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Innocent Words (and Names) Are Under Attack
Townhall.com ^ | August 31, 2017 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 08/31/2017 8:27:55 AM PDT by Kaslin

"The Bard," William Shakespeare, had a healthy distrust of the sort of mob hysteria typified by our current epidemics of statue-busting and name-changing.

In Shakespeare's tragedy "Julius Caesar" -- a story adopted from Plutarch's "Parallel Lives" -- a frenzied Roman mob, in furor over the assassination of Julius Caesar, encounters on the street a poet named Cinna. The innocent poet was not the conspiratorial assassin Cinna, but unfortunately shared a name with the killer.

The terrified poet points out to the mob this case of mistaken identity: "I am Cinna the poet."

The mob answers: "Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses! ... It is no matter, his name's Cinna!"

Shakespeare certainly would recognize that, like the playwright's Roman mob, we have launched a war against words in our frenzy to find targets for our politically correct madness.

Recently, there were progressive calls at the University of Southern California to rename the school's mascot, the white Andalusian horse "Traveler." Members of the left thought that the mute animal's name too closely resembled the name "Traveller," the favorite horse of Confederate general and sudden demon of 2017 Robert E. Lee.

But the mob was not finished there. An Asian-American sportscaster named Robert Lee was recently yanked by the sports channel ESPN from broadcasting a University of Virginia football game. Apparently, Lee's name was too close to that of Robert E. Lee.

Nearly a century and a half after his death, General Lee has gone from tragic figure to Public Enemy No. 1 of the left.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: dixie; purge; robertelee; vdh
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1 posted on 08/31/2017 8:27:55 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: aposiopetic; bestintxas; Bodega; BroJoeK; carolinablonde; COBOL2Java; DuncanWaring; EXCH54FE; ...

Victor Davis Hanson Column


Please Freepmail me, if you want to be added, or removed from the ping list

2 posted on 08/31/2017 8:30:59 AM PDT by Kaslin (Civilibus nati sunt; sunt excernitur - Politicians are not born; they are excreted. (Cicero)
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To: Kaslin

I guess using the word “niggardly” is out of the question.


3 posted on 08/31/2017 8:34:31 AM PDT by pghoilman (Earth First. We'll drill the rest of the galaxy later.)
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To: pghoilman

That was demonstrated a decade ago.


4 posted on 08/31/2017 8:35:45 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: pghoilman

“I guess using the word “niggardly” is out of the question”

It’s been know to cause people to loose their job.


5 posted on 08/31/2017 8:37:30 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: Kaslin

This whole pc hysteria reminds me of an episode of The Twilight Zone.


6 posted on 08/31/2017 8:39:34 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: pghoilman

Well because “niggardly” means grudgingly mean about spending or granting : Begrudging


7 posted on 08/31/2017 8:39:49 AM PDT by Kaslin (Civilibus nati sunt; sunt excernitur - Politicians are not born; they are excreted. (Cicero)
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To: V_TWIN; pghoilman
“I guess using the word “niggardly” is out of the question”

It’s been know to cause people to loose their job.

There is even a Wikipedia entry on this topic!


8 posted on 08/31/2017 8:40:59 AM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus
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To: V_TWIN
This whole pc hysteria reminds me of an episode of The Twilight Zone.

There will eventually be books written about this. Charles MacKay wrote "The Madness of Crowds" about economics, but our society is going insane over politics.

Not the first time. The French Revolution, the Bolsheviks, the Nazis, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Khmer Rouge -- societies go insane and people pay the price. The US is currently insane and dangerous, in my opinion. It may get much worse. Future historians will find much to discuss and wonder at.

9 posted on 08/31/2017 8:45:20 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Benedict McCain is the worst traitor ever to wear the uniform of the US military.)
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To: V_TWIN
It’s been know to cause people to loose their job.

Lose it, even...

10 posted on 08/31/2017 8:55:30 AM PDT by publius911 (Seriously??)
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To: pghoilman

“I guess using the word “niggardly” is out of the question.”

That, and those that use it, were thrown under the bus long ago.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%22niggardly%22


11 posted on 08/31/2017 9:01:27 AM PDT by aquila48
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To: Kaslin

Next thing you know they’ll be attacking Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Calculus as being tools of white supremacy.


12 posted on 08/31/2017 9:05:53 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: Kaslin

How queer that all of this rage and civil unrest should come AFTER the devil’s son seeded the ground of such militant Leftist groups.


13 posted on 08/31/2017 9:09:45 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Did Barack Obama denounce Communism and dictatorships when he visited Cuba as a puppet of the State?)
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To: ClearCase_guy

The Madness of Crowds wasn’t just about economics.

“Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is an early study of crowd psychology by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, first published in 1841.”


14 posted on 08/31/2017 9:11:13 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Did Barack Obama denounce Communism and dictatorships when he visited Cuba as a puppet of the State?)
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To: equaviator
Algebra is ok because it's an Arabic word.
15 posted on 08/31/2017 9:15:27 AM PDT by ichabod1 (Smoke does not mean fire when someone threw a smoke grenade.)
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To: ichabod1

Algebrahu akbar?


16 posted on 08/31/2017 9:36:59 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: equaviator

I saw something last night on Tucker Carlson about “math being racist.” I kid you not. I didn’t watch the segment, though.


17 posted on 08/31/2017 9:43:30 AM PDT by cld51860 (Volo pro veritas)
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To: publius911

Sorry about that...... I got excited. :)


18 posted on 08/31/2017 9:45:33 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: cld51860

I probably got the idea for my post ‘subconsciously’ while dozing off during his show last night.


19 posted on 08/31/2017 10:15:14 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: equaviator

LOL Yeah I was fading too, which is why I went to bed instead of watching the segment.


20 posted on 08/31/2017 10:45:53 AM PDT by cld51860 (Volo pro veritas)
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