January 18, 2005
'It's just one of my bugaboos'
Kevin Drum takes on one of the reasons why it's impossible to speak to far-lefties without either wanting to laugh at or slap them - the use of phrases and slogans from back when such things made sense in a wider context. And I'm a liberal who has never voted for a Republican.
"I would like lead a crusade to forever ban the phrase "speaking truth to power," especially in academic settings. It's always uttered in tones that imply vast moral courage for doing so, and in Stalinist Russia that would have been true. In the 21st century American university system, however, most academics do nothing but speak truth to power, as loudly and as frequently as they can. Their punishment? Tenure, usually."
While we're at it, can we ban the use of "Salisbury Hill" from movie trailers and stop protesters from formulating and repeating any chant that starts with "hey hey, ho ho" or "what do we want... when do we want it"? Changing times require updated slogans, people!
Posted by rj3 at January 18, 2005 3:58 PM
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Comments
As an escapee from one of the great bastions of stupid, useless and twee protestation noises, I will happily join said crusade.
Posted by: Michael at January 18, 2005 7:15 PM
"can we ban the use of "Salisbury Hill" from movie trailers"..
YES! I'm not the only one! Seems every comedy that wants to be taken seriously has this, as if it is going to CHANGE YOUR LIFE...
Posted by: D Burroughs at January 19, 2005 9:47 AM
I was just thinking this the other day in the shower, when the In Good Company radio trailer came on. Good song, but totally overused. Same thing with Classical Gas.
Posted by: megadork at January 19, 2005 10:20 AM
Mike, rj, I hereby challenge you to put your heads together and come up with a novel protest slogan, two if you're man enough. I promise to use it the next time the armchair pinkos get angry enough to take to the streets, and I will buy Mike a beer.
Posted by: b. at January 19, 2005 10:43 AM
Get out of Gooooore's house!
Get out of Gooooore's house!
Not the church and not the state
Will tell us how to procreate!
(or, if you prefer...)
Not the church and not the state
Will tell us how to fornicate!
The only Bush I trust is my own!
(some of the more fun things yelled at the March for Women's Lives, which was permitted to pass within a few hundred meters of the White House)
Posted by: Amanda at January 20, 2005 5:22 AM