"Define What 'Is', is..."

When I Use a Word, It Means Precisely What I Want It To Mean. Nothing More. Nothing Less."--Humpty Dumpty

If you search for the name 'Jessica Lynch', you're going to find the words hero or heroine plastered all through the top 10 results. you will find the word heroine or hero prominent in the description of the top ten results. I support the troops, the war in Iraq and the broader conflict in the War on Terror, but could someone explain to me please, why Jessica Lynch is a hero(ine)?If getting captured and getting save now meet the criteria for 'above and beyond' duty? What ever happened to those guys who had no regard for their own livelihood or safety? I forgot. Those were the guys that saved Jessica Lynch. Who are they again? Heroism just ain't what it used to be I guess.

In fact, so many words in our language have been so watered down and genuinely raped of their meaning, it's hard to take the concepts behind them seriously. Once upon a time, the words we spoke held great meaning. Now, they're either casually misapplied or watered down to the point where they lose their original meaning entirely. I guess speaking ain't what it used to be.

Remember when 'Bigot' and 'Racist' used to mean people that held an irrational hatred of others based on the color of their skin or their ethnicity? They were truly despicable people. Today however, it generally means you don’t agree with someone of another race. You’re against affirmative action? Shut up, you’re a racist. Even more confounding; only white people can be racists and bigots. The hateful language of Louis Farrakhan is perfectly acceptable; since he’s black, he can’t be racist or bigoted.

Gay used to mean happy, light, frolicking in the meadow and the like. But this is a word that has been twisted beyond recognition. It's so bad, that if you use the thesaurus in MS Word, there aren't any other alternatives by way of synonyms. Now, it means homosexuality. My point is not to argue about homosexuality, but to point out the twisting of the language. Even the geniuses at Microsoft in Washington can’t find a way to deal with the unbelievable versatility of the word gay.

Rape used to have a meaning, too. It was the horrible act of forcing one's self on a woman without her consent, usually employing force or the threat of physical violence. Most women used to know immediately when they were raped. Now consensual marital relations are argued to be a form of rape. If you've had sex with your wife after a few, you're technically committing rape. Some young women now discover they’ve been raped only after being informed by counselors weeks after the fact. Incredible job of a word trying to hit a moving concept.

Child abuse used to mean the cruel mistreatment of children without regard to their welfare. Now it can be smoking in their presence or giving them a spanking. In fact, its current meaning has become so elastic that no two state agencies here in Massachusetts can seem to agree on what they should use for a definition. Like porn, the state bureaucrats 'know it when they, uh, see it'. I guess it just depends on who you draw and when.

Poverty used to mean you couldn't’t earn enough to support yourself. Poor people didn’t have food, or phones, or cable TV. They didn't have Doctors, heating in the winter or A/C in the summer. Now, 'poverty' is applied to people who have cable and a TV, Microwaves, automobiles, housing, heating, A/C, cell phones, free medical care, some day care, plenty of job training and they even get some meals free with food stamps. Thanks, LBJ.

Jeez, even being 'rich' is different these days. It used to mean you had money which pretty much did all your business for you, instead of you doing all your business for it. Now, rich people are just whomever so happens to have, or have the appearance of having, a greater income than yourself. My parents made a good living in Connecticut, but I guess the government thought they were rich, because between state and federal income taxes and social security they'll never see, more than half of their paychecks were confiscated. That's before they contributed to health insurance and retirement. Go figure; they were rich, but they couldn't have ever scraped up enough money to leave town.

Nazis, once upon a time, were a bunch of idiots who thought exterminating Jews and conquering Europe was a good idea. Now, a 'Nazi' is anyone that doesn't agree with you, especially if you're a Republican or conservative. Any time you talk about military power: "NAZI!" If you ever decide to run for office as a member of the GOP, just run and wait for it, because it's coming baby, with absolutely no effort on your part, either.

Ah how about Respect? It used to be something you earned by projecting a sense of integrity. You didn't demand it on anyone because you had to work for it. Now, if you don't give some douche-bag without a job, education or a clue, the courtesy normally reserved for heads of state, you're disrespecting them. Chalk up another casualty to moon-bat land which ripped and twisted a word that was just minding it's own business.

'Tolerance' meant putting up with something specific that you might not like, but isn't really worth causing a stink over. I put up with my Aunt Sis' excessively wet kisses on the cheek at Thanksgiving. Today, tolerance means you have to not only accept and embrace, you must 'celebrate' it no matter how offensive it may be to you. If you're not sanctifying it or 'celebrating' hard enough, you're intolerant. I guess the people redefining these words never had to sit next to my Aunt Sis at Thanksgiving Dinner.

The word 'lie', used to mean that you were saying something you KNEW was false. Today, if you have ever had to make a decision about something, no matter how urgent the situation may be, if you get a single teeny, tiny word wrong, you my friend, are a total 'liar'. Everything you ever have said was a lie, you can't be trusted again and friends, it goes to the fiber of who we are as Americans. That is except when you're a Democrat who perjures himself. Oaths of office mean nothing. It's amazing how this word has turned into verbal play dough.

Who could forget Misogynist? That used to involve hating and treating women poorly. Today, it means not agreeing with a 'feminist'. If you believe homemaking is alright and something you might want to consider, if you're a dude, you're a misogynist because you're lazy. If you're a woman, you're a self-loathing sellout bimbo.

And my personal favorite, 'phobias'. Remember when homosexual behavior was considered a psychological disorder? That was wrong. But now, its anyone who doesn't agree with the homosexual agenda who has the psychological disorder. Millions of Americans now need counseling. I wonder if the state will cover it? 'Xenophobia' means that you're messed up in the head if you think Illegal Immigrants should stop breaking the law. Islamophobia isn't having what Webster's Dictionary would term a 'rational fear of Islamic people" but an irrational feat of Islamic people. It's the ultimate verbal two-fer. I'm better than you and my words are bigger.

I'm sure there are more than a few things I've overlooked here, but I would like to make the main point of my argument clear: We've carelessly used hyperbolic words to get impact and emotional charge out of people, but as a result have left these words without any real power anymore. Its the 'boy who cried wolf' on repeat as someone says something and we get no response when perhaps one is needed. It breaks my heart when a woman is raped, really raped, and we pause to wait for the inevitable shading we've come to expect. If there really is someone who's profoundly racist, like a David Duke, the term racist doesn't have the sting it did long ago. Our language has become so diluted that eating chickens is now compared to the holocaust (thanks PETA freaks).

I think it's true: All the King's horses and all the king's men cannot put our language back together again.