Trump Trolls On...?

                                                 Trump Trolls (On…)?

The Trump administration is apparently prohibiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using seven words or phrases in official budget documents going forward, the Washington Post reported recently. According to the Post, CDC analysts were given the list of prohibited terms at a recent meeting with senior agency officials in Atlanta.

The list reportedly includes the following words or phrases: “transgender,” “fetus,” “diversity,” “entitlement,” “vulnerable,” “evidence-based,” and “science-based.” News of this edict predictably sent liberals into a sanctimonious snit. The usual leftist suspects described the action as “authoritarian,” “fascist,” “Orwellian,” and “scary.”

I call it “karma.”

It is the totalitarians on the left that are truly Orwellian, and they are taking hypocrisy to a new level. The same people who can’t say “Islamic terrorism,” and believe that free speech doesn’t protect speech that they disagree with, which they label “hate speech,” are gob-smacked that someone could attempt to discredit or ban a word. Progressives are a remarkably pushy lot. They demand that store employees not wish customers “Merry Christmas,” but at the same time demand that bakery shop owners make wedding cakes for gay couples regardless of their personal religious beliefs. They champion all manner of sexual relations outside of marriage, yet insist that others pay for their birth control or abortions. They call terminating innocent life for their convenience being “pro-choice,” but don’t believe others should have the choice to protect and defend themselves and their loved ones with a firearm. (Baby? No! Fetus!). They believe in taking union member’s money and using it to help elect certain candidates, regardless of the individual union member’s views or wishes. Conservatives aren’t welcome on college campuses and can’t display Christian religious symbols…or even images of Santa Clause now, in many cases, even on their own doors. In many places, they have forced transgender bathrooms and locker rooms on the 99% of the population that isn’t transgender.

But back to words again. In Lefty Land, one can’t even state the obvious…and righteous. Simply saying, “All lives matter” will somehow get one branded a racist, though to aver anything but that would, by definition, illustrate that one is bigoted, and biased against some group or groups.  There is a long list of words progressives say cannot be uttered: n****r is one that is obviously vile and offensive, but there are many others on that list that are not. Illegal aliens? No! Undocumented immigrants. “Spokesman?” Nope, spokesperson. “Manhole cover?” Guess again. Utility hole cover. “Janitor?” Maintenance Engineer. A judge in North Carolina recently ruled that it was unconstitutional for that state to allow license plates stating “Choose Life” on them.

In actuality, the edict against these words is related to “budget and supporting materials” that will be given to Congress and the CDC’s partners, according to the Washington Post. (The president is expected to release his budget for 2019 this coming February). In fact, the stated prohibition is apparently a budget strategy to help get funding approved for some programs to which Republicans might otherwise object, thereby helping liberals in their cause(s).

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has jurisdiction over all budget proposals, including the language used therein, and had not as yet responded to a request for comment from the Post as of this writing.

The stock market is at an all-time high, the economy is humming along, ISIS is in tatters…and President Trump can’t get any credit from the press. So, he trolls them- and they bite like bass. They just cannot help themselves. Trump knows this, and, even with the ad nauseum investigations of his administration going on, the North Korean nuclear threat, etc., etc., etc., he trolls the press… for sport! I love that! It’s like the 98-pound weakling on the beach fighting back after getting sand kicked in his face by a would-be Adonis. In doing so, he is saying he really doesn’t care what the Fourth Estate- or possibly anyone else- thinks of him, as long as he is doing what he thinks is right. That is a leader.  The only kind of leader who could potentially extricate us from the mess we are in- by draining the fetid swamp.

So, go ahead and accuse the Trump administration of being anti-free-speech, Orwellian, authoritarian, fascist, and Intolerant. I recall listening to the comedian George Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television” bit as a youth back in the early 1970s. It wasn’t too long after that that those words could- and were, ubiquitously- uttered on cable television. Carlin’s comedy album came out in 1972...during the Nixon administration. Cable television- and its adult/mature content proliferated in the 1980s...during Ronald Reagan's reign. Progressives are always tut-tutting about the intolerance and close-mindedness of Republicans in general and conservatives in particular, when, truth-be-told, the reverse holds true.

As a bit of ironic theater, as an illustration of absurdity by being absurd, or simply as a colossal joke, I’d be a fan of this action/pronouncement. I am not fond of any of these words as they are commonly used by progressives. That said, however, if this were to be a serious directive aimed at all governmental bodies, it is ill-advised at best, and needlessly provides ammo to enemies of the administration.

All Words Matter.