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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: Rambi who wrote (212978)7/22/2007 10:37:46 AM
From: Lane3  Read Replies (2) of 794209
 
I thought your analogy to weeds and flowers was excellent, by the way.

Thank you. I spun through a variety of inadequate ones before it came to me.

This same phenomenon occurred when someone said that it took courage to be a suicide bomber.

I remember that row over "courage." That was a wild one.

To apply it to suicide bombers

Interesting, too, the distortions that folks will tolerate to avoid accepting valid terms that make them uncomfortable. Just yesterday on Fox I heard the term "homicide bombers," the PC term for the uncomfortable but more accurate "suicide bombers." I didn't realize that that terminology was still being pushed. Obviously, all terrorist bombings that don't carefully target just property are homicide bombings. "Homicide" adds no value to "bombing" beyond telling us that there were deaths. What's different about the latest threat is that the bomber dies intentionally along with the victims. The clearest way to differentiate that from traditional terrorist bombings is to call it a "suicide bombing." Yet "homicide bombers" persists with lesser accuracy but more satisfying spin.

"Moral equivalency" is a defense against having to apply the word.

That's fine if it is understood to be "code" to avoid discomfort with the better word. If, however, it is claimed to be actually so, that is a fallacy.
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