Slate this week weighs in on the Bush administration's attempt to change its name for the "global war on terrorism" to the "global struggle against violent extremism."
Cynicism aside -- and cynicism seems a pretty reasonable response -- the White House's choice of words also seems a little odd.
After all, "war," conducted justly, can have a noble end. It was war that liberated Europe from the Nazis. But my dictionary defines "struggle" as "strife," or "violent exertion." It's not exactly a hopeful term, is it?
Meanwhile, "extremism" seems an odd thing for GOP wordsmiths to struggle against. After all, it was Barry Goldwater, father of the modern conservative movement, who proclaimed, "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."
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