It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.

These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread.

Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.


 
Reason #1287 to Boot Bush:

When George W. Bush was passed a note by Condoleeza Rice informing him that the latest version of an Iraqi government had been installed, he scribbled back on top of that note the words "Let Freedom Reign."

"Let Freedom Reign." Where to begin? Well, first of all, the phrase is "Let Freedom Ring." If one had only heard the latter phrase, one might be forgiven for misinterpreting the words, but anyone who has read Dr. Martin Luther King's famous historic speeches (or who has even read a high-school American history textbook) should know otherwise. This is yet another piece of evidence for George W. Bush's aliteracy.

If, on the other hand, we assume that Bush really meant to write "Let Freedom Reign," then he must be a fool as well as ignorant. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "reign" refers the dictatorial period of rule of a monarch, not to the period of governance of a free regime, which is callled a "term" or "government." Merriam-Webster tells us that a "reign" is "the time during which a king, queen, or emperor possesses the supreme authority," or as a verb, means "to have superior or uncontrolled dominion." So is Bush meaning to refer to the new version of an Iraqi government as imperial or monarchical? Or is he profoundly unaware of the meaning of the words he uses?

The kicker is that "freedom" describes the state of an individual or a people who are not under the thumb of the dominion of a monarchy or other regime of supreme authority. So what is Bush saying here? Let non-reigniness reign? Let freedom exercise the limiting of freedom? Freedom is slavery? Ignorance is strength? Bwah-huh? (Source: Reuters June 28, 2004)

Posted by James Cook at 11:28 AM. # (permalink)




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