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…By Publius
| This
month’s Publius features exerpts from a GOP
Dictionary. More “definitions” appear on our web page at: www.jccdemocrats.com Please note the new address of our AWESOME website. Republican-to-English
Translations |
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A number of alert members
of Democrats.com have
pointed out that while Bush mangles the language he is also adept
at giving new meaning to words we thought everyone understood.
The far right has done a masterful job in the last two decades of
redefining some of the key terms in political conversation, a
tradition that Bush apparently intends to extend and build upon.
We invite your contributions to itsnotover@democrats.com, and in the meantime here are our favorites:
big government : Any attempt by a duly constituted
public authority to regulate or put limits on the power of
private corporations or make them responsible for the
consequences of their actions, with the exception of the gaming
or entertainment industries.
class warfare : Epithet used by Republicans to insult
and delegitimize observations by Democrats and others of the
horrendous and worsening problem of social stratification in the
U.S.
compassionate conservativism : Consists of
smiling while cheating women, minorities and the working class
out of their share of the nation's productive output. Replaces
the term friendly fascism.
conservative : Once widely understood as one who adheres
to traditional methods or views, Republicans now use this word to
cover a broad range of social agendas, including; consolidation
of wealth in the hands of a few; intolerance of all religious
traditions except certain sects of Christianity; military budgets
that are inappropriately large for peacetime.
deregulation : Formerly meant clearing away legal and
other obstacles for the purpose of establishing a competitive
marketplace, now used to mean the the transition from de jure
legal impediments to competition to de facto impediments such as
unregulated and uncontrolled monopolies.
faith-based : Euphemism for "religious," used
as part of an attempt to circumvent the Constitution's Bill of
Rights whose first nine words are "Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion..."
liberal : Once commonly used to mean "one who is
open minded," Republicans have successfully redefined this
word to mean dangerous, irresponsible and unpatriotic fanatic.
middle class : When used by a Republican this term
refers to the 7% of the U.S. population that earns more than
$125,000/year.
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