More Weak Words

Maybe I'm just overly sensitive now, but I'm writing this time to make a point about the use of language. Words have incredible power. As an example, here are the final words about McCan't's latest ad entitled "Education:"

"Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family."

Now that's a seriously powerful statement. It's a total lie, but it's still got teeth. This kind of stuff is what the Republicans have mastered since Reagan quipped, "There you go again" in 1980.

Now, today, Obama joked (very weakly, I might add) about the McCan't/Palin "change" mantra: "You know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."

Outrageous, said former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift from the McCan't campaign. He's calling Palin a pig! But of course he didn't. (So what if he did, though? Wouldn't that be a kick?)

Well, said the campaign, she's the only woman in the race and he mentioned "lipstick," which was a twist on her joke about pit bulls and hockey moms.

My reaction? Whatever. Blow me, Jane -- Swift-ly.

So what does the Obama camp do? Trot out their own woman, of course: campaign aide Anita Dunn, who said:

Enough is enough. The McCain campaign’s attack tonight is a pathetic attempt to play the gender card about the use of a common analogy – the same analogy that Senator McCain himself used about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health care plan just last year. This phony lecture on gender sensitivity is the height of cynicism and lays bare the increasingly dishonorable campaign John McCain has chosen to run.

Nice use of the "Enough" mantra. But she uses 67 words where 25 would do: "Enough! John McCain's old, desperate campaign coughs up more of the same old lies. Too bad it falls short everywhere else. It's so Bush League."

See that? Stop trotting out the list for every penny-ante thing. I mean, who really cares about Hillary's health care plan? K.I.S.S. They should call him old, should call him desperate, should call him more of the same, and should link him to Bush AND swat Bush upside the head while they're at it.

Democratic voters want a knock-down, drag-out slugfest, damn it! We want to win this time! We don't care about "new politics" if it means we fucking lose!