Postcards from the Funny Farm

I write this blog mostly about language, writing, and rhetoric. Politics is one of the biggest arenas for the study of these things. So don’t be surprised that tonight I have a post on politics. As always, there are parallels to all manner of human communication from training a new employee to getting your wife to see your point.

Reuters testified tonight that Bush was in talks with “somber” democrat leaders who failed to override Bush’s veto of the Iraq pullout. It’s at times like these that speech writers and advisors on both side do a “code switch” of rhetoric to persuade the other side of a compromise. Before this “head-butt” situation, both side choose words that are shamelessly disparate. After the impasse, each chooses its words differently. Don’t be surprised if you start to hear pundits on either side begin to use words like these:

accommodation, accord, adjustment, arrangement, bargain, compact, composition, concession, contract, copout, covenant, deal, fifty-fifty, happy medium, mean, middle course, middle ground, pact, sellout, settlement, trade-off, understanding, win-win situation, easing, gradual, carefully, happy medium, balance, decrease, compromise . . .

Language is powerful. Use at your discretion. More info on the compromise linked below:

Bush, Democrats search for Iraq war compromise | U...