Rein it in, guys

September 30th, 2009 at 08:55am Linda Grist Cunningham

There’s nothing like an old-fashioned political dustup to juice the word wars. The better one’s word skills, the more likely those perfectly crafted words become the ones real people remember — even if they’ve no idea what’s behind them.
Consider these from the national archives: “Evil empire.” “Nattering nabobs of negativism.” “Death panels.” “Ask not what… (surely, you know the rest?).

And, these from the current local archives: “Warrior cops.” “…This mayor is a threat … somebody should start … impeachment proceedings.” OK, so the last one is a bit clunky, but it’s a yet another in a round of salvos between the city and the two unions represeting the firefighters and the police.

There are those who believe this explosive war of words is nothing more than posturing while the city and the unions move apace on contract negotiations behind closed doors. This may well be the case, but the word wars polarize the community and do nothing to reach solution.

I love words. Always have. I make my living with words. The thrill of satisfaction we word folks get from that perfectly crafted phrase is unimaginable to those for whom words are utilitarian tools to order a burger, explain a budget shortfall or cuddle a loved one.

The unions and city spokesmen need to turn down the volume and get back to the table. All this outrageous swaggering does nothing to get uswhere we need to go.

Two things are indisputable: The city’s revenue stream (that’s we taxpayers) has dried up, and the unions are in a to-the-death fight to keep what they’ve got. Bridging that chasm will take every compromising, collaborating, smart-thinking, forward-pushing brain cell.

Let’s not waste precious time nattering. Rein it in, guys. Get back to the table now, please.

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