Redefining As Required

Politicians are smarter than everyone else. They must be. We pay them to take our money and waste it on things that we would never even consider. For that privilege they supply us with a few needed public services and not much else. Being a politician has got to be worlds greatest con. 

Actually, they are not smarter than us. They just think they are. But since they want us to believe they are smart they periodically reinvent the English language so that they will sound really profound. I cannot speak for anyone else but I find this misuse of words both irritating and annoying. 

The trend started slowly and simply. When the politicians started using "investing" instead of spending, it was kind of funny. You know, one of those things that couldn't fool a six year old. But politicians thought they were fooling us.

Then came "paying ones fair share". Meaning, we are going to raise your taxes once again stupid. They never have enough of your money, you know. Actually, they think it is really their money

The latest re-definitions really grate on my ear. Now, in my dictionary, optics is a system of lenses that are used in a telescope or binoculars. It could even mean the lenses in those glasses that are sitting on your nose. If they mean appearances, why don't they just say appearances. Do they think if they say "the optics were wrong", do they think we won't understand that they mean, "it looked really bad for us"?

Calculus is a mathematical system for tracking output as input data changes. Pretty complicated stuff. It is not a substitute for the perfectly good word "figured". Does saying "the calculus was off" when you mean "we figured it wouldn't work", sound deep and profound. At it's best it is obfuscation. At it's worst it is insulting. 

There is a system of measurement, involving millimeters, meters, and kilometers. It is called metrics and it is prevalent in Europe. Yeah, I know you knew all that. Using metrics when you mean "on balance" is just silly. As is so much in politics. 

Note to politicians; If you misuse words to sound smart, you don't. If you are trying to sound more educated and smarter than the rest of us, you aren't. If you think that by trying to talk over our heads you cause us to mistrust you, you're right. 

The idea of the founders was to have citizen politicians. People chosen from among our ranks to do our country's business. These are people we are inclined to trust. A person that tries to seperate himself too far from the pack will be set upon by the pack. A politician should be like an old shirt, comfortable. A career politician is an abomination.