From 1984 to 2004

[mia]

Orwellian critique of political language is as relevant as ever

By Michael Phillips
Tribune theater critic
Published October 10, 2004



...Friday's debate

Prior to Friday's presidential debate, this much was certain: If the word "Orwellian" were going to pop up in a rhetorical argument, it was certain to come out of Kerry's mouth, not Bush's. Responding to Bush's claims as an environment-friendly president Friday, Kerry cited the "Clear Skies Initiative" as "one of those Orwellian names you slap out of the sky."

Indeed, in a junior-league Orwellian way there's a wonderfully bald-faced quality inherent in such inventions as the "Clear Skies Initiative" (not good for our air) and the "Healthy Forests Initiative" (very good for those who log). What's next, you wonder. Though Bush pledged Friday not to reinstate the draft, if push came to shove would the new draft be called the Healthy Soldiers Initiative?

A post-debate Gallup poll gave a slight edge to Kerry on Friday. Bush did manage to calm down in the final third and lay off what an old college acting pal of mine used to call "pointless Bill Shatner intensity." On Iraq, particularly, Bush appeared to be test-driving a new brand of Ticked Off and Blinking. Kerry, meantime, often indulged his old habit of answering a question by casting a net over several thousand topics simultaneously, when he wasn't beginning yet another sentence with the numbing catch phrase, "I have a plan." The most honest moment may have been Bush's odd, touching mantra near the end, the one that went: "I'm worried ... I'm worried ... I'm worried about our country." How we came to this worrying state is the great question of the day.

In one of the imagined portions of "Stuff Happens," playwright Hare pays homage to the Orwellian power of political language. His version of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld says to Vice President Cheney:
"I liked what you said earlier, sir. A war on terror. That's good. That's vague."
Cheney: "It's good."
Rumsfeld: "That way we can do anything."


Wonderful essay - wish the whole piece could be printed here.

[Catch22Dem]

1. Timbers R Us (HAHAHAHAHA)

Do they have a site on one of the internets?

[mia]

2. Not yet for Timbers R Us, how about

Puppets R Us?