Communication Breakdown

     Two entities cannot communicate without a common language. Neither can they communicate unless they agree on the meanings of the terms in that language. And when one party has decided that he gets to redefine every term in the lexicon, according to his preferences and entirely without restrictions, it becomes clear that he doesn’t want to communicate. What he does want is likely rather sinister.

     Consider this case:

     “If providing a platform for white supremacists makes me a brilliant tactician, I am proud to have lost,” fumed Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri, who traded verbal jabs with Trump campaign manager-turned-transition strategist Kellyanne Conway and others during day 2 of the Harvard Institute of Politics’ quadrennial Campaign Managers Conference.

     “I would rather lose than win the way you guys did,” she said, noting how the billionaire’s campaign chief executive, Stephen K. Bannon, was an alleged racist.

     Conway fired back, “Do you think I ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform?”

     At which point, Palmieri replied: “You did, Kellyanne. You did.”

     “Do you think you could have just had a decent message for white, working-class voters?” Conway asked. “How about, it’s Hillary Clinton, she doesn’t connect with people? How about, they have nothing in common with her? How about, she doesn’t have an economic message?”

     Joel Benenson, Clinton’s chief strategist, disagreed — saying it was obvious that Trump’s campaign was run on hate and bigotry.

     “There were dog whistles sent out to people,” he said to Conway. “Look at your rallies. He delivered it.”

     There’s no communication going on there, is there? What the Clinton representatives sought wasn’t to convey a message, nor was it to receive one. Their objective was – and quite likely will remain, for as long as they can hold the public’s attention – to defame the candidate that defeated them and his campaign manager and strategist.

     Quite a lot of Americans are already onto the scam, though the “technical details” might be of no interest to them. Look at the Clinton camp’s serial abuses of the language: “white supremacists;” “hate;” “bigotry;” “dog whistles.” This is now a fixed part of Leftists’ “outreach” strategy. But by sawing at the reins so long and so savagely, they’ve given the horse a callused mouth. Millions of us simply shrug off their slanders, wait for them to run down, and resume listening only when someone speaks who has something to say and says it in plain English.

     The residual irritation can be shrugged off...for now. Winners don’t need to justify themselves. But beware; there are plenty of other emotionally loaded words in the English language the Left can contrive to abuse. As soon as you detect it, snort in derision, wave a hand dismissively, and walk away. Perhaps you might enjoy a little serenity-restoring music. Something soothing, with no ragged edges on it:

     (Come on! What did you expect me to post?)