It is odd to watch Washington's current obsession (and our own, sad to say) with powder-actuated language. The media (and we) are parsing every Republican utterance for any reference to firearm-related phrases, ready to pounce on any fleeting mention of guns, their parts and functions.
Not there hasn't been an excess of martial metaphors in political discourse these past few years. "Gather your armies" indeed.
But the new mania for ordnance-free speech reminds me of nothing more than America's slightly less recent phobia of the word "jihad" in any Muslim speech or writing.
Jihad, as most here know, is an admirable concept in mainstream Islam, the struggle with oneself to overcome one's personal failings and achieve righteous thought and action. That it was perverted by a small number of Wahabbist wackos to mean actual violence perpetrated on others is a shame, for it is a useful shorthand to convey an important, valuable principle.
The same is true for the firearms metaphors commonly used in politics, business and everyday life. In political discussions, one should absolutely come to the game "locked and loaded" with accurate, complete information. And there is little more satisfying than leaving a "ticking time bomb" of real facts in an ignorant corner of another's mind, set to explode in revelation when the person encounters an analogous situation.
(A simple example of the last: Right now, I'm working quite a lot on the road, mostly on government or government-granted projects. Cabbies and hoteliers often ask their guests the reason for their stay in beautiful Wherever. I happily explain that I'm working on a new monitoring system at the hospital or installing classroom gear at the base and add, "I really don't care about the politics, but I sure am glad to see those, 'brought to you by the Economic Recovery Act' signs at construction sites. It's made a lot of difference in my life." The next time my conversant sees one, he or she will have the mental reference of an actual, flesh-and-blood working person whose life has been improved by the law that overpaid TV personalities exhort them to hate.)
I am happy to see our media find some aspect of deplorable behavior by the Republicans that they are willing to call out. But I hope the current game of Spot the Gun Reference proves the usual fast-fading media fad.
I for one would hate to have to toss these useful and often apt metaphors from my rhetorical arsenal, er, toolbox.
You are free to disagree. But you'd better come loaded for bear.