What's in a Word?

The words people choose to use represent a lot about them. The Nazi regime knew exactly what it was doing when it used certain words to spin a particularly dehumanized view of Jews. The liberal media knows what it is doing when it refers to an un-born child as nothing more than a fetus. And likewise, Sen. Hillary Clinton knew what she was doing when she referred to Republican control in the House of Representatives as a plantation.

While speaking at Canaan Baptist Church on Monday, on behalf of her friend Al Sharpton who “pastors” there, Clinton said: For the last five years, we’ve had no power. At all. And that makes a big difference, because when you look at the way the House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation. And you know what I’m talkin’ about. It has been run in a way so that nobody with a contrary point of view has had a chance to present legislation, to make an argument, to be heard. The Senate’s not that bad. But it’s been difficult. It’s been difficult.”

The question for us to consider is not so much where Clinton gets the idea that the House is being run like a plantation, but rather why she used that particular comparison. Of all the comparisons one could make why did she compare the House to a plantation, that’s the question to ask. It should be noted that Clinton’s words came while she was speaking Harlem, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. These bear significance to the word. You see it was a perfectly chosen word for the occasion and the audience, as all words should be, but that does not guarantee that it was the truth. For a while it has appeared that Mrs. Clinton, like her husband, may be shifting to the center, this recent outburst, however, suggests rather that it has all been a ploy to get votes.
Truth be told it is undoubtedly true and terrifying that racism still exists in America. But by labeling a governmental office as racist, which is exactly what Clinton was doing in her speech, you give no aid to ending that problem. And furthermore, if Mrs. Clinton believes that racism is nothing more than merely banning “a contrary point of view” it is she who is in need of the wake up call. The use of a word says a lot about the person that uses it, and I believe this usage says a lot about Mrs. Clinton’s honesty and intelligence.