politician. They all use the same words and phrases to try to pull the wool over our eyes.

If you choose to participate in this exercise, just give an explanation of the word or phrase as you see it. Let’s produce a “people’s lexicon” that can be posted on the Internet so that our fellow citizens will know that when they hear these words or phrases they can turn their cattle crap meters on high and call out the politician’s on their manure spreading habits.