It's not what you say, it's how you say it

Something I found interesting recently was the Bush administration's use of "terrorist surveillance" for what the media (and Democrats) were calling "domestic spying."

I once heard a comedian - Bill Maher, I suspect - remark that Republicans were so much better at this sort of semantics game than Democrats - his example was turning the "estate tax" into the "death tax," which would of course turn the Great Unwashed against it, since not everybody has an estate, but everybody dies.

This isn't a partisan thing - I'm a word guy, and I recognize b.s. wordplay when I see it. As somebody used to say in high school or college or somewhere a while back, "Semantics: What do you mean?"

And frankly, the Democrats are often just as guilty - look at Bill Clinton and that whole thing about defining "is." Legally accurate? Maybe. Coherent? Not especially. Bullshit? 100 percent, Grade A.

But man, Bush does this stuff all the time. It's as if his people think everyone is as dumb and smug and ignorant as he is.

(That last statement is a blatant attempt to waste some of Alberto Gonzales' time by getting him to spy on ME. Like putting "liberal" down for politics on Match.com.)

I thought the funniest thing I saw was when he made the remark about how if he wanted it to be secret, he wouldn't have briefed Congress. He was talking at some college in Kansas, and he leaned forward on the podium and smirked like he does...

And no one laughed.

So he leaned forward a little more. And smirked a little harder. And that's when the polite laughter/applause began.

Yeah, because the idea that Big Brother is listening is so funny, eh?

Look, I'm all for anything that stops terrorists dead. But if this crew was really hell-bent on stopping terrorists, wouldn't we have captured Osama bin Laden and not Saddam Hussein? We're busy promoting Democracy in Iraq, and he's still sending tapes to Al Jazzeera. A 6-foot-5 bearded man on dialysis. How hard can he be to find? Ever see somebody 6-foot-5? Tough to miss.

And really, the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections - how will the "spreading Democracy" administration react? So far, not well. But hey, sometimes you get stuck with the party you have, not the party you want.

Dubya could ask the liberals - and plenty of moderates - how that feels. Or he could just listen in when they complain to each other on the phone.

Links:
• Bush in Kansas, talking about spying, or whatever
• More Bush on spying, or whatever
• A domestic "oops" moment
• And a Middle East "oops" moment

And hey, as a Raiders fan, am I the only one who sees absolutely nothing wrong with this? Serves the little twerp right. And I especially like that the teacher isn't putting up with the kid's crap. Striking a blow against the wussification of America. And the Broncos.