As IF Times

link Japan warns of extreme nationalism in China row.

What images pop into our heads when we see the word ‘extreme’ used to describe the players in any political conflict?  Are we talking fist pumping, belligerently chanting mobs or are we talking skirmishes amongst meek bureaucrats with bad comb-overs?  We hear this word applied to so many things today, it loses any meaning at all.  It’s like new and improved or hypo-allergenic, the label is useless.  Over the past year or so, the ‘extreme’ description has been particularly worn out in the political world.  For instance, it’s the standard label that’s employed  by liberals when characterizing conservatives.  The criticism of recently elected Republican candidates sponsored by the Tea Party in state primaries relied heavily on the depiction of  extreme.  What does that even mean?

If we’re talking about law and order and the candidate proposes lopping off the hands of thieves, of stoning adulterers, of caning miscreants, well I guess that could qualify as extreme.   If this same candidate proposes that certain social norms be adopted such as head to toe coverage by a drop cloth for all women, or the prohibition by women to drive, the banning of women from schooling or to be seen in daylight, well, some may think that’s extreme also.

Recently, Noam Chomsky, a notorious lefty who thinks that white lines on a black road constitutes racism, expressed his views on the rise of the ‘extreme’ right in America.  http://progreso-weekly.com/2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1597:chomsky-warns-of-the-rise-of-the-extreme-right-in-the-us&catid=37:neighbors-to-the-south&Itemid=56

Our man apparently thinks that the opposition by the masses to wrongheaded and damaging government policies is extremism.  Of course, in the eyes of such as Chomsky, the very idea of having elections as a means of political expression is extreme.  It would be much more expedient to have the rulers issue dictates to the mouth breathing hoi polloi. 

Of course, it’s hard to argue the extreme positions of most conservative candidates for office.  They make easy targets with their deluded notions of self reliance and hard work: of balancing income column A with spending column B and of decreasing the influence of government in peoples’ daily lives.  There are even some conservatives that think laws should not be enforced according to race or ethnicity.  That’s just crazy talkin’!  Surely this is the beginnings of a new Weimar Republic.

Rand Paul, the republican candidate for Kentucky was labelled an extremist for this comment in reference to coal mining in some hills in part of that state,

“…I don´t think anybody will be missing a hill or two here and there…”

This of course is vinegar in the eyes of the environmentalists and so the Sierra Club”s Cathy Duvall, responded thusly,

“…We are working to get the word out that we can’t let these extremists run our government…”

And he probably doesn’t recycle either.

In California, the green nuts have curtailed the flow of water into one of the most fertile parts of that state, endangering people via reduced crop yields and bankruptcy of the farmers because of a small fish called the delta smelt.  It’s possible that allowing fish to take precedence over people may be seen by some as extreme, but I haven’t heard any dare to use that word here.

For the enlightenment of all conservatives, I wouldn’t be too worried about being labelled an extremist especially if it came from liberals.  I’d be more worried that they labelled you a moderate.

link FOXNews.com – White House: Global Warming Out, Global Climate Disruption In.

In the marketing business, if you can’t sell something for what it is, call it something else.  Take the culinary delicacy which is essentially, offal.  They may call them sweetbreads, but there’s nothing sweet about them and the only bread involved is if it had been passing through.  In the same manner, we can call them sausages or hot dogs, but they’re basically eyelid and snout snacks.  Escargot is still snails. There’s no cheese in head cheese.  Bacon is pork belly. 

So now, some goofballs are trying to impose Global Climate Disruption as the official nomenclature for the failed Global Warming schemes.  The short handle will be GCD, which to me might as well mean Goofball Caused Disinformation.  Oddly, this sounds somewhat like the medical condition that men can take blue pills for.  This relabelling charade is the same strategy to recast the War on Terror theme to the new expression, Man Caused Disaster, MCD, which could easily stand for Millions Can Die.  These clowns remind me of the old ’60’s TV series, Get Smart wherein the good guys worked for CONTROL and the bad guys worked for KAOS, international organization of evil.   

I think we can create a new group in order to counter the idiotic notions put forth by these chicken littles who insist that the world will end every hour on the hour.  This new society can be called Anthropomorphic Soiling Is Fraudulent, or ASIF.  I would happily lend out my trademark in the battle against rampant disinformation and scare mongering.  Do they really think that repackaging the rotting corpse of Global Warming will make this an easier sell to the public?  As the article points out, yes, especially if you are trying to pitch that message while standing in 5 feet of snow. 

If these people manage to push this new labelling into common usage and influence economies and disrupt human lives, well then I guess P.T. Barnum was right.  They can call it GCD, but it’s still offal.