Oh, dear, this is so true. People can stretch the truth in their favor! *sigh* Adolf used it, Stalin did, too, and what's next . . . maybe we're being decepted ourselves at this time . . . . : - ( -- Tatiana, Loudoun County, VA, USA
Our Founders did have an incredible understanding...I am always amazed. My ears always perk up when I suddenly hear the language itself being perverted...where taxes, once considered forcible extractions, referred to as contributions, ad infinitum. -- Michael , Houston
Even though someone may seem like a good leader and a good person, they can be telling you lies just to get your favor. -- Rebeka
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is." --Bill Clinton -- David L Rosenthal
It's amazing how the meanings of words change through time. I laugh every time someone uses wikipedia or a current dictionary to refer to particular word or phrase that once carried significant and specific meaning at the time it was given. We use our current definitions of words to rewrite history, and the things history teaches us. Such is, in itself, the sad pattern of history-- that those who are not willing to learn from their past, are doomed to repeat it. People find more solace in following the same destructive path as their ancestors, so long as they call their journey by another name, than by taking a long-hard look at what they're actually choosing, and the consequences of where their choices are going to lead them. -- Logan, Memphis, TN
-- Mike, Norwalk
-- Mike, Mount Holly, NC
"Clear Skys" & "Clean Water" acts now seem to mean "its ok for our big business friends to make a buck by poluting 'cause I can afford to buy bottled water and live upwind of the sources"... They have stollen our language from us. -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US
"...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." A very simple to understand RIGHT. California banning .50 caliber weapons or assault rifles, and our government's 30,000 gun control laws are infringements. There are so few words in the Constitution because the meaning of the words are plain (simple, common). Only someone trying to distract, complicate and confuse (Bill Clinton) will define the meaning of "is" differently each time it's spoken. -- Joe, Rochester, MI
BTW, how many words in the tax code? Anything but plain, intended to confuse, and has different meanings to different agents or persons. Talk about perverted! -- Joe, Rochester, MI
The government spin-doctors are always finding new words to neutralize or cover up the truth. 'Patriot Act' , 'Free Trade', and 'Peacemaker' are prime examples -- if a new bill has the words 'freedom', 'security,' or 'peace' in the title, you can bet it's purpose is the exact opposite. It's 1984 all over again. ;-) -- E Archer, NYC
You don't have to be a tyrant to pervert the plain meaning of words. I know of some people who do it often who are not tyrants. -- Me Again
Unfortunately, perverting words is not strange at all. Oh, I long for the days when being "liberal" meant being a lover of individual freedom. -- Ken, Allyn, WA
Is can have many meanings, David. You probably used them yourself ...sometimes to describe identical, sometimes to express mere existence of an object, or as an auxiliary to a participle, such as; is taken, or is ready, etc. There are a lot of meanings for such a small word. Check out how many yourself. Think, for a change! -- Jack, Green, OH
So True! Too many politicians value the power-thrill they get by holding such positions. So much they sell out the truth and their own beliefs just to gain favor with some, i.e. to get votes. 99.999% of the time, the spin-doctors pervert words, truth, and due process to railroad through an agenda, selling someone out of their rights. -- Kirk, Uninc. Lake County, IL
And that is why one should ALWAYS find a definition of a word from a dictionary from the era in which the word was used. Like our Constitution, don't use that "Meriam Webster 'NEW' world dictionary" use an ORIGINAL Webster dictionary or better yet examine how the word was used in all the instances from that time era. It's why we have so many issues with the Constitution and rights today, people don't know the definitions of the words when they were written. Like a militia no longer means the able bodied men in a country that fight independently of a regular army in its defense, but instead means national guard. If you control the meaning of words, you can control the way people think and how they think. Once you control people's thoughts you are already in power. -- Marshall Spruill, Duluth, Ga
How very true! Especially from Washington and Hollywood. I was always a liberal; now that the word has been perverted and bastardized, I'm now known as a conservative! What liberal in their right mind would support elective abortion? Think! F.A. Hayek, author of "The Road to Serfdom" written in the 1940s, describes himself and like minded folks as liberals and gives the rational and definition, which is the very antithesis of what America in 2009 refers to as a liberal. The book is deep but essentially easy to understand. I recommend it to any sane American as it was written partially as a warning to our nation. -- Nancy, OH
-- Tatiana, Loudoun County, VA, USA
-- Me Again
