Honoring the power of speech

By Rachel Kamins

At the Sat., Oct. 24, groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing, Vice President Al Gore, digging up the first shovelful of dirt, declared, "The people who died here were victims of one of the cruelest visitations of evil this nation has ever seen. But we offer them today not pity, but honor, for as much as any soldier who ever fought in any war, they paid the price of our freedom."

An appropriate sentiment for a solemn and significant occasion? That depends on your willingness to distort the definition of a word that stands for one of humankind's most profound notions. Such distortion is a widespread tendency these days among politicians angling for emotional impact. Gore, even in the name of compassion, is not justified in taking liberties with the word "honor."

Honor, in its traditional sense, stands for a personal quality that people demonstrate when they intentionally act selflessly for some greater good. Those who died in the horrible Oklahoma City incident didn't even have the chance to exhibit this quality. What Gore portrayed as their sacrifice to freedom was not a selfless action--it was not an action on their part at all. Terrorists snatched away their ability to act by taking their lives. No one can say whether they might have committed an honorable act given the opportunity. The fact remains, however, that as tragic as their deaths were, the Oklahoma City victims were not honorable.

Gore obviously intended to offer the best consolation he could think of to the survivors of the bombing victims. He attempted to do so with what he considered stirring and evocative phrases that would give the assembled crowd a sense of pride to assuage their grief. But by inserting the word "honor," he turned what could have been a meaningful expression of official sympathy into a senseless and ineffective utterance.

Gore succumbed to an increasingly popular trend in current American speech: over-dramatization. Words like honor, love, and bravery are often used incorrectly when speakers seek profundity but wish to avoid the difficulties of careful styling. Instead of aiming at the Mark Twain ideal--simple words in meaningful phrasings--we are settling for the cheap tricks of Danielle Steele: mass-produced emotional grandeur.

Word choice should be of paramount importance to people like Gore, whose remarks are communicated to nearly the entire world. What they say is representative of what we as Americans think to the many people worldwide who haven't a chance to hear the voices of our average citizens. It is unfair to the public that Gore misuses language and jumbles meaning. Even though many Americans are not likely to find fault with this particular statement of Gore's, it's probable that, given the choice, most would rather be represented by leaders who are capable of accurately expressing national opinions.

Unfortunately, these days we seem to be less able to elect powerful and intelligent speakers. In my life, I have witnessed a two-term president who (albeit through no fault of his own) was losing control of his mind and often embarrassed himself and his constituents. I have witnessed a vice president who regularly displayed his overwhelming ignorance of the English language. I have seen our current president, commonly known for his ability to communicate, offend the country's intelligence with his linguistic quibbling and evasive testimony during the notorious Lewinsky affair.

This rampant disregard for language in the world of politics needs to stop. I open the newspaper every day to discover new bloopers and bastardizations broadcasted as the "American sentiment" around the globe. Politicians do not act in isolation; all of their actions and words affect and reflect on their constituents. Unless we want to present our nation as ignorant and apathetic, we have to dispense with those leaders who spout illogical rhetoric and replace them with articulate, thoughtful people who recognize and respect the impact of their words.

Rachel Kamins is a freshman in Jonathan Edwards.

Back to Opinion...