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Over time, the Left has repeatedly tried to change the meaning of words to suit their own goals. Although many of us have tried to avoid using “their words,” we’ve been so inundated that it’s difficult to do.
Their latest effort to control the meaning of a word is related to the Iran War: imminent. They are trying to convince everyone that “imminent” has a specific meaning, when in fact the time frame it covers is nearly impossible to define. Their strategy for this “word control” is to attack once again President Trump and his motivations for joining Israel in the war, and to convince all of us that his efforts are insidious and wrong.
How close can we get to a definition of “imminent”? Here are a few examples:
: ready to take place: happening soon Their arrival is imminent. … systems engineers have become rather blasé about the imminent liftoff.—Steven L. Thompson —often used of something bad or dangerous seen as menacingly near imminent danger/disaster/doom Like books, board games appear headed for imminent demise at the hands of cathode-ray terminals.—Will Manley Convinced of my imminent demise, I savored … the meaty substance of my last meal.—Molly O'Neill
Another definition is here:
coming or likely to happen very soon: imminent disaster/danger A strike is imminent.
And just to round out the list:
: happening very soonThe species is in imminent danger of extinction. [=the species is very close to becoming extinct]
- We are awaiting their imminent
- Their arrival is imminent.
- These patients are facing imminent
As you can see, the definitions are wide-ranging and far from exact. In fact, a person could say that the threat of Iran has been imminent for 47 years.
The most absurd and disturbing part of the Left’s argument is that we are already at war. Whatever they have to say about the imminence of the danger is moot. But they persist in criticizing, attacking and demeaning Donald Trump. Because that’s what they do.
A more productive discussion might be to engage with the government as more details of the war arrive: ask for an update on the role of the Kurds; inquire about the participation of the Saudis and others in the region; share as much information as possible to assuage our citizens.
The Left will never recognize it, but their effort to control the people by manipulating the language is getting very, very old. And their predictable behavior at trashing Donald Trump at every opportunity destroys their own credibility in this country and around the world.
Let’s just see how it all plays out.
Discussion (20)
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This is the bottom line. The time span is not quantifiable. It is relative to the events being considered and it is subjective. In our system the Executive has a flexibility in deciding what "imminent" and "emergency" mean. That is a feature as it makes our system of government both nimble and deliberative.
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Precisely, Don! But of course the Dems don't think Trump should have that flexibility or power. How many times will they try to stymie his decision-making?!
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If Iranian Ayatollahs open their gatherings with "Death to America" and then, at some point, gain nuclear weapon capability, then it is easy to conclude American faces imminent danger.
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"it was predictable"
facebook.com
Open link
Varney on Dems.
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It was predictable and Republicans need to pay attention and not get pulled in.
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