Clean Words = Clean Policies? Politicians Seem to Think So
Let’s say you’re a politician, and you have a policy you want to push to the public. How do you get the backing?
You turn to semantics.
Do you call it a bailout or a rescue plan? Invasion of privacy or the Patriot Act? A War on Terror or an invasion of a country that doesn’t possess WMD? Do you say we’re looking for oil independence or to drill in ANWR? Do you call it global warming, admitting that the earth is indeed warming, or do you call it climate change?

