F
FACE
Guest
http://victorhanson.com/articles/hanson041308.html
April 13, 2008
Why Orwell Matters
by Victor Davis Hanson
NRO’s The Corner
Here is what Sen. Obama said:
"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small
towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and
nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton
Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive
administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna
regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get
bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't
like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way
to explain their frustrations."
Here is what Sen. Obama now says he said:
"So I said, 'Well, you know, when you're bitter you turn to what you can
count on,'" he continued. "So people they vote about guns, or they take
comfort from their faith and their family and their community. And they
get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this country or
they get frustrated about, you know, how things are changing. That's a
natural response."
1. Note how version #1's "cling" becomes version #2's "vote about" and
"take comfort from" -- as the condescending dismissal becomes empathetic
understanding.
2. Note how version #1's "religion" and "antipathy to people who aren't
like them" becomes version #2's "faith" and "their family and community"
-- as fundamentalist xenophobes now become beleaguered folks who band
together against the unfairness.
3 Note how version #1's "anti-immigrant" becomes version #2's "mad about
illegal immigrants" -- as the nativist who opposes all immigrants, legal
and illegal, now becomes understandably angry only about those coming
here illegally.
4. Note how version #1's "as a way to explain their frustrations"
becomes version #2's "they get frustrated about" as the misguided
scape-goaters become those who react understandably to adversity.
5. Note no explanation in version #2 for version #1's "anti-trade
sentiment" — and no wonder since Obama himself is embarrassed that so
far he's voiced far more "anti-trade sentiment" than those he
caricatured.
6. Note how version #1's "And it's not surprising then they get bitter"
becomes version #2's "you 're" and "you" and "That’s a natural
response", as the condescending use of the embittered and distant "they"
now morphs into a kindred "you" and the quip "not surprising" becomes
the sympathetic "natural."
7. Note how version #1's idiotic logic that Middle-America has only
become religious or pro-gun in the last 25 years as a result of job loss
is simply omitted.
8. Note how there is suddenly no "context" for the landscape of version
#1: an elite Bay-area audience that is told stories about those
Pennsylvanian gun-toting zealots.
With Obama, the clarifications (cf. the Wright and Michelle
contextualizations) are always more interesting than the original lapse.
~~~~
FACE
April 13, 2008
Why Orwell Matters
by Victor Davis Hanson
NRO’s The Corner
Here is what Sen. Obama said:
"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small
towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and
nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton
Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive
administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna
regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get
bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't
like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way
to explain their frustrations."
Here is what Sen. Obama now says he said:
"So I said, 'Well, you know, when you're bitter you turn to what you can
count on,'" he continued. "So people they vote about guns, or they take
comfort from their faith and their family and their community. And they
get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this country or
they get frustrated about, you know, how things are changing. That's a
natural response."
1. Note how version #1's "cling" becomes version #2's "vote about" and
"take comfort from" -- as the condescending dismissal becomes empathetic
understanding.
2. Note how version #1's "religion" and "antipathy to people who aren't
like them" becomes version #2's "faith" and "their family and community"
-- as fundamentalist xenophobes now become beleaguered folks who band
together against the unfairness.
3 Note how version #1's "anti-immigrant" becomes version #2's "mad about
illegal immigrants" -- as the nativist who opposes all immigrants, legal
and illegal, now becomes understandably angry only about those coming
here illegally.
4. Note how version #1's "as a way to explain their frustrations"
becomes version #2's "they get frustrated about" as the misguided
scape-goaters become those who react understandably to adversity.
5. Note no explanation in version #2 for version #1's "anti-trade
sentiment" — and no wonder since Obama himself is embarrassed that so
far he's voiced far more "anti-trade sentiment" than those he
caricatured.
6. Note how version #1's "And it's not surprising then they get bitter"
becomes version #2's "you 're" and "you" and "That’s a natural
response", as the condescending use of the embittered and distant "they"
now morphs into a kindred "you" and the quip "not surprising" becomes
the sympathetic "natural."
7. Note how version #1's idiotic logic that Middle-America has only
become religious or pro-gun in the last 25 years as a result of job loss
is simply omitted.
8. Note how there is suddenly no "context" for the landscape of version
#1: an elite Bay-area audience that is told stories about those
Pennsylvanian gun-toting zealots.
With Obama, the clarifications (cf. the Wright and Michelle
contextualizations) are always more interesting than the original lapse.
~~~~
FACE
7o704h8f0qf1a7fc7gdbvfaj5jjkfc03b@4ax.com...
