The Gadflyer: Swatting Lies

Sean Aday, over at the Gadflyer makes some astute comments on what Kerry should say tonight.what Kerry should say tonight

I have to say that Bush will use the word liberal more times than we want to imagine. I have to believe, however, that this word has lost a great deal of its potency in the wake of Bush's record. Yes, the L-word will get the hard-core folk all fired up, but it will not do that for everyone. This attack is part of Bush's strategy to motivate their troops, not convince the swing folk, as many have already noticed. It shows, in fact, that they are either desperate or counting on high True-Believer turnout, or both.

That the Republicans now own this word is common knowledge, that it is effective is less and less true except for these hardcore believers. As I wrote yesterday about Derrida, words are subject to inflation to the point where the currency is worth very little...