A rose by any other name...

Once an English teacher, always an English teacher. Sad, maybe, but true. I've always loved words, and I think in some ways it was impossible to grow up in my family without loving words. It's an inherited trait. The Twomblys (should the plural be Twomblies?) talked, the Redingtons did crossword puzzles and made puns. Over the years, I began to realize the power of words, and woe to the student who used the word "mankind" in my presence, and then professed not to understand what could be wrong with it.....I'll save the full-blown lecture for later.

I would have supposed that most writers would care passionately about words and their correct usage. It is that supposition that caused me to be shocked when I read novelist Elinor Lipman's column in Monday's Globe (2/11), entitled "Chelsea and the kid gloves." In her column, she claimed that it wasn't any big deal that pundit Bill Shuster asked the question "Doesn't it seem like Chelsea is being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" Lipman wonders why the Clintons should have taken umbrage at that. She thinks they overreacted. Wouldn't anyone take umbrage if their daughter was described as "being pimped out?" Should the listener not have assumed any sexual-trafficking connotation as Ms. Lipman claims? In what other context does one use the word "pimp?"

She continues her column to similarly brush aside Don Imus's famous description of the Rutgers' girls bastketball team, saying "Did anyone in his or her right mind need to be disabused of Imus's characterization?" We may well have understood that the young women on the team were not "hos," but that doesn't mean it was o.k. for him to call them that, along with the adjectives he used to precede the word. I am aghast that Ms. Lipman is willing to see language used so imprecisely and scurrilously. If she thinks it's o.k., then I think the degradation of our culture has gone further than I had imagined.

Words both reflect the culture and have the power to shape it. I hope I understand as well as the next person the way language changes, and particularly that the vernacular may expand to include words that previous generations would have had their mouths washed out with soap for using. Acceptance of these kinds of insults as normative, however, I think goes past a boundary that I would rather not see crossed. And here's why, since you asked:

We are living in an age of the manipulation of language much like what George Orwell imagined in 1984. If we grow sloppy in our usage, we accept the deaths of "troops," because that word is more dehumanized than deaths of "soldiers," which is more dehumanized that saying deaths of "men" and "women." It allows us to have a President who will talk about "shock and awe" when our military is dropping bombs on Baghdad. It brought us "Operation Enduring Freedom" and "Desert Storm." In munitions, it brings us "smart bombs" and Focused Lethality Munitions (see previous blog). We can objectify and rename anything until it is unrecognizeable for what it is. I take issue not only with Ms. Lipman, but also with Shakespeare himself, who said "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." A "ho" is not synonymous with "basketball player" and "pimped out" is not synonymous with "speaking on the campaign trail on behalf of your mother." Ms. Lipman should have known better.

Smart, smarter, smartest small bombs

I found the final story on ABC news last night particularly objectionable. Obscene, even. I've spent quite a bit of time wondering just why it bothered me so much. The story was the report on the development of the new, small, smart bomb. The whole point of the bomb is to reduce collateral damage. Now that would be a good thing, and I should have been excited to hear that anyone in the military cares about that. It certainly represents a change from the good old days of carpet bombing in Viet Nam, or say, Dresden, for example.

Jeffrey Kofman reported the story and sounded somewhat like a kid in a candy store, and I think that was what first set me off. Instead of a straight forward story on what it costs to produce this new bomb and how many lives it might actually save (though let us not forget that it is intended to take lives, just more accurately), we have a first-hand opportunity to ride along in the plane with Mr. Kofman while the bomb is tested. He is clearly in awe of the opportunity. I am clearly disgusted by the thrill he is experiencing.

I couldn't help wishing for Peter Jennings "gravitas," much as I have come to feel that is a pompous word as it is bandied about today. Where was Mr. Kofman's understanding of what real bombs to do real people? Where was the analysis of what might be done with the money expended on these ever newer weapons? Where was the discussion of how, as we make "smarter and smarter" bombs, we seem to be producing greater and greater morons who hold the reins of the power to create situations in which to use these lovely weapons. And does anyone think about how much easier it is to launch these weapons from 15,000 feet away from the target with the push of a button? Do the droppers of the bombs see the destruction they cause? Do they care? Why was this considered a news story? What corporations sponsor ABC news and what might their interest be in bomb-making?

