Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Taking things a bit too seriously:
[1]Patterico points to this opening of a [2]Dana Milbank Washington
Post column:
Earlier this month, President Bush was almost done with a speech to
a group of minority journalists when he dropped a rather startling
proposal.
"We actually misnamed the war on terror," he said. "It ought to be
the Struggle Against Ideological Extremists Who Do Not Believe in
Free Societies Who Happen to Use Terror as a Weapon to Try to Shake
the Conscience of the Free World."
Or, if you prefer to abbreviate, SAIEWDNBIFSWHTUTAAWTTTSTCOTFW.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Bushism has returned. . . .
Hmm -- it sounds to me (and Patterico) like a bit of a joke, no? (See
[3]here for a more extended quote.) Lots of people, especially those
who like to use words like "struggle" instead of "war" and to say
someone "happens to" do something rather than "labeling" the person
with an adjective, have been arguing that we shouldn't use the term
"war on terror." Bush intentionally comes up with a lampoon of what
those people would prefer that it be called. And the joke (admittedly,
not an uproariously funny one) is precisely that the phrase lacks the
punch of "war on terror."
Incidentally, the LEXIS transcript (available in the Public Papers of
the Presidents file) reveals that Bush's statement was followed by
laughter from the audience -- and my guess is that this was laughter
that Bush intended.
References
1. http://patterico.com/archives/002572.php
2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6375-2004Aug16.html
3. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec04/snapshot_8-6.html
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