Updating the Devil's Dictionary in the Bush Era
Excerpts from Tom Engelhardt's "Entries for a Devil’s Dictionary of the Bush Era" (3-28-05):
When asked if he would like to submit a Bush-era definition or two, Noam Chomsky replied,"I suspect that I'll have to fall back on Mark Twain's despair when trying to satirize General Funston: 'No satire of Funston could reach perfection, because Funston occupies that summit himself....[he is] satire incarnated.'" (General Frederick N. Funston was a commander of part of the American expeditionary force that crushed the Philippine independence movement as the twentieth century began.)
Herewith, then, entries (or are they entrees?) for a modern Devil's Dictionary (with a small bow to Ambrose Bierce).
Homelandn: A term successfully used by the Germans and the Soviets in World War II, less successfully (and in the plural) by Apartheid-era South Africa. It means neither home, nor land, has replaced both country and nation in American public speech, and is seldom wielded without the companion word"security." It is the place to which imperial forces return for R&R.
Homeland Security: synonymous with Homeland insecurity.
Homeland Security Department: The new Defense Department, known for declaring bridges yellow and the Statue of Liberty orange.
Homelandismn: a neologism for love of the Homeland Security State as in,"My Homeland, ‘tis of thee, sweet security state of liberty…"
Intelligencen: What Dick Cheney wants and the CIA must provide -- or else. (See, Iraq, weapons of mass destruction)
Nationalismn: How foreigners love their country (when they do). A very dangerous phenomenon that can lead to extremes of passion, blindness, and xenophobia. (See, Terrorism)
Oiln: 1. Black gold. 2. (defunct acronym) Operation Iraqi Liberation or OIL (name changed to Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF, without explanation). 3. What the Bush administration wasn't after in Iraq and isn't after in Iran. (See, Democracy)