Newspeak, continued, 8/26/2010

EMPOWER. A euphemism designed to “protect” any group, preferably a minority group, from the traditional values of the past. See Girl Scouts, below. The United Nations wants to “empower” girls ten to fourteen years of age in sexual matters. Young girls need their parents’ permission to undergo even minor cosmetic surgery but the Left wants them “empowered” to have abortions without notifying the parents.

ENERGY. The Left wants to run the country without utilizing energy sources. They are against drilling simply because it involves oil. They are against using coal because it damages the atmosphere. They are against nuclear power because they regard it as dangerous. They are against wind power because birds sometimes fly into the propellers of wind turbines and are injured or killed. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced in January 2010 that he was shutting down all federal lands for oil and gas drilling. Maybe if Starbucks has to shut down because it has not the electricity to make lattes, it will finally come to the Left’s attention that something is amiss. Obama’s announcement that he was going to open up certain areas to offshore drilling is a beginning but is not nearly enough. He neglected to open drilling in Alaska, California and off Florida where it would do the most good of all.  The explosion of the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the first such incident in over forty years, has the liberals pointing fingers and saying, “I told you so.”

A double standard is consistently employed when it comes to energy use. Al Gore, the patron saint of the Greens, burns up many, many times the energy that the average homeowner uses. Just one of his houses uses twenty times the energy as does the average U.S. residence. In April 2010, Gore and his wife spent $9 million on yet another residence, this one in California. Of course, Gore is busier than most Americans. He invented the internet and global warming so he is probably busy with yet another heroic effort.

And the Kennedy family is protesting the erection of an offshore wind farm because it would “ruin the view” from their Hyannis port compound. Another Kennedy family member characterized anyone who drives an SUV as un-American and then hopped on a private jet to return to Boston. This characteristic of the “anointed” is common. They believe that their laws should apply to everyone but themselves. It is another case of “some being more equal than others.” See Orwell’s Animal Farm and The Anointed, above.

An editorial in the New York Times complained that China was winning the global competition to create green energy sources. Have the editors of the Times been to Beijing lately? Or Shanghai?  The air in most Chinese cities is worse than it was in Los Angeles in the 1970s and is nearly un-breathable. Maybe the Times means that the air in China will turn green in color. Perhaps it will.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE, THE. No longer the universal language of the United States. In the past, immigrants came to this country and learned English. Their children went to schools where all subjects were taught in English. The children learned the language and grew up to be part of the great American melting pot. The secular progressives have bulldozed many school districts in the United States into teaching children, whose first language is not English, into teaching in another language, usually Spanish. These children are much slower in learning English and integrating into American society, which is just fine with the secular progressives who are happy with the “diversity.” One of the few politicians who has the courage to openly oppose the official use of anything but English is Tim James, an Alabama gubernatorial candidate. The New York Times labeled him a bottom-feeding campaigner, a racist and xenophobe. Actually, there is a law on the books in Alabama stating that English must be used for drivers’ license tests but like so many laws, no one has had the courage to enforce it. Maybe James will.  Does anyone but me resent having to "press one for English" when calling a company.