Everything’s alleged these days, as newspapers try to be even-handed but are ham-handed instead. But Terry Armour on Comcast sports just spoke of “alleged dogfighting allegations” regarding NFL star Michael Vick. That’s what I call being cautious.
Update: It’s catching. Reader B. reports that an hour later, a woman on CNN said much the same thing. Or so Reader B. alleges.
Categories: Language
From Hit and Run, Reason Mag’s staff blog, “What Does ‘Homeland’ Mean to You?”: Listener complained on NPR about use of “protecting the homeland.”
I wasn’t alive during World War II, but I associate “the homeland” with Nazi propaganda. It’s fascistic and offensive.
Better to say “U.S” or “America,” she said.
For science writer Ron Bailey,
the word “homeland” conjures a kind of
antediluvianprimitive nationalism (tribalism) based on blood and soil, not a people united by their devotion to political ideals like liberty and free speech.
Not enough is made of this volk culture that led Germans to the national-socialism trough. Comments on the blog include favoring “domestic” instead. Opposing it to what, however? Defending or protecting America is the point.
Categories: Language
