What's up with all this "czar" bullshit, anyway? It's as unamerican as can be!

[stevedeshazer]

A "czar" (or "tsar") is a monarch...like the kind we fought wars over to get freaking rid of!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar

<snip>

Tsar or czar<1> (Russian: царь (help·info), Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian: цар, in scientific transliteration respectively car' and car), occasionally spelled csar or tzar in English, is a Slavonic term designating certain monarchs.

Originally, the title Czar (derived from Caesar) meant Emperor in the European medieval sense of the term, that is, a ruler who has the same rank as a Roman or Byzantine emperor (or, according to Byzantine ideology, the most elevated position adjacent to the one held by the Byzantine monarch) due to recognition by another emperor or a supreme ecclesiastical official (the Pope or the Ecumenical Patriarch).

Occasionally, the word could be used to designate other, non-Christian, supreme rulers. In Russia and Bulgaria the imperial connotations of the term were blurred with time and, by the 19th century, it had come to be viewed as an equivalent of King.<2><3>

The modern languages of these countries use it as a general term for a monarch.<4><5> For example, the title of the Bulgarian monarchs in the 20th century was not generally interpreted as imperial.

----

We already have a "drug czar". How's that working out?

[nomorenomore08]

1. See, ah told ya them damn Communists was in our government!

:sarcasm:

[nutsnberries]

2. the homeland needs czars-

dammit!

:patriot:

[Generator]

3. Americans are four year olds

They like a good rhyme. No drama Obama anyone?

Though car czar is I admit-the nail in my own coffin over this government thang. That and that Governor of Illinois have convinced me. It's all a big joke and I'm not in on it!

[Ilsa]

4. Whad'ya mean, comrade? nt

[salguine]

5. I propose a switch to Kaiser. "The Drug Kaiser". "Energy Kaiser". Catchy!

[Raschel]

6. We have a taxpayers' money Czar too. His name is Paulson (aka President/King)

[stevedeshazer]

7. Ain't that the truth

King Henry, just handed the keys to $800 billion with NO accountability.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. Oh well, c'est la vie. Opps! That's French! n/t

[RedCappedBandit]

9. Were you under the impression that we lived in a democracy or something?nt

[Occam Bandage]

11. Democracy? That's a Greek word! Fucking Greeks! They're not AMERICAN!

From now on, only Amerindian words for Government posts.

[stevedeshazer]

13. No

Apparently, I can still bitch about it until they come to take me away.

[Occam Bandage]

10. Would you prefer a less-offensive etymology? How about if we called it a "chief coordinator?"

After all, the etymologies of words are Very Very Important.

[stevedeshazer]

14. Thanks for your thoughtful response.

Guess you're OK with it, then?

[Occam Bandage]

16. Seriously, would you object if it was called "chief coordinator?" nt

[Fumesucker]

12. The guy who thought it up is going to be your Vice President in a few weeks..

Just sayin'..

[stevedeshazer]

15. Just sayin'...

He's gonna be your vice-president, too. Doesn't make it okay.

What do you think about it?

[Fumesucker]

18. I think I'll go to my grave with my recreational substance of choice still illegal..

Only Nixon could go to China.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. The term for a high-powered government official dates from 1933

From the OED:

orig. U.S. A person appointed by a government to recommend and coordinate policy in a particular area and to oversee its implementation. Usually with modifying word denoting the area of responsibility.

1933 S. WALKER Night Club Era 167 There are several versions of why Mulrooney quit the job to become the state beer ‘Czar’.
1942 Amer. Observer 2 Feb. 8/1 From June 1940 until the recent appointment of Donald M. Nelson as war production czar, the American defense effort was best described in terms of red tape, delay, buck passing, and lack of authority.
1959 Madison (New Jersey) Eagle 30 Apr. 1/1 New Jersey's newly-created ‘czar’ of transportation..announced Thursday night that he expected to have a solution to the commuting crisis worked out in from six months to a year.
1977 Time Jan. 35/1 The job as energy czar will be Schlesinger's fifth Government post.
1989 Economist 25 Mar. 47/2 Bennett's first move, after he was sworn in as his country's drug tsar, was to select Washington, its capital, as a test case for his new crusade.
2001 Observer 25 Mar. I. 2/3 Equal pay ‘tsars’ will shame sexist employers into giving women a fair wage under a government action plan to root out workplace discrimination.

Surprising, since that was only a few years after the Russian tsar had been executed.

[Fumesucker]

21. Umm.. those were all terms used by the press, not people in government..

But I guess that lets Biden off the hook for being the most aggressive Dem drug warrior on Capitol Hill.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. Recorded terms normally do appear in the press rather than government publications

Government documents tend to be dry and formal, whatever government members say out loud at the time (and there are practically no audio recordings that far back - an occasional film of a speech, perhaps). But the point is that 'czar' was used in that sense a long time ago, not just in the 70s.

[Fumesucker]

24. Like I said, that excuses Biden's record on the drug war..

Now I'm sorry I brought up the issue, not very many seem to care about it despite a fair bit of rhetoric here on DU.

[Bluebear]

17. I totally agree. Although "car czar" was just tooo precious.

[LanternWaste]

20. I think it's merely a nickname...

I think it's merely a nickname; shorthand if you will, for a much more cumbersome title-- The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The title was first published in a 1982 news story by United Press International.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Czar#References)

I don't really think it specifically refers to the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy attempting to create a Dumas, bring the Romanov Dynasty to the U.S., or reignite Peter the Great's maxim "Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality."

[yurbud]

22. why can't we use reichmarshall or obercapo?