Cont... and postcards from hell...

In the same vein as Dan's discussion of rhetoric, here is a copy of George Orwell's seminal "Politics and the English Language", written in 1946 and discussing the manner in which issues are framed by language...

Good and bad news for 2008 today from US News. Check out the italics (mine).

Is Anybody Not Running in '08? We've got more names to add to the growing list of 2008 presidential hopefuls. On the Democratic side, pen in Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. Allies say his trip south last week was the first of many to red states where he hopes to push his progressive agenda. On the GOP side, add rookie South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who took down former Democratic leader Tom Daschle . Senior Republicans say he's being groomed for a veep or even presidential run. Include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty . Insiders love his record of balancing the budget, boosting education, and protecting the environment. Finally: ousted Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman , the former moderate New Jersey guv.

Whitman would be an interesting Dem-friendly choice, but perhaps a little on the forced PC side- she hardly showed her fangs when facing off against the White House but, as an "ousted" cabinet member, she would serve as a anti-neocon candidate, a definite plus for the Republicans in light of their cratering poll numbers.

Feingold has been an obvious candidate for some time now, but he's probably a little too much of a winging lefty to get picked, and the John McCain connection is going to do him less and less good as McCain becomes an ever-greater sellout. Count Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, Bill Richardson (my personal fave) and John Kerry (boo) in for the Dems, too.

Before anyone gets too worked up about the Pawlenty matter, remember the history of our state and the Presidency in the last fifty years- two veeps (Humphrey, Mondale) and three unsuccessful Presidential candidates (Humphrey, McCarthy, Mondale). Add Pawlenty's Republicanism to the mix and we can consider him a strong candidate for the losing side of the next Presidential tilt.

Posted by Mordred at April 4, 2005 03:54 PM
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