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from the article: Also, within traditional liberalism you have a history of rational thought that was born out of the Enlightenment: all meanings should be literal, and everything should follow logically. So if you just tell people the facts, that should be enough — the truth shall set you free. All people are fully rational, so if you tell them the truth, they should reach the right conclusions. That, of course, has been a disaster.

Of course it has been a disaster. The average person doesn't care about the truth, the average person cares only about what will benefit them right now.

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Professor Lakoff is on the right track, but he is merely advocating that liberals progressives [img]graemlins/beigesmilewinkgrin.gif[/img] engage in our media-driven version of Newspeak. Any psychologist can tell you that if you change how you phrase something verbally you can change your feelings about that topic.

Used car? [img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img] Certified pre-owned automobile.
Poor? [img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img] Economically disavantaged.
White person? [img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img] Melanin-deprived person. (ok, I made up that one [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

I don't like Newspeak. I always advocate calling something what it actually is (the colloquial phrase is "call a spade a spade"). [img]graemlins/erm.gif[/img] I sound like an Objectivist...but I digress.

On the subject of tax relief...excuse me "tax breaks"...people in the US are always complaining about how much income tax they have to pay the IRS; this is usually the source of tax cuts coming from Washington. Real tax breaks, and something which would help many more folks than the latest wave of cuts tried to help, would be to overhaul the Medicare and Social Security taxes. These two alone erode 7.65% of income (after first deducting items such as health coverage and retirement plan withholdings). Flat taxes are more harmful to those who earn less, because the relative amount being taken out is more. *sigh* Again, I digress....

I agree with Timber Loftis. This guy should consult with "progressive" think tanks, write articles/books, and give those mocha lattes to me. [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img]

By the way...children of "nurturing parents" are more likely to be spoiled, insensitive, and self-absorbed.