Those oh so powerful CONs

Those powerful CONs

Changing the meaning of words.

Take the word “elite.”

1 - a small group of people who have a lot of advantages and keep the most power and influence
2 - the best or most skillful people in a group

Now it seems elite has a double-plus-bad, but very nebulous meaning which now allows it to be widely applied without explanation to anyone or anything the CONs feel threatened by:

"I share the disappointment of many of my colleagues that people who had fought so long, so hard, so passionately against the registry are now feeling the pressure from the two Toronto leaders, Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Layton," Baird said.  "We're all accountable. If we make clear and unambiguous promises in our constituencies and then face pressure from Toronto elites, [MPs are] accountable for that."

Remember the labeling by Harper of artists as elites?  Or of Dion and Ignatieff in attack ads?

The word has been tossed about by the CONs in negative context so often, it has joined the pool of other terms generally meaning some vague form of not-good, or even enemy of the people. 

Other words twisted and reduced by the CONs to offer similar vague, negative tone: academic, cosmopolitan.

It’s the dumbing down of language for political control over a population.  Newspeak.


Of course, the Harper edition of Newspeak needs some fine tuning as concerns the word elite.  In some instances, it still holds positive connotations: military elite, elite forces, elite squad.  I guess if you have a gun and are sanctioned by the government to use it, being elite is a good thing.

Trust Rick Mercer to point out Baird’s dishonest use of the word:

"He has a chauffeur! He's beating people up for being elite?"

and:

"You wanna know what elite is? It's John Baird in a tuxedo, going to the National Arts Centre with the Prime Minister's wife on his arm, complaining that the food is not good enough. That's John Baird right there in a nutshell." 

Now does this post make me a bolshevick?