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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Friday, June 04, 2004 :::
Robert Samuelson:Only recently one leading Democratic thinker wrote in the New York Times that Kerry could invigorate his campaign by "putting one crucial word . . . at the heart of every speech: reform."
This may or may not be good advice for Kerry, but it's bad advice for the country. As a word, reform no longer performs the essential function of a word, which is to mean something...
By casting their agendas as reforms, political advocates don't aim to stimulate debate and discussion. They aim to suppress it. They aim to stigmatize adversaries as nasty, wrongheaded, selfish or misinformed. If you're in a debate, you want to be the "reformer" and you want the other guy to be the "obstructionist." Once you've achieved that, you're halfway to victory. You've shifted the contest away from substance -- an argument over principles and practicality -- and toward symbolism, where your symbol is superior. Read the whole thing.
::: posted by Steven at 3:08 AM
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