America's Language Barrier

Among the other paradoxical aspects of our current society, we’ve developed a language barrier, and I’m not referring to English as a second language. Rather, free speech and the analysis of ideas in this political climate have served not so much to inform as to indoctrinate. Ideologues on the right, having failed to present anything resembling actual ideas, remain obdurate in support of leaders who brook no opposition and refuse to entertain innovative approaches to what ails us as a country.

The term think tank as applied to ‘conservative’ factions is one of the most egregious misnomers of all. Gathered into groups of media-ready performers they resemble propaganda mills more than rational debate forums. With no-one to dispute their assertions at functions they indulge their favorite verbal histrionics, ‘experts’ elaborating on subjects that represent the goals of the various organizations. Thus, with very few exceptions, if you watch a Heritage Foundation event, you can be pretty sure what the content will be. The same is true at the Independence Institute where “free markets” and small government, a la Ronald Reagan, are the order of the day - - no mystery about the intellectual process at these ‘think tanks.’

On its website, Ask.Heritage.org includes a quote by Rush Limbaugh stating that “Some of the finest conservative scholars alive today live, work, and breathe at the Heritage Foundation.” Admittedly that breathing thing is pretty important, but coming from Limbaugh, a man who relies on just taking breath as the prime requisite for spewing outlandish commentary it lacks gravitas. One of his best bits of foolishness was when the NY Times supported Sherrod Brown for the Senate. In his ultimate racist stupidity Limbaugh claimed that of course the Times would support him because he was black and that fit their agenda. Ah, what’s in a name? The fact is Ohio Senator Brown has always been and continues to be white.

Heritage also obtained a quote from Fox News anchor Sean Hannity: “In these consequential times we need you, the Heritage Foundation and what you do, and the ideas you bring, and the passion in which you bring them, so we can help the American people.” But those ideas tend to be simply a rehash of prevailing trends not about reform. Indeed if there were substantive ideas, the Republican Party wouldn’t be lockstep behind defeating Health Care Reform. One might expect a few upstarts to break ranks if there were any real intent to seek solutions. Some Republicans in Congress pretend concern by calling for “incremental reform.” But where were attempts to enact increments when their party held power? And how does their sudden sense of fiscal integrity comport with the pressure they exerted to pass unfunded drug-benefit legislation?

Unfortunately, the rants of ideologues are considered by some to contain nuggets of wisdom though their words have lost meaning and substance. Debatable issues recede into a nebulous backwash that fails to help ordinary people work towards improving their lot rather than just expressing anger. Tea-bagger events, described as “grass roots” affairs despite having been engineered and publicized by Fox News and Dick Armey’s “Freedom Works” organization, were in the end frenzied demonstrations that served no better purpose than to direct mindless, hate-filled attacks on the president - - gullible throngs taken in once again by right-wing political shills.

The sad thing is that there’s a legitimate place for the expression of conservative views in our political system, but conservatism is a term that no longer applies to the ravages of that ideology filling the airwaves and Congress these days. Traditional values have been distorted to mean anything that suits the religious, corporate, free-market mindset that animates the political right as opposed to sustaining the basic institutions that embody the nation’s societal and governmental founding principles.

A recent poll by CBS Sixty Minutes and Vanity Fair showed Rush Limbaugh to be the most influential ‘conservative’ voice, with Glenn Beck coming in second. But calling radical right-wing partisans conservatives is misusing language and allows them to claim a legitimacy they sorely lack. Conservatism isn’t about race-baiting and playing fast and loose with the truth as they do. In addition to other matters of import language needs to be reclaimed as a truthful medium in our society.