For those who may have missed the story last night, I repeat, below, an excerpt from the abcnews.com web site:

"As the Air Force now sees it, in today's warfare smaller is better. With these new Small Diameter Bombs, it hopes to accomplish three things at once: get more weapons on each aircraft; fire those weapons from much further away than JDAMs allow; and, critically, with much less explosive inside, aim to strike with surgical precision."

When the story ended, I must say, I thought that we should all rush off to our nearest FAO Schwartz to pick up the newest edition of our own, small, smart bomb. But wait, don't purchase yours too soon, because:

". . . the next generation of Small Diameter Bomb is already in early development. The FLM, or Focused Lethality Munition, will take surgical precision to a new level. It will be made of hardened plastics that disintegrate on explosion, eliminating the deadly metal fragments, or shrapnel, that causes so much unintended damage and destruction. Clearly, the Air Force is determined to refine what it believes will be the surgical strike weapon of choice for 21st century warfare." Hold the phone, Mr. Kofman may get another chance to ride along when they test the FLM.....who thinks up these names? Focused Lethality Munition???? Good God! Someone should quickly notify the 'collateral damage" that help is on the way!

The Iraq War and More

I have been opposed to the Iraq War since long before it started. I have marched in protests and stood in vigils. I have supported candidates who opposed the war. I have given money. I have organized three peace conferences. The loss of a former student last weekend has saddened me and made me think all over again about just how wrong the whole war is and has been; how many people have been lost in this needless war, both soldiers and civilians, American and Iraqi. Groups are gearing up to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the invasion. I've been called upon to participate.

I don't want to commemorate it, I want to rage against it. I want to look into the eyes of my two Repbulican Senators and ask "How can you continue to support this?" I want to shake them until their eyes spin around in their heads and they admit they have been wrong. I want to know why the people in this country haven't risen up and said "Stop!" I want to know why Bush and Cheney haven't been impeached for the high crimes they have perpetrated in the past seven years. We have a dictatorship in Washington of the most insidious sort. Through signing statements, vetoes, recess appointments, rendition, wire-tapping, torture, detainment without chargeor access to attorneys, and profligate spending, the President has held the country in an iron grip. We apparently lack the courage or the creativity to figure out how to break that grip.

I saw in today's paper, a column which only added to my feeling of rage. And I realize that my rage is not just at the elected officials in Washington, it is against the American people, and that means some level of anger at myself. The column featured a story about an Iraqi translator who helped our soldiers for 3 years, and when a translator friend of his was murdered, he knew he needed to get out of Iraq. After a year of bureaucratic red tape, he went to Jordan for an interview. He was told he could leave immediately. That was fine, except his wife and 2 small children were in Iraq. His wife said to go and be safe. He arrived in Boston last Sept. He needs $7000.00 to bring his family here to safety. He's working as a carpet salesman; he lives in one of the most expensive cities in the world. By himself, it will take him years to raise the money.

There are hundreds of people in this country who could write a check for the whole amount and never think twice about it. Hillary Clinton's campaign raised 4 million dollars in the last 24 hours. The Liberty Hotel (you gotta love the name) gave a $5500.00 suite to Paris Hilton and her entourage while she was in town to receive the Harvard Lampoon Woman of the Year award. I doubt she is even smart enough to realize that she was being made fun of. Heiress to the Hilton fortune, she hardly needed the free hotel room. Mitt Romney just tried to buy the Presidency with $42 million dollars of his own money.

So......where does that leave me? I'm going to email Kevin Cullen, columnist at the Globe, to see if I can donate some money to help the translator. Maybe I can make a small difference in this sea of indifference.