Last night in his State of the Union address, the president used language to hide his meaning and intentions, rather than convey them. By manipulating language, George Bush was able to get Democrats up on their feet applauding, looking anxiously at one another, inadvertently supporting a ban of stem cell research, overturning Roe v. Wade, appointing radically conservative judges to the top of the bench, selling off social security, and legalizing discrimination against homosexuals.
For example, instead of saying, "We will protect the bottom line at all costs. Corporate profit before public accountability," Bush said, "Justice is distorted, and our economy is held back by irresponsible class actions and frivolous asbestos claims, and I urge Congress to pass legal reforms this year." Everyone applauded.
By saying, "To make our economy stronger and more productive, we must make health care more affordable and give families greater access to good coverage and more control over their health decisions," the president meant, "We must make sure more people are paying high insurance premiums and paying through the nose for prescription drugs, because that's good for the economy." And even the Democrats got up on their feet.
When the president said, "I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy," what he meant was, "We have to destroy the ANWAR wildlife preserve in order to increase domestic oil production by a microcosm," but the Dems got up, clapping, in front of the rolling cameras.
And it went on and on like this, the president saying the opposite of what he meant, using language that is non-controversial, yet wildly misleading. Am I twisting the president's words? The truth is they came out of his mouth twisted. I'm just straightening them out.
I'm sure that my conservative counterparts on this campus will point at this column, deride what I've said and regurgitate the major points of last night's speech. This will happen at every stratum of political activity all over the country, from college campuses up to the national media and onto the Senate floor. Every progressive voice demanding reason will be drowned out by the deafening groan of an army of conservative drones.
People who are interested solely in maximizing personal and state power are literally undoing democracy. Judging from the waves of suited white men, Democrat and Republican alike, who rose to their feet clapping, then sat down again, silent, at Bush's next word, people who would substitute democratic ideals for the maximization of personal and state power could win out. Democrats in Congress are powerless to stop what's happening - they're part of the problem - and the only way to save the country we've read about in history books is to stand up and force change on a system that's out of control.
