POLITICIANS: What's in a name

Concerning the hypocrisy of the typical politician, Ralph Waldo Emerson quipped, “…the louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons…”

Today, a corollary exists in the hypocritical way our politicians take to naming their laws, mottos and organizations. The “PATRIOT Act” in no way encourages patriotism; the “Affordable Care Act” ends up offering not-so-affordable health care. “Make America Great Again” turns out to be apparently more pro-Russian than pro-American. The Congressional “Freedom Caucus” ends up denying freedom to entire classes of citizens.

We need to be more aware of these verbal trickeries and demand an end to such guile. The next time a politician says that he is a member of a “Freedom Foundation,” we must ask: Exactly whose freedom is he talking about? Freedom from what? Freedom to do what? And, especially, what will such “freedom” cost us all? Think of it as a form of “counting our spoons.”

JOE LYKINS

Coeur d’Alene