You Keep Using That Word

Somebody needs to go sift through the wreckage of the once thriving Borders' Bookstores and find some good, large-print dictionaries for all the pontificating liberals.  Maybe the kind with pictures. And put bookmarks in for the following words--

Unexpected: Right about the 10th time in a row something happens you lose the right to call it unexpected unless you are a goldfish (or Joe Biden).  These things are no longer unexpected: increasing job losses, inflation, President Obama's plummeting approval rating, barely measurable economic growth.

Terrorist: A terrorist is an individual who uses extra-legal destruction and death in support of an agenda.  Actual people actually die.  Terrorists do not use laws or the structures of laws, nor do they care much about killing children on purpose.  Tea Party supporters haven't killed anyone, and are mostly fanatic about the highest law of the land, the Constitution.  It is not terrorism to insist that Congress obey the laws that give them power, which, by the way, comes from the people.  People like the Tea Party.  If confused, try the following test.  See which of these phrases will cause people to run and scream.  "Oh my God, he's got a bomb!" vs.  "Oh my God, he's got a copy of the US Constitution!".  (results not guaranteed for Congress, goldfish, or Joe Biden).

Compromise: This does NOT mean "total and abject surrender of the other side".  Just a hint.  It means nobody gets everything they want, or they have to pay a huge price for it.  It does not mean Democrats win and Republicans lose.  It does not mean it is "fair" for the other side to unilaterally give up a position of strength.

Economic Recovery: This is a condition where the economy *today* is better than the economy *last month*.  Note for Joe Biden, Congress, and goldfish--this has not happened.  You can keep saying the word but it doesn't DO anything.  People do not have jobs, houses are being foreclosed on, and businesses are not hiring.  This is not a recovery, it's a death spiral.

Fiscal Responsibility:  Actual quote from an email from my Senator Patty Murray

Over the course of the last month, Washington state families have written me in record numbers to lend their voice to the debt ceiling debate. Many, who had never e-mailed or called their elected official before, wrote to ask for compromise and sanity in this debate. They told me about the tough but reasonable choices they made to rein in their own finances and how they couldn’t understand why it was so difficult for Washington, D.C. to do the same. That’s why I voted this week to raise the debt-ceiling and avoid default.

You know, never mind.  She seems to know what the words are, can use them correctly in a sentence, and the logical *meaning* completely escapes her.  Tell me how you get to the highlighted section from the rest, because in my universe, when I "rein in my finances" I don't go out and get another damn credit card.  Maybe her goldfish wrote that email.