Once again, posting for dear old Dad. He’s 76 so I handle the posts for him even though he was at the forefront of computer programming in the 60s! He still regrets the loss of the punch card… So here you go, Dad!
There's got to be a change. The news media have all but exhausted the use of the word “flip-flopper.” I am tired of it. I dread another month of seeing and hearing the word. Just because a candidate can switch his position 180 degrees on any given day is no reason to beat him up for changing his mind. If he wants to curry favor by adjusting his message from one crowd to the next, that’s understandable…how else could a candidate ingratiate himself to win an election?
When in doubt, always say “yes” to the folks who have the power to help, even if you talk to groups of people with profoundly different views and values. “Yes, your thoughts are my thoughts,” gets a lot more support than “I don’t quite see it your way.” A little pandering now and again, particularly to people who can control your destiny, doesn’t cost a thing, but it can sure help in reaching a goal.
That said, I suggest that the tired sobriquet “flip-flopper” be shelved. It’s not that it isn’t accurate. It's become boring, and, in the current political atmosphere, there’s a far more appropriate term found in military slang dating back a few years.
The GIs in WWII had a name for the conniver who tried to manipulate the officers with gratuitous respect and flattery – the sycophantic “Yes Man,” forever agreeable to a fault if he wanted a favor, the guy who tried to seduce the officers with the deferential, unnecessary salute. He was called a “mitt flopper.”
As they say, “You can’t make this stuff up!!”
-Nyles Sturgent
