Time magazine occasionally hits the nail on the head. In the February 6 issue, there is an article by David von Drehle about the 2012 election and the vetting of the GOP candidates. But one paragraph could pertain to all candidates on all levels and finally explain flip flopping.
Von Drehle quotes Mississippi lawmaker Noah Sweat, Jr. (1922-1996). I checked Sweat out to make sure he really existed and wasn’t some fabrication. The quote concerned whiskey and is a classic example of doublespeak, according to Wikipedia. I love it.
“If when you say whiskey you mean the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.
“But;
“If when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the skip in the old gentleman’s step on a frosty, Christmas morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life’s great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.”
Change the subject to the economy or immigration or tax reform, and does this sound like any politician you know?
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