Since Anna blogged this yesterday, I have been wondering what would be the less charitable word than "farce" to describe the events in Washington over the past few weeks. Whatever that word would be, I need it now to describe McCain's attempt to rebrand the failed bailout bill:
"The first thing I'd do is say, let's not call it a bailout, let's call it a rescue because it is a rescue. It's a rescue of Main Street America. We haven't convinced people that this is a rescue effort, not just for Wall Street, but for Main Street America."
So I am over at Thesaurus.com ... searching for just the right word:
burlesque, caricature, comedy, extravaganza, forcemeat, harlequin, harlequinade, joke, mime, mockery, nonsense, parody, ridiculosity, satire, sham, slapstick, stuffing, take-off, travesty
Forcemeat? It means "a mixture of finely chopped and seasoned foods, usually containing egg white, meat or fish, etc., used as a stuffing or served alone." Apparently, this shows up under "farce" because it's also called "farcemeat."
Ridiculosity sounds like something Stuart Scott would say on SportsCenter. The thing is, it fits McCain's proposal perfectly. It is the noun form of this: "causing or worthy of ridicule or derision; absurd; preposterous; laughable: a ridiculous plan."
So let it be written: John McCain's plan to call the $700 billion financial package a "rescue" rather than a "bailout" is a ridiculosity of the highest order.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8345157d569e2010535109ec9970b
Links to weblogs that reference McCain Shows Leadership on Bailout "Rescue":
1. Posted by fedgovernor on October 1, 2008 @ 3:30 | Permalink
Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia.
2. Posted by lfairfax on October 1, 2008 @ 7:52 | Permalink
Gordon, I was just getting ready to post about the same thing. If it is the case that "bailout" somehow conveyed the perception that the act's purpose was simply to "bailout" Wall Street, it does not seem likely that using "rescue" alters this perception. Indeed, both "bailout" and "rescue" seem to convey the notion that the government is saving something/someone that has gotten in over his/her/its head. Thus "rescue" hardly seems to be an improvement over "bailout."
3. Posted by fedgovernor on October 1, 2008 @ 8:29 | Permalink
Who sits down to figure out how to "sell" an emergency by employing such euphamisms?
Only politicians and thieves.
A real emergency is evident to everyone it. There is no need to "sell" a real emergency to anyone.
The fact of the matter is that middle America, the folks flooding their Congressmen's hotlines urging them to "do the right thing vote no," understands exactly what the stakes are.
If Congress proposed funding the "rescue" by a special tax on Harvard's $25 billion trust fund, the profits of which are not currently taxed ... I think you'd have a sale.
There are trillions of dollars of untaxed capital gains out there in every college endowment.
It's time to raid those funds.
4. Posted by fedgovernor on October 1, 2008 @ 8:31 | Permalink
Did I say "raid."
I meant that Harvard needs to step up and assist with the "rescue."
Pardon me.
5. Posted by Stewart Scott on October 1, 2008 @ 8:56 | Permalink
BOOYEAH!
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
