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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 21, 1994
Word Abuse - a Lexicon
By Dennis Prager
A political way of thinking has so permeated the American consciousness
that it has changed the way in which we use English.
Below, a lexicon that shows how certain words are used by mayor
American newspapers, by the electronic news media (especially
television), and by many individuals in public and private debate.
Conservative: A person with selfish motives.
Liberal: A person with altruistic motives.
(N.B.: In 11 years of doing talk radio, I never once spoke to
a liberal who believed that a person who voted for Ronald Reagan
or George Bush could be motivated by altruism Republicans; by
definition, vote with their pocketbooks.")
Ultra-Conservative: A person who is too conservative.
Ultra-Liberal: Term not used. One cannot be too liberal.
(N.B.: I read countless newspapers and journals a day. I have
never encountered the term "ultra-liberal " or "arch-liberal." I
read or hear about "ultra-" or "arch-conservatives" all
the time.)
Christian Right: Contemptible people who always try to impose
their values on other Americans
Liberals: Idealistic people who never try to impose their values
on other Americans.
(N.B.: When Christians try to put their values into law-for example,
preventing government funds from going to what even most liberals
would consider to be obscene art-they are attacked for trying
to impose their values on others. However, when liberals pass
laws reflecting their values-e.g., forcing states to allow gay
and lesbian couples the same right to adopt children as married
couples-that is not regarded as imposing values, but simply the
right thing to do.)
Abortion: A form of birth control.
Women's Rights: Supporting the right to destroy a human fetus
for personal convenience.
Animal Rights: Opposing the right to destroy a rabbit for cancer
research.
(N.B.: In our time, the intellectual and moral norm is to regard
a baby seal as of infinitely more worth than a human fetus.)
Fetus: An unborn baby that is to be aborted.
Baby: An unborn baby that is not to be aborted.
(N.B.: When a woman is pregnant and wants to give birth, no one
asks her, no matter how early in the pregnancy, "So. how's
the fetus doing?" We only use tire term 'fetus" when
we plan to destroy ft. Otherwise we use) "baby" from
the first day of pregnancy.)
Woman, Authentic: A woman who holds liberal views.
Woman, Inauthentic: A woman who does not hold liberal views.
(N.B.: Gloria Steinem called Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson
a "female impersonator" (USA Today, June 11, 1993).
Ms. Hutchison is a conservative Republican.)
Censorship: The refusal of the government to fund a radical artist.
(N.B.: Censorship was always understood as the prohibition of
expression. According to the arts community and its supporters,
however, "censorship" now means governmental refusal
to fund a work of art.)
Censors: Christians who boycott violent TV shows.
Social Activists: Hollywood actors who boycott Colorado.
Hitler Youth: People who, among other terrible things, drowned
out liberal speakers with whom they disagreed and destroyed liberal
newspapers with which they disagreed.
Progressive Students: People who among other good things, drown
out conservative speakers with whom they disagree and destroy
conservative newspapers with which they disagree.
(N.B.: Thus, the progressive students who stole all copies of
the conservative paper at the University of Pennsylvania were
exonerated, and the guards who stopped them were chastised for
interfering in a student protest.)
The Soviet Union (before its fall): An alternative system of
government that should not be condemned with such Cold War labels
as "evil empire."
The Soviet Union (after its fall): An evil empire.
(N.B.: Since the fall of the Soviet Union, nearly everyone now
speaks of communism in the terms that "Cold Warriors" used.)
Religious Extremist: A person who is too religious, usually meaning
that the person holds traditional religious beliefs and is politically
active.
Secular extremist: Term not used. One cannot be too secular.
(N.B.: Those who call for the right to mention God's name in
high-school graduation exercises are religious extremists, while
those, like the American Civil Liberties Union, who litigate
against schools that post the Ten Commandments on their walls
are never described as secular extremists.)
Sexist: A man who disagrees with women who hold liberal views.
(For the term for a woman who disagrees with women who hold liberal
views, see "Woman, Inauthentic.")
(N.B.: This is why Sen. Edward Kennedy, one of the most notorious
womanizers in American public life, is never called sexist: He
doesn't disagree with liberal women's groups. However, men who
treat women beautifully and respect them as equals, but do not
agree with the National Organization for Women, are sexist.)
Tolerance: Openness to all ideas on the left.
Rage: The excuse for violence committed against innocent people
by members of an aggrieved minority.
(N.B.: Since the thugs who terrorized Turkish immigrants in Germany
are white, their actions are never understood in terms of rage,
only condemned (correctly) as thuggery. But when black thugs
terrorized Korean immigrants in Los Angeles their actions were
constantly understood in terms of their "rage.")
Victims: Nearly all blacks and women but essentially members
or every group except white heterosexual males. The group must
also be associated with liberal activism.
(N.B.: Thus Korean-Americans, though the primary victims of the
Los Angeles riots are never referred to as victims; they hold
conservative views.)
Ideal Family: Any unit of people
(N.B.: To define the ideal family as a married mother and father
children is to be intolerant and judgmental.)
Progressive View of Humanity: Dividing people by their race,
gender and class.
Reactionary View of Humanity: Dividing people by their values
and behavior.
Blacks (Authentic): Blacks who hold liberal views-in particular,
that America is racist and that racism is the greatest black
problem.
Blacks (Inauthentic): Blacks who do not hold liberal views-especially
if they hold that America is not racist and that racism is not
the greatest black problem. Such blacks also are known as Uncle
Toms.
Racism: See "White Racism."
Racist: A white who does not agree with a position held by the
civil rights leadership.
(N.B.: To cite one of innumerable examples, a number of black
leaders have labeled support for school vouchers as racist, even
though school vouchers tend to be supported more by inner-city
blacks than by white suburbanites. But since the liberal black
leadership is opposed to vouchers, support for it is racist.)
White Racism: Redundant term
Black Racism: Term not used. it does not exist-an idea perpetrated
by white racists.
Poverty: The reason for murder, rape and car jackings.
Greed: The reason for embezzlement insider trading and other
white-collar crimes.
Minorities: Members of groups whose spokespeople are angry at
America. Thus, Cuban-, Japanese-, Korean- and Jewish-Americans
are rarely referred to as minorities
Community: A term created in order to imply that members of a
victimized group all hold the same (liberal) views.
Civil Rights Organizations: Organizations that hold white people
responsible for the majority of blacks' problems.
Feminist Organizations: Organizations that hold men responsible
for the majority of women's problems.
"Blaming the Victim": Making moral
demands of any member of a victimized minority (see "Victims"). |
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