UNAMERICAN -- use the word!

[grasswire]

The attack on the Rule of Law by corrupting the Justice Department is UNAMERICAN.

Invoke the names of totalitarians and dictators Americans will recognize. Stalin. Soviet. Dictatorship. Anti-American. Unamerican. Secrets. Enemies lists.


"The American people don't want a government that operates in secret, in hiding, doing political business instead of the people's business. It's unamerican."

[grasswire]

1. Can the blogosphere and DU put this in the public conversation?

We could if we wanted to do so. If the members of DU made a google bomb and also posted on thousands of sites and message boards this simple message, we could deeply affect the conversation regarding the attack on the Department of Justice.

[Igel]

2. Sounds like you're following in the footsteps of that great American ...

Joe McCarthy. That's certainly not un-American.

But seriously. I've written before that I had a Russian emigre as a conversation instructor. He had a stock rant on "antisovetskii": The party defined what was Soviet and what wasn't, and it could vary over time, and "anti-Soviet" was simply anything that was counter to the goals of the party leadership. The glory of "American" was that the word "un-American" was without definition, and properly so.

Daley's Democratic political machine in Chicago, with ballot stuffing? American.

Pork in Congress? American.

WCTU? American.

ACLU? American.

Eugene McCarthy and Joe McCarthy? American.

Eugene Debs? American.

Actually, dear old Fruim (the instructor) continued on a bit more. Actually, he said, "un-American" had lots of definitions. Drinking French wine? Un-American. *Not* drinking French wine? Un-American. Getting drunk? Un-American. Not getting drunk? Un-American.

When a word has 200 million definitions, it has no (accepted) definition. This is one reason why a man that was decreed "anti-Soviet" loved and admired the US: He could never be called un-American. Since he wasn't against the word having a 200,000,001st meaning, he added his own: Anybody that called anybody un-American for any reason other than that person's use of the word 'un-American' was un-American.

[grasswire]

5. that's precisely why it is useful

....the hearer inserts his/her own definition of unamerican. Those on the right will interpret it used as "big, secret government encroaching on freedom" and those on the left will interpret it as "creeping facism, illegal corruption" and other segments of society will have still other meanings ---- all with a negative connotation toward those called "unamerican."

Our meaning, of course, is righteous and moral. We defend democracy, we defend civil liberties and the Rule of Law. We defend equal justice under the law, we defend the balance of powers, and we oppose secret government and above all we oppose subversion of The Constitution. Those who attack The Constitution are unamerican. It's very simple. There can be no taint of McCarthyism if one's standard is clear.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. I'm not sure what that phrase means anymore

and it certainly does have the McCarthy taint.

I would have thought at one time that

TORTURE was UnAmerican. The biggest jolt to my system was and still is that the American people went down this evil path and discuss it as though sane, civilized people could have a DIFFERENCE of opinion!!

[KingFlorez]

4. Right on

[The Magistrate]

6. An Excellent And Useful Line, Ma'am

You have your fifth recommendation....

[UpInArms]

7. thank you for that

I have been working on a column for the local paper (not online yet) and that really is the last part that was missing.

:toast: