The new buzz phrase in the latest political propaganda blitz is “common sense conservatism”, which I’ve seen misspelled as “commonsense conservatism”, “common-sense conservatism”, both wrong, as common and sense are distinct words. Regardless of how much the inconsistency and grammatical ignorance constantly on display in our embarrassingly illiterate media annoys me (and Sarah Palin is the patron saint of illiteracy), what irks me more is how a simple phrase can be redefined to mean something entirely ironic and false, like “compassionate conservative” once was.
Let’s look up the phrase in a few dictionaries:
common sense
n. Sound judgment not based on specialized knowledge; native good judgmentFunction: nounDate: 1726: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts
Note the word “judgment” in both definitions. Now, let’s look up “judgment” while we’re at it:
(n) the ability to judge, make a decision, or form an opinion objectively, authoritatively, and wisely, esp. in matters affecting action; good sense; discretion
So Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, and their attendant producers and handlers want us to believe that they are the standard bearers of a new form of conservatism based on good judgment, because they have demonstrated the ability to form objective opinions based on wisdom and discretion. Really?
This, from a woman who accepted the nomination for vice president, a physically gruelling and intellectually demanding task, when she already had a special needs infant and a pregnant teen daughter at home, and had been elected governor of a state less than two years prior to the 2008 election; never mind her abysmal knowledge of foreign policy, domestic issues, history, geography or experience in the “lower 48.”
Was that a sample of her good judgment, of her common sense?
This, from a man who harassed a female producer of his show with lewd phone calls and sexually charged pursuit and was forced to settle a multi-million dollar lawsuit out of court to protect his job? Did that demonstrate O’Reilly’s sound judgment?
This, from a guy who throws every strand of WorldNetDaily conspiracy theory spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks, absent any research, search for facts or truth or logic? Is that sound judgment? Would anyone accuse Glenn Beck of having common sense?
Surely you jest.
Will this “commonsense conservatism” [sic] meme have legs? Karl Rove, Mary Matalin and a crew of other Fox and right-wing commentators are doing their best to make it so. When will someone, anyone, point out how ludicrous this is?
