Their rhetoric still sounds old and outdated. It hasn’t changed. The president and others in his orbit keep talking like they’re back in the 1960s, or even the ‘50s. Like when the president called Washington’s Democratic governor a snake during a presidential visit to the state, last week.
Calling the governor a snake sort of sounds like something from one of those Old Wild West shows, when one cowpoke would call another cowpoke a snake in the grass. Maybe you watched those shows when you were a kid, or you’ve seen them on your cable TV channel. The next thing you know, the president’s maybe calling someone a dirty double-crosser?
I first brought up outdated rhetoric in a letter I wrote in the Daily Post in January, a year ago. POTUS and his followers were calling Democrats radical lefties, words dating back to the Vietnam War. He talked about sweetheart deals, and he let everyone know who calls the shots.
Well, he’s just scratching the surface. There’s more out there, plenty more outdated rhetoric POTUS and his followers can roll out.
When, for example, a particularly complex matter has the White House stymied, he could say something like; We’ve got lots of fish to fry. Or; What a kettle of fish!
Let’s say a multi-billion-dollar military weapons system isn’t working, as planned, the president could say; It’s on the fritz. Or; That’s a fine how-do-you-do!
That letter ‘O’ in the abbreviated name of the Republican Party, the GOP, does stand for old, you know.
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.