Tricky Little Turns of Phrase

by Tina Grazier

The candidates for president are going to be with us for a long, longlong while. In fact we are going to be really sick of them by the time next November rolls around. They will zig zag around the country talking and talking and talkingas if talking alone might drive them to the big white house on Pennsylvania Avenue. Though we are bound to grow weary, it remains our job to mine the gems from the mounds and mounds of chatter and strut. We can

avoid or ignore much of it, after all, it wont take long to size up each candidates basic ideas and principles. But voter beware. The thing we must watch for are the tricky little phrases they use. These gems lack sparkle until you notice and shed light on them. They are tucked away behind the big bold dramatic words; words that most people are hoping to hear. These are the phrases that hide and give a candidate wiggle room. Hillary Clinton offered up a beauty today…

”As soon as I am president, I will call the Joint Chiefs together, my Secretary of Defence, my security advisers – and give them a very simple directive – start planing now to bring them home as soon as we responsibly can”

The media jumped on the band wagon with headlines: Clinton vows to end war

WOW! She has really made her intentions known! She will call the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of Defense and her security advisorsand she will issue a DIRECTIVE. Bring those puppies homepull them out immediately!

Or maybeNOT! She used one little phrase that covers her butt:

as soon as we responsibly can.

That could mean ten minutes, ten years, or ten centuries depending, of course, on what the meaning of responsible is.

Let’s all listen carefully folksand make the candidates work for our votes.

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