“The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’. The words democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice, have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. … Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different.”
If euphemism is saying a nasty thing in a nice way, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are probably the most honest politicians to occupy the White House in quite some time.
That’s not to say that they never lie. All political leaders lie, especially the ones you support.
Not only does power tempt men to twist their words in a consciously dishonest way, power especially confuses politically-charged language in an unconscious way, spreading competing private definitions far and wide with very few actually intending to lie.
Put simply, people see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear, and believe what they want to believe when it comes to politics.
Despite man’s professed fealty to the truth, politics always seems to lead him into nicely hiding some nastiness – until now.
Political necessity has long seduced men into believing their own euphemisms – and I suspect this will never fully go away – but now, the B.S. is so pervasive and pungent in American politics that people seem to prefer B.S. plain and simple rather than B.S. poorly potpourried by political euphemism.
Given the modern prevalence of memes to advance political ideas – as well as the infernal churning of the online deconstruction machine that is social media and generative AI – private and public definitions alike are chewed up and spat-out at a dizzying rate of pace in what seems like a “post-truth” world hellbent on rebuilding the Tower of Babel.
Yet, despite the growing confusion, the truth remains, man’s conscience is still alive, and even the most egregious political liars still wish to believe they are on the right side of history. History continues, step-by-step, with the story spun true – not by what men cleverly say, but by what they inevitably do.
In post-persuasion America, actions speak louder than words. Words are used by men of action, not to debate or beguile, but to motivate and mobilize the faithful around decisions that have already been made behind the scenes and in their hearts. Perhaps, political euphemism is subsiding in favor of vulgar, vile, rude, boorish, and blunt language to provide emphasis and exclamation to political action.
Pathos over logos! Mythos over ethos! The strong gods are returning.
I suspect politics will remain fundamentally the art and science of administering force and fraud, but the necessity of dressing up the force and fraud in high ideals will diminish in favor of emotional, if not mythical, expressions of common sense and self-evident necessity (though “common sense” and “self-evident” could be used as euphemisms themselves.) Politics in post-persuasion America may not become more honest, but political language just might – as people demand B.S. plain and simple without the potpourri.
Indeed, there is something refreshingly honest about Trump and Vance’s willingness to say a nasty thing in a nasty way – from Trump dropping an f-bomb in the midst of geopolitical mayhem to end the 12 Day War between Israel and Iran to Vance saying “I don’t give a sh*t what you call it” in response to criticism of the administration’s recent killing of Venezuelan narco-terrorists being called “war crimes” – ugly expressions about ugly actions on the ugly world stage is apparently all the rage.
Even Democrats, from Gavin Newsom to Jasmine Crockett, are trying to get in on the vulgar emotivism!
Another nod to the waning of political euphemism in American politics is the recent renaming of the “Department of Defense” back to the “Department of War,” with Secretary Pete Hegseth now taking on the title “Secretary of War.” The “Department of Defense” was always one of America's greatest euphemistic flourishes since its inception in 1949 – unless one wishes to believe America only participated in defensive wars in the last seven decades!
That said, the decline of political euphemism and rise of vulgarity didn’t begin with Trump and Vance. George Carlin saw through to the heart of the matter in his joke about American B.S. and Bill Clinton in 1999.
To steal Carlin’s punchline, imagine two guys watching a Trump and Vance rally. Frustrated by what he’s hearing, one guy says to the other, “Donald Trump and JD Vance are full of it.”
The other guy shrugs and says, “Well, yeah, but at least they’re honest about it.”
Yes, Trump and Vance may be the most honest politicians to occupy the White House in quite some time – but I’ll leave it to you to decide if that’s just a nice way for me to say a nasty thing.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL, M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances, as well as any feedback, please email [email protected]. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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