June 30, 2009

Political Abuse Of The English Language

See if you can spot the astonishing misuse of the English language by the Speaker of California's Assembly, Karen Bass* -- ostensibly the second-most powerful person in the state government after the Governor -- in this Fish Wrapper interview. I'll give you a hint: the passage also betrays Speaker Bass' contempt for individual rights and democracy -- and incorporates a transparent but benevolent-sounding euphemism for "taxes."

Make no mistake -- while I don't think Speaker Bass has ever taken the time to read this essay, she has demonstrated the distilled essence of what George Orwell was writing to warn us about nearly two-thirds of a century ago.

With people like this not only in the Legislature but running it, it's no wonder we still don't have a budget and state employees get to be paid with IOUs, starting tomorrow.

* Whose online political resume, linked above at the footnote, is a remarkable example of how much you can write about almost nothing.

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