It's the day before New Year's Eve. Radio programs are being rebroadcast. Casey Kasem is playing the greatest hits of the year. So, it's an appropriate time to review the rhetoric of 2004, to pick the most odious, annoying phrases used in the world of politics, the ones that taunted the eardrums with chalkboard like screeches, and helped to mislead people and create nonexistent realities.
Here, then, is my list of most annoying phrases for 2004:
1. "Freedom isn't free"
2. "I actually voted for the 87 billion before I voted against it"
3. "I have a scream"
4. "The hate-America first crowd"
5. "Flip-flopper"
6. "Security mom"
7. "Values voter"
8. "Shove it." (only because it was played on the radio as many times as Fleetwood Mac's "Gypsy")
9. "Red state/blue state"
10. "Compassionate conservative" (simply because they seem to be nonexistent these days)
The phrase "freedom isn't free" tops my list. This nonsensical statement has been used to justify the war in Iraq (which certainly isn't helping us protect our freedoms), shout down folks who disagree with the use of military intervention in the Middle East and generally circumvent the now nonpartisan "support our troops" mantra (which the left has effectively handled, thanks to the likes of Kos and others who have been at the forefront of framing the liberal response to this statement). No, we have proven that you can be against an unjust war and still support the poor souls sent over to fight in it; therefore the need to justify the US's increasing use of military force to try to solve our problems is summed up in this nice little catch-phrase.
Kerry's "I actually voted for the 87 billion before I voted against it" was a close second. In less than 5 seconds, Kerry gave Rove exactly the opportunity he needed to prove to the American voter that John Kerry was an indecisive liberal, too caught up in the world of theory and hypotheses to understand how to handle terrorism, or indeed how to make any serious decisions at all. In my estimation, had John Kerry not said this statement, he would have won the election.
Third on the list was "I have a scream", an unfair characterization of Howard Dean's speech to his supporters after coming in third at the Iowa caucus. Having spent a fair amount of time during the primaries at the Kerry for President blog, I can tell you that this phrase was used far too many times by Kerry supporters in their attempt to make Kerry seem more appealing to liberals by ripping on Dean. It's a sad fact that this mantra was repeated far more often by Democrats than by Republicans.
The rest of the list contains labels for nonexistent groups of voters - "security moms", "values voters" - and phrases used during the election to divert the American public's attention away from serious issues and engage in personal attacks and smears - "Flip-flopper" and Theresa Heinz Kerry's "Shove it" are excellent examples of this tactic.
In writing this diary, I wanted to feel that I had cleansed myself of the bad karma of 2004 political rhetoric, and attempt to start 2005 with a blank slate. Hopefully you can chime in and do the same!