Category: On Language

Nothing Burger

“Nothing burger” is a slang term, primarily used in American English, that describes something that was expected to be significant or important but ultimately turned out to be inconsequential, insignificant, or disappointing.

In Alaska, President Vladimir Putin walked on a red carpet, shook hands and exchanged smiles with his American counterpart. Donald Trump ended summit praising their relationship and calling Russia “a big power … No. 2 in the world,” albeit admitting they didn’t reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine.

By Saturday morning Moscow time, Trump appeared to have abandoned the idea of a ceasefire as a step toward peace -– something he and Ukraine had pushed for months -– in favor of pursuing a full-fledged “Peace Agreement” to end the war, echoing a long-held Kremlin position. The “severe consequences” he threatened against Moscow for continuing hostilities were nowhere in sight. On Ukraine’s battlefields, Russian troops slowly grinded on, with time on their side.

President Trump made his expectations clear entering a summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday: “I won’t be happy if I walk away without some form of a ceasefire,” he said aboard Air Force One.

Yet he did, emerging from their meeting in a diplomatic retreat, adopting the Russian leader’s position that puts off ceasefire negotiations in favor of more comprehensive talks.

“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” Trump wrote on social media. “If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved.”

Trump obtained nothing and Zelinsky is still fighting a war he can’t win. Trump should be ashamed but he can’t admit the Alaska summit was a mistake.

Plagiarism

This is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.

Copying large pieces of text from a source without citing that source. Taking passages from multiple sources, piecing them together, and turning in the work as your own. Copying from a source but changing a few words and phrases to disguise plagiarism.

As a boy in high school I lacked the knowledge to write anything consequential and copied from books. It was plagiarism and I knew it. The teacher of that class knew it too but at least she knew I had done the research and I was given a passing grade on my report.

As an adult I give credit to the author of what I have copied.

Claudine Gay is stepping down as the president of Harvard University. Her decision was the result of her plagiarism. As Tom Nichols writes in The Atlantic Daily: “Despite the results of an investigation commissioned by the Harvard Corporation last month that found cases only of “inadequate” citation, new charges about her work include episodes of what most scholars would recognize as academic misconduct, including plagiarism. Experts consulted by CNN consider the recent excerpts to be plagiarism.” Why Ms. Gay did not provide citation for other’s work we will never know.

We have all had a lesson in stealing the works of others.

Apparently Nikki Haley Needs a History Lesson. Here It Is.

 Almost 160 years after the Civil War — Nikki Haley, a leading contender for the GOP presidential nomination and former governor of South Carolina couldn’t answer the simple question “What was the cause of the Civil War?” Her disjointed response was “basically how government was going to run — the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”

The Constitution Center provides this history. “The victory of Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 elections convinced South Carolina legislators that it was no longer in their state’s interest to remain in the Union. South Carolina declared its secession from the United States.  Citing “an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding states to the institution of slavery,”

Sadly in my own experience in the South is that Southerners are still in denial. That is the reason they still fly the Confederate flag in many places. Haley is not alone.

Succession may be in America’s Future

On this past Presidents’ Day, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted:

We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.

On Monday September 11, 2023, Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “if the Biden admin refuses to stop the invasion of cartel led human and drug trafficking into our country, states should consider seceding from the union.”

Greene is not alone in her views. She is giving voice to a widespread and growing sentiment in the Republican Party. Among Republicans in the South, for example, support for secession was 66 percent in June 2021, according to a Bright Line Watch/YouGov poll. (The poll found support for secession growing among every partisan group in the months following the January 6 riot at the Capitol.)

Personally, I have believed for years that Abraham Lincoln made a mistake in fighting the succession of the South. The United States fought to keep the people of the South against their will. The consequence has been the never ending display of Civil War flags to this day.

The 13 colonies themselves also faught for freedom in the American Revolution. The British couldn’t win because they were fighting to hold the colonies against their will.

Unless we have leadership in the United States that convinces Americans to stay united succession is in the future of this country.

Demagogue

The Los Angeles Times in an editorial (printed August 16, 2023) calls Donald Trump a dangerous demagogue.  But what is a demagogue?

The Oxford Dictionary says “a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument. Merriam-Webster says “a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power.”

Do these definitions describe Donald Trump? False claims and promises were trademarks of his presidency and he continues the same strategy to win a second term as president.  His lies about the 2020 election results have been repeated over and over to this day.  There was no faulty election equipment.  Thousands of dead people were not entered as voters.  Each state had the power to determine its results and did so.

There are other demagogues in our midst today.  Alex Jones who has a large following.  You remember. He is the one who said that said the Sandy Hook killing was a lie and the killing was a staged act.

During his presidency Trump over saw the building of new border wall that was for the most part a replacement of pre- existing barrier. It was all based on the fear that millions of illegal migrants were coming into the country to spread drugs and mayhem.

Tucker Carlson is a demagogue.

Historically Adolph Hitler and Mao Zedong were demagogues.

We always have to hang up on conspiracy theorists.

Patriot

How do you define Patriot?  Donald Trump brought up the question in both words and behavior. Is it hugging the flag?

Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) February 29, 2020

Does this picture make Trump a patriot? The Oxford dictionary definition is “a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.”  He is conveying that he loves the flag and what it stands for.

Merriam-Webster definition is “a person who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests”

The United States creates a missile system and titles it the “Patriot System” that is meant to defend the country.

What about those of us that love the country and attack its laws and regulations that we see as harmful?  Are we too patriots?  

Name Calling is Hate and it will Never Go Away!

We can all agree that name calling is nasty and is meant to hurt the person on the receiving end of those words.  So we don’t say “N—-r” instead we say “Blacks” write “N-word” and everyone know what that means.  “Jew” is not acceptable so we say or write “Jewish person.” For Mexicans “Tonto” is a word often used if you want to say that someone is not very intelligent or has done something remarkably silly. Estúpido/a can be used interchangeably, but it is somewhat less common than tonto/a.

NAME CALLING or STEREOTYPING: Giving a person or an idea a bad label by using an easy to remember pejorative name. This is used to make us reject and condemn a person or idea without examining what the label really means. Examples: “Republican”, “Tree-Hugger”, “Nazi”, “Environmentalist”, “Special-Interest Group”.

Propagandists use this technique to create fear and arouse prejudice by using negative words (bad names) to create an unfavorable opinion or hatred against a group, beliefs, ideas or institutions they would have us denounce. This method calls for a conclusion without examining the evidence. Name Calling is used as a substitute for arguing the merits of an idea, belief, or proposal. It is often employed using sarcasm and ridicule in political cartoons and writing.

How to end this post? James Cagney never actually said “You dirty rat,” but a line in his 1932 film “Taxi!” probably came closest. At least that wasn’t against any group.