Never Challenge Worse
Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it. – Thomas Paine “…and I’m never goin’ back to my old school.” – Steely Dan Comedian Bill Cosby used to say, “Never challenge worse.” Words of wisdom that I really try to keep close as I walk through life and all of its wonderful nonsense. Bill would continue, “never say it can’t get worse because worse is rough,” and he was right. Anytime you challenge worse, it will turn around and punch you in the mouth. Worse isn’t just rough, worse can be downright mean, y’know? Last spring,…
The Unborn: Sunday Semantics Showcase
If you are easily offended, you may want to skip this. In fact, you probably should. We here at The Progressive Press like to talk about Semantics. In fact, I’ve often addressed the importance of Semantics in our culture, politics and daily life. Words matter. And once a word (or phrase) is hammered into the stream of public discourse, it’s pretty hard to shake it. Words are imagery. And they have shaped – are shaping – some of the most important issues of our time. Pro-Choice v. Pro-Life, Entitlements v. Earned Benefits, Gun Control v. Public Safety, and so on….
Safe and Legal Abortion is a Woman’s Health Issue
In light of the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion; the case is again being made by “pro-life” groups and individuals that the issue is about saving the lives of the innocent, unborn. Their most egregious taunt is calling pro-choice individuals “pro-abortion.” No one is pro-abortion. We are pro-women’s health. Health as defined by the World Health Organization: ”Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Access to safe and legal abortion and education, and access to contraception is a worldwide women’s health issue. If you want…
The Language War
How an issue is framed in large part determines our attitudes toward it. That seems obvious. But the critical importance of controlling the message by controlling the language is not so obvious. Profound changes to America have occurred, or been attempted, with small changes in the language. The Right has been successful in getting their words and phrases into everyday usage in large part because they are fighting the language wars, and they seem to be winning it. Global Warming becomes “climate change”, the Affordable Healthcare Act becomes Obamacare, common-sense gun laws become an attack on the 2nd amendment, government…
Dear Heidi, Please Advise: What Makes You A Democrat?
I feel the need to call a massive FAIL. This past week, newly elected Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) made some pretty terse, disturbing statements – not just for a Democrat – but for a “newly elected” official, regardless of party, speaking in the wake of the murder of 20 children and their teachers. In an interview with This Week’s George Stephanopoulos on January 6th, Heitkamp, a freshman on The Hill, had this to say: “I think you need to put everything on the table, but what I hear from the administration – and if the Washington Post is to be…
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