Perhaps we should take a more Orwellian look at the language we casually use in our election year. (This is no 1984 conspiracy; I'm thinking more the classic but underrated "Politics and the English Language," 1946.) Of course the Clintons are the masters of political language: "so-called superdelegates," "automatic delegates" come to mind, as do more than a few shopworn 90s zingers. I'm not suggesting this as a Clinton weakness or strength; rather, it is something worth appreciating as an artform in and of itself.
Who needs Derrida? Without a hint of irony (okay, maybe just a hint), even the most ardently anti-war reader can appreciate the skills of sophistic deconstruction Rumsfeld excercised. (Hereis my particular favorite, the classic phrase "unknown unknowns"--sounds like a Beckett play, doesn't it?
Perhaps we should take a more Orwellian look at the language we casually use in our election year. (This is no 1984 conspiracy; I'm thinking more the classic but underrated "Politics and the English Language," 1946.) Of course the Clintons are the masters of political language: "so-called superdelegates," "automatic delegates" come to mind, as do more than a few shopworn 90s zingers. I'm not suggesting this as a Clinton weakness or strength; rather, it is something worth appreciating as an artform in and of itself.
Who needs Derrida? Without a hint of irony (okay, maybe just a hint), even the most ardently anti-war reader can appreciate the skills of sophistic deconstruction Rumsfeld excercised. (Hereis my particular favorite, the classic phrase "unknown unknowns"--sounds like a Beckett play, doesn't it?
But it's easy enough to pick out the new words. What about phrases that have outlived their usefulness? How about "The Race to the White House?" Really now--maybe it seemed that way 'round about South Carolina, until Guiliani's strategy of acting like the grim reaper from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (Best...two out of three... Best...five out of seven...Best...seven out of nine) fell upon itself in Florida, Florida, 9-11, Florida. We had Romney looking unstoppable (as long as he was fastened to the charger at night), McCain looking awake, Fred Thompson being--why do the words "utterly irrelevant" come to mind?--slow, Huckabee strangely viable.
On the democratic side, we had Clinton and Obama neck and neck, right? Then Obama broke away, right? Then there was Edwards--you can tell he really considered it a race. Hey, John, I'm from Iowa. I'll tell you what: I could have been swayed to caucus for you until you stayed up for 36 hours straight. I don't want a president who pulls all-nighters.
But now... is it a race? Are Clinton or Obama in "the final stretch?" Or is everyone back in the locker room waiting for a technical ruling? Do you get the sense that McCain is "racing" to the White House? I think
it was Chuck Todd who compared the situation to a Monopoly game where it's 3 AM, you have Boardwalk, I have Parkplace, and there are no hotels left to buy.
Well, picture this: you are twelve, and Uncle Barry bought out your mortgaged Illinois Avenue and built a dirty tenement house on it. (Actually, it was your Uncle Barry's friend Tony, but nevermind that for now.) Your Aunt Hillary, the big, bossy sister owns the left side of the board.(She bought it on the cheap, but insists that, in the end, she and her husband lost 60 grand on the investment.) They split the Blue properties. Grandpa has been holed up in the Marvin Gardens area since the first hour of the game after a streak of terrific luck--he's had hotels that nobody's really landed on, but he's had enough revenue to stay afloat.
Grandpa has been moving around the board, shelling out cash so much that he's always running low. He's starting to fall asleep, and he had enough to drink earlier that when he wakes up, he talks some trash, says something nasty, but in the end, he doesn't really care compared to the siblings.
Oh, it's so fun to run away with the Monopoly metaphors. Bill played last night, became banker, and started passing out "Get Out of Jail Free" cards for $10,000 apiece. Tonight, he's actually started talking to the hotels themselves, asking them to move to Hillary's side.
Too easy.
Next time you hear of our "Race" to the White House, write a comment or an email. Maybe we can get some network graphics changed.