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July 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
6:38:00 AM EDT
Extension of "War Fatigue" -- "A Subtle Version of "Cut-And-Run" at Huffingtonpost.com
We all noticed "cut-and-run" but it took root anyway. John Murtha wasn't proposing "cut-and-run, but it still stuck to him. That's the power of word association. We all do it, and it can be a legitimate means of persuasion when not utilized, especially over and over, by a government in a manipulative, self-serving manner as in the cases of subverting reality, deflecting deserved blame or responsibility, fogging the issues at hand to preclude productive discussion, and serving deception.
Words are not harmless. All the more reason for vigilence in interpreting their meanings. This is not paranoia. I'm often asked when talking about persuasion, negotiation and politics if I ever have down time, if I'm always reading between the lines, watching for underlying meanings and propitious choice points. During serious discussions and negotiations, surely I'm attentive. When assessing political climates and observing political strategy, of course. This is evident in all my books. During day-to-day discussion, though, such careful observation is usually unnecessary. But when your own government won't be straight with you, or at least endeavor to do so, none of us should be relaxed about what we're being told behind what is being said.
If more time were spent by the current administration learning to communicate with other leaders around the world instead of thinking up words and phrases to manipulate, deceive and alienate, we wouldn't be on our own increasingly despised by those who once befriended and admired us.
Even the way the president talks about the Maliki government is patronizing. "We expect this," "We expect that." Sure, we can have expectations but public patronizing, instructing other governments -- as didn't go over well with Vladamir Putin, asserting authority leads to failure. No one likes it, least other leaders whose "faces" are daily on the line.
There appear to be no crafters of meaning at the White House and within the administration who do so for our collective benefit. It's always to put down, ostracize, alienate, distance, dismiss, or in some other way preclude honest dialogue. We don't hear sincere word associations helping us to make sense of an increasingly dangerous world.
Words are the conveyors of meaning -- weak vehicles that they are at times, they're all we have. They are, too, the windows through which, if we care to look, we may ascertain the intentions of those who use them. I suggest we embark on peering out more often to see how we're being moved and managed lest we end up wondering even more how we ever got where we'll all end up.
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6:38:00 AM EDT
Word Associations at The White House
Extension of "War Fatigue" -- "A Subtle Version of "Cut-And-Run" at Huffingtonpost.com
We all noticed "cut-and-run" but it took root anyway. John Murtha wasn't proposing "cut-and-run, but it still stuck to him. That's the power of word association. We all do it, and it can be a legitimate means of persuasion when not utilized, especially over and over, by a government in a manipulative, self-serving manner as in the cases of subverting reality, deflecting deserved blame or responsibility, fogging the issues at hand to preclude productive discussion, and serving deception.
Words are not harmless. All the more reason for vigilence in interpreting their meanings. This is not paranoia. I'm often asked when talking about persuasion, negotiation and politics if I ever have down time, if I'm always reading between the lines, watching for underlying meanings and propitious choice points. During serious discussions and negotiations, surely I'm attentive. When assessing political climates and observing political strategy, of course. This is evident in all my books. During day-to-day discussion, though, such careful observation is usually unnecessary. But when your own government won't be straight with you, or at least endeavor to do so, none of us should be relaxed about what we're being told behind what is being said.
If more time were spent by the current administration learning to communicate with other leaders around the world instead of thinking up words and phrases to manipulate, deceive and alienate, we wouldn't be on our own increasingly despised by those who once befriended and admired us.
Even the way the president talks about the Maliki government is patronizing. "We expect this," "We expect that." Sure, we can have expectations but public patronizing, instructing other governments -- as didn't go over well with Vladamir Putin, asserting authority leads to failure. No one likes it, least other leaders whose "faces" are daily on the line.
There appear to be no crafters of meaning at the White House and within the administration who do so for our collective benefit. It's always to put down, ostracize, alienate, distance, dismiss, or in some other way preclude honest dialogue. We don't hear sincere word associations helping us to make sense of an increasingly dangerous world.
Words are the conveyors of meaning -- weak vehicles that they are at times, they're all we have. They are, too, the windows through which, if we care to look, we may ascertain the intentions of those who use them. I suggest we embark on peering out more often to see how we're being moved and managed lest we end up wondering even more how we ever got where we'll all end up.
Written by docreardon Blog about this entry |
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