Words Matter-
I am preparing a lecture that I am giving in Portland next month and the subject is Words Matter. It is something that I believe in strongly and feel words have been weaponized and ill-regarded in the Trump Era. As I look at the daily news coming from this adminstration, I can find way too many violations of what I consider common decency. Manners and diplomacy went away the day Trump announced his run for the Presidency.
Usually my advice to people tweeting, posting, commenting or speaking is: Think before you speak and always edit and rewrite everything except a grocery list. Perhaps the leader of the free world could find a words better than “Slimball leaker” to discribe someone. There is a dictionary full of word on the web that could accurately discribe your feelings without personal thuggish bullying. Usually by thinking about your words and trying to come up with the ones that are specific to what you want to communicate does the trick. Re-reading your post only to see if auto correct has miss guessed your word before you press the send button is communication 10.
However, after hearing the “prepared remarks” from Sarah Sanders regarding 45’s use of the term “slimball” today, (the above video) I realize that re-reading and editing is not enough. She obviously prepared the hatchet remarks carefull and thought about what she was saying. So... rather than re-reading and editing my advice to her is choose better.
Language, particularly written language, can be less than clear just because English is so confusing. Words can be verbs one minute and nouns the next, they can mean what they mean or have a street definition that has the opposite meaning. Great writers spend hours finding just the right word that communicates exactly the image the writer wants us to visualize. A writer (Press Secretary no less) doing a job that is supposed to clarify the decisions and in this case Tweets from the President of the United States has to be extremely careful in her choice of words. Sarah Sanders has shown time and time again, like her boss, she does not choose words wisely nor even intelligently. Leaders, Responsible leaders, do not use the words of a low class mobster. A legally delivered search warrant is not an attack on America. Attorney client priveledge is still alive and well, and if you call people out and insult them in a Tweet, expect someone to write a book calling you a thug.
I have tried to avoid blogging politics lately, but when the very subject you are doing research on is so blatantly abused almost daily, I just had to get it off my chest.
As you were,
Jay
2 comments:
Thank you, Jay.
I try to avoid the news -- especially politics -- as much as possible these days. It is just too infuriating. Often, I find it that way simply because of the words chosen by the people in charge of our country. If I hear -- well, about anything said by our president -- my response is frequently a highly appalled, "He said WHAT?!?" His are not words that should be said by someone in his position; there should be, as you said, manners and diplomacy. I am hearing none. (Signs of intelligence would also be nice, but he does come off as just an ill-informed bully.) I live in fear and embarrassment that his words -- and those of his hired underlings -- will be seen by our neighbors around the world as speaking for all of us Americans. Because words DO matter.
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