By: jamesbaxley
Euphemisms are expressions used in place of words, phrases, or actions which are offensive. Politicians and musicians are the biggest purveyors of euphemisms.
George Orwell, the author of 1984 once
said “Political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible
. . . thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question
begging, and sheer cloudy vagueness.”
The most common and popular euphemisms
used today in the political ring are “pro-life,” “pro-choice,” “axis of evil,”
and “undocumented workers.” There were many euphemisms used throughout the
Trump campaign, the two most popular ones were the “alt-right” and “drain the
swamp.”
But speaking of politics and
musicians, they clashed this week during the “women’s march” on D.C. Material
girl Madonna, who isn’t a musician but a former “A-List” pop star who has been
sliding into the “C-List” zone and future reality star who sparked criticism
from the masses. Madonna was joined by current “C-List” star and
self-proclaimed “nasty woman” Ashley Judd who complained about “taxes on
tampons.”
When pop stars or celebrities star
fades, they will stoop to unmentionable levels to stay relevant. The most
common today is reality television. I mean, one-hit wonder Vanilla Ice has
strayed into reality TV. Vanilla isn’t the only one, Lil John, Bret Michaels
and Cindy Lauper has taken this route. One celebrity who turned reality TV on
its ear and used it to kick start his new career was Flavor Flav, The Flavor of Love.
Maybe former pop star and newly minted
“left-wing fascist” Madonna should take a cue from Flav. Madonna should before
she becomes too irrelevant jump on the Kim Kardashian/Flavor Flav reality TV
band wagon. I say this because it looks as though Madonna is trying to break
into politics.
Madonna being a song writer and
performer, you would think she would be comfortable at expressing herself. In a
“girl gone wild” cameo gone awry, Madonna spoke at the “woman’s rally” in
Washington D.C. this week, she stated she wanted to “blow up the White House.”
"Yes, I'm angry. Yes, I am
outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White
House," Madonna said. "But I know that this won't change anything. We
cannot fall into despair."
On an Instagram post Sunday, Madonna
scrambled to set the record straight on her constitutionally protected speech.
She emphasized that she didn’t mean she was going to “blow up the White House.”
This move was probably devised to keep the Secret Service off her back.
"I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it's
important people hear and understand my speech in its entirety rather than one
phrase taken wildly out of context," she wrote. "My speech began with
'I want to start a revolution of love'."
People aren’t buying her half-baked apology. Piers
Morgan and Newt Gingrich were even outraged. There is a petition on the
Change.org website calling on the Department of Justice to "Arrest Madonna
for Making Threats Against the White House," in which these comments are
in violation of U.S. Code Title 18, § 871. So far, the petition has 6,500
signatures.
Madonna can rest peacefully knowing
that the Secret Service will probably at best just question her. She should
thank the Supreme Court with their 1969 verdict in Watts vs the United
States. The outcome protected political speak deemed as
"vehement" and protects “unpleasantly sharp" attacks on public
officials such as Trump.
Madonna, do all your fans a favor and
stay out of politics and gracefully exit from the lime light. The longer you
fight to stay relevant, the more your star will rust.
Orwell was right when he wrote,
“Political speech . . . are largely the defense of the indefensible.” Maybe
Madonna should have used an euphemism for “blowing up the White House.”