The Left and Verbal Virtuosity

There are many ways to win a debate in popular culture. Yet, one of the most underhanded is to redefine the key terms in a debate right under the nose of the public. Consider three examples: Global Warming/Climate Change, illegal immigrants/undocumented workers, and illegitimate child/love child.

Global Warming was the term of choice for over a decade. Once the slight warming of the 1990s and 2000s began to decline and the East Coast was hit with brutal winters, the left needed to reformulate their rhetoric. Now we were told that cold weather comes from Man Made Global Warming too!

Is it really cold? That is your fault! Is it really hot? That is your fault too! Climate Change serves this protean movement for central regulations far better than a fixed term like Global Warming.

Next, doesn’t the word “illegal” leave such a nasty taste in your mouth? I mean who likes to argue in favor of illegal people? Why don’t we reformulate it and subtly shift the blame to a bureaucrat? These people are just undocumented, not illegal.

Moreover, they have “work” in the name, so they can’t be all bad! Some government paper pusher just misfiled a form or something. Why get upset over someone not being documented correctly if they just want to work?

Lastly, illegitimate child had to be scrubbed from the lexicon. From the Latin for “illegitimus” meaning “not lawful”, this term used to describe a child sprung from less than ideal circumstances However, if that whole marriage thing is just Victorian prudery with no higher status that a one night stand, why stigmatize a child that may come from this union? “Love child” conveys a sense of abandoned passion experienced by basically good people. I mean they had so much “love” for each other that they just couldn’t wait. What’s so bad about a passion-filled relationship?

These three terms all give a positive or convenient spin on certain issues which are consonant with the agenda of the left. I do not begrudge them their cleverness. Since they really know what’s best for all of us, why not use any means to win the argument? Conservatives simply need to be better at calling out euphemisms, equivocations, and down-right falsehoods about what is good for our society.