Doublespeak and the War on Terrorism

September 14, 2006 8:36 AM

The misuse of language [pdf] has been embraced by our leadership. This heavily documented report provides tangible examples of the various redefinitions used in modern America.
posted by mulligan (25 comments total)

Excerpt:

Government officials cannot deny the fact
that the Constitution places limits on the
power to search and seize private property. To
bypass those limits, the government argues
that the Constitution limits only the way in
which “warrants” can be issued and executed.
If the government uses another document and
gives it an official-sounding name like, say,
“national security letter,” voilà, the constitu-
tional limitations on the search powers of the
government no longer apply.13

posted by mulligan at 8:39 AM on September 14, 2006

Cool, I saw this linked to this morning on the dooooooom blog, which is a pretty good place for content on privacy and the like.
posted by TheDonF at 8:40 AM on September 14, 2006

Welcome to the Chestnut Tree Cafe.
posted by orthogonality at 8:43 AM on September 14, 2006

Normally the Cato Institute bugs me, but I liked this.

Poor libertarians though. It must be hard to be consistently reminded that whichever party is in power is going to tend towards authoritarianism.
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:09 AM on September 14, 2006

When you control the language of the debate, you control the debate itself.

The conservatives, especially the religious "right," have really mastered this over the past ten years.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 9:23 AM on September 14, 2006

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." - George W. Bush, June 18th, 2002
posted by Mr_Zero at 9:45 AM on September 14, 2006

Orwell on The decline of the English language. Everyone should read it.
posted by delmoi at 9:50 AM on September 14, 2006

Anyone interested in this kind of thing might also enjoy "All the President's Spin." While it's largely concerned with the current administration it spares no punches for anyone else. Well worth the $0.01 plus shipping for a used copy.
posted by phearlez at 10:06 AM on September 14, 2006

See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda. - George W. Bush, May 24, 2005

Hay guyz I hrd DAILY KOS is 2 drs dwn on da left hurf durf
posted by prostyle at 10:14 AM on September 14, 2006

King George's rearrangement of the Cato Institute masthead slogan would be:
"Limited liberty
Individual government."

Same words the Cato Institute uses. Just ... arranging them properly.
posted by hank at 10:20 AM on September 14, 2006

One of the things that struck me right after 9/11 - though not addressed in this essay - was the sudden widespread use of "homeland" to describe the continental US, which seemed to come into common daily usage with barely any discussion of its meaning. It had instant echoes for me of the use of "fatherland" by the Nazi regime in Germany (fine, I Godwinned the thread, OH NOES!!!1!11!!, but it seems apropos here).

Linguistically, this "homeland" idea has embedded in it the notion of a sacrosanct inner chamber to be defended at all costs, and also seems to assume or at least allow room for the idea of a "greater" US - a string of colonies or other semi-permanent "interests" - that are of lesser importance. (I.e. Homeland Security then handles defence of this inviolable homeland, the Defence Department takes care of this much wider sphere of control.)

I might be mistaken on this. Anyone out there recall ever hearing talk of an American homeland before 9/11?
posted by gompa at 10:20 AM on September 14, 2006

Yeah that "Homeland" crap bugs the hell out of me. I would have called it "The department of emergency response and prevention" or something.

Intrestingly the bush administration was opposed to DHS at first, and one of the biggest backers was none other then Joe Lieberman, the same guy who advicated getting rid of FEMA after Katrina.
posted by delmoi at 10:30 AM on September 14, 2006

Yeah, from the first mention of "homeland", I thought, "yeesh, how Teutonic."
posted by sonofsamiam at 10:37 AM on September 14, 2006

The idea of anything American utilising the word 'homeland' bemuses me. The image most of the word seems to have of Americans is that they want to be anything but American - people whose greatⁿ grandfather was born in Cork seem determined to refer to themselves as Irish American, with 'the homeland' and 'the old country' seeming to be Ireland.

Suddenly, with 9/11, Americans seemed to want to be Americans first - 'homeland' flipped to being the country they lived in right now.

I'm not American, this is based on conversation with Americans, yes, not all Americans are represented by my friends.
posted by twine42 at 11:15 AM on September 14, 2006

The name "Homeland Security Agency" was proposed by the Hart-Rudman commission (1998-2001).

Say, anybody remember when Cato was more crazy than the Republican Party? Good times, good times.
posted by dhartung at 11:18 AM on September 14, 2006

There was a time, not so long ago, when no one ever spoke of an American "homeland." (Good Eugene Robinson column, via Language Log.)
posted by languagehat at 11:21 AM on September 14, 2006

Yeah, the first time I heard that we were getting this agency concerned with "Homeland" Security, I immediately flashed on this TV miniseries. Life imitating art and all that...
posted by pax digita at 11:28 AM on September 14, 2006

twine42, as a 'Merican I think I'd agree with that characterization. At least the idea of an America that I always heard about was the melting-pot, crossroads-of-the-world model that is NYC.

Goddamit languagehat, stop rocking so damn hard, I can't get any work done.
posted by Skorgu at 11:29 AM on September 14, 2006

Just call it the Comittee for Public Safety and be done with it. Robespierre would approve.
posted by nyxxxx at 12:04 PM on September 14, 2006

When did "doublespeak" enter the language, because I like Newspeak better and it pretty much covers the idea of doublespeak anyway.
posted by MarkO at 12:23 PM on September 14, 2006

Thanks for the Robinson link, languagehat. He articulates quite a few points that I've been wrestling with, too. Nice find.
posted by joe lisboa at 2:39 PM on September 14, 2006

When did "doublespeak" enter the language, because I like Newspeak better and it pretty much covers the idea of doublespeak anyway.

"Doublespeak" is not in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four at all, but "double talk" was an established usage for e.g. the language of smarmy conmen and it was an obvious coinage based on Orwell's "doublethink", and apparently was in use very soon after the book appeared.

Technically, at least in terms of the novel's alternate universe, doublethink and Newspeak are somewhat contrary terms. Newspeak is the language that all use, knowingly or not, but doublethink is applied to those who, to their horror perhaps, understand the lies.
posted by dhartung at 3:30 PM on September 14, 2006

Denizens of our beloved homeland, hearken evermore to the wise words of Basil Fawlty:

"Hors d'oeuvres must be obeyed!"
posted by rob511 at 5:35 PM on September 14, 2006

Fatherland, Motherland, Homeland. From Peggy Noonan's WSJ Opinion Journal, June 14, 2002:

The second thing Mr. Bush should do is change the name. The name Homeland Security grates on a lot of people, understandably. Homeland isn't really an American word, it's not something we used to say or say now. It has a vaguely Teutonic ring--Ve must help ze Fuehrer protect ze Homeland!--and Republicans must always be on guard against sounding Teutonic.

As a brilliant friend who is also actually an intellectual says, "I think it's creepy, in a Nazi-resonating way, any time this sort of home-and-hearth language is used by people who are essentially police. When police honestly call themselves police, or 'domestic security,' I salute and say 'Yes officer.' When they call themselves 'Protectors of the Hearth' I get the creeps." He adds, "I'd argue we want to feel we're pursuing our old values in a new more dangerous world" and suggests "trusty, familiar-sounding words as our touchstones."

An October 1, 2001 Salon article suggests that Richard Armitage and fellow members of the National Defense Panel may have first used "homeland" WRT national defense in 1997 (see their December 1997 report, Transforming Defense — National Security in the 21st Century.)
posted by cenoxo at 12:03 PM on September 15, 2006

Big Brother Comes to America
posted by homunculus at 7:43 PM on September 15, 2006