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January 23, 2005
On The Freedom Family™ …
If memory serves, back around the Summer of Love in 1967 a large and growing group of disgusting long-haired dope-smoking dancing free-sex advocating faggot commie pinkos (I get nostalgic just typing the phrase) decided to own up to the Red Right’s nightmare. We started calling ourselves “freaks.” Just like they said we were.
It was a great lesson. It’s a shame we didn’t learn from it.
More than a decade ago, the Red Right co-opted the phrase “family.” They abandoned the name “Moral Majority.” They were neither, but I doubt that influenced their strategy. No longer did the word “family” refer to “A fundamental social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children; Two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another, and reside usually in the same dwelling place; All the members of a household under one roof; A group of persons sharing common ancestry.*”
According to the Red Right, the word family now means “a Christian mother plus a Christian father, plus one or more Christian children, all living under the same roof in a right-wing Christian environment – no leftist philosophies, no single-parent families, no bastard children, no titillating entertainment, and certainly no gay adoption. If your family didn’t follow these edicts, you weren’t a family, you didn’t have family values, you really have no values at all, and therefore you are a scourge on society. You are immoral, and you probably should be smitten. Certainly if you’re homosexual.
It’s hard to find a more hate-filled effort without lighting the ovens.
Normal people – not just the Blue Left, but, those sane folks who don’t immolate self-righteous firebrands – sat back and let that happen. The Blue Left was way too busy defining its own politically correct language (my favorite is the way they shoved the term “Native American” down Indians’ throats, as if Amerigo Vespucci was some sort of boon to this land’s original occupants). Actually, they should have known better.
Now the Red Right has done it again. Now we’ve lost the word “freedom.”
It is President Li’l Bastard who has assumed the cloak of freedom fighter. He and his Red Right are pro-freedom, and anybody who is opposed to their work is therefore anti-freedom. At worst, a traitor. At best, a freak. Freedom now means pro-Earth rape, anti-Moslem, pro-concentration camp, pro-torture, pro-big oil, pro-big money, pro-Corporation Uber Alles.
It’s a shame. Family was a damn fine word. Freedom was a damn fine word. Now, both are bad jokes. And, of course, some Red Right asshole is going to say “well, this man just said freedom and family are bad jokes; he is a monster.”
No, I am not. I am their worst enemy. Join me.
*Definition from Dictionary.com, which I recommend, if that means anything.
Posted by Mike Gold at January 23, 2005 01:37 PM
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Comments
Yes, the right has done a good job of controlling the language, but they also have the benefit of the large corporate-owned media enforcing the usage of the language. It is tough for anyone else to redefine words when those in power play the media like "a mighty Wurlitzer."
"Newspeak" is certainly here., and they are rubbing our faces in it all over the TV.
Posted by: chuckfiala at January 23, 2005 03:12 PM
Oh don't worry. You guys on the left are doing just fine reinventing your own language. I think one of the points of Mike's little biased walk down memory lane was to remind us that the Right doesn't have anymore of an exclusive hold on the truth than the Left.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure he made up that Christian Right definition of family.
Posted by: eclark1849 at January 23, 2005 07:36 PM
The Right doesn't own "family." They want it, but they can't have it. Play, "We Are Family" loud, often. Put on that dorky "Hate Is Not a Family Value" bumper sticker. "Freedom" might be more difficult, but if we can connect "freedom" to "free speech" we might have a shot at it.
Posted by: Martha Thomases at January 24, 2005 12:07 PM
Mike's right about the Native American thing. My daughter spent months in class learning to call them Natives, in preparation for a field trip to an Indian reservation. Someone called them Native American in a Q&A session, and the person there took enough umbrage that it stuck with her. Their response was "Either call us what we are, Hopi or Souix or Cherokee, or call us whatever you want, Injuns, even. You, little girl, are a 'Native American' -- you were born here, too." Shocked me at the time, as it did her teacher.
As for the culture shift in America, I'm sure you know, Mike, that's it's just like the Market. Right now (and perhaps for a decade) the country is over-correcting for some big shifts in Lefty thinking, including Godlessness, Gay Marriage, and Passivity in the face of attackers. Given half a generation, we'll all settle into a much happier place, but this kind of overreaction is neither surprising, nor dangerous, when the long-term view is taken.
Posted by: Londo at January 24, 2005 12:30 PM
Mike: Nothing to say on the topic. I just discovered your blog and haven't spoken to you for ages, so I just thought I would say "hi." Next time I might actually have an opinion to share. (Who doesn't?)
Posted by: Jim Chadwick at January 25, 2005 01:52 PM
It's bad.
I remember when 'liberal' meant that you would stand up for 'freedom'.
Posted by: Nick Eden ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://mikegold.malibulist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 30, 2005 03:16 PM