Alison's Window

Monday, March 22, 2010

Words mean a lot

Ardent liberal, angry foe. So does the MM (mainstream media) label the opposing sides on the health care bill. Telling, in my humble opinion. The adjective "ardent" has positive connotations of dedication, sincerity, innocent good intentions. "Angry" is quite negative - out of control, emotional, hostile. "Foe" sounds like some Viking or Teutonic warrior, maybe tough but also primitive and unsophisticated.

The "ardent liberal" is constructive, just trying to improve the lot of the common folk. The "angry foe" is destructive, retrogressive, a troglodite trying to stop "progress."

It is all in the vocabulary.