The “F” Word

Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas – A friend picked up a little book in an antique shop recently and brought it to me. She thought I’d get a kick out of it, and she was right. Titled “The Verbalist,” by Alfred Ayers, and published in 1882 by D Appleton & Company of New York, it’s part of a series including proper pronunciation and penmanship as well as “word choice.” It begins with a page of quotes such as “Obscurity of expression springs from confusion of ideas.” Heck yeah! If you don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s just babbling, I say.

Picking out the “right” word – that is, the word that conveys what you are thinking to another person so they understand what you are thinking – can be tricky. But some words just smack you clear and strong. For instance, two years ago, when I had a knee replacement and spent some time in rehab, the trainers relentlessly threw this question to us weak-kneed folks trying to get our balance back: “What is the F word in Rehab?” they’d shout, smirking at our grimaces. It was sheer teeth-gritting time and we definitely had a word in mind.

But they’d say “It’s FALL”! And suddenly everything was clear. Darn tootin’ I did NOT want to fall. I wanted to be strong, and great. So I pedaled harder, and squatted and lifted and swung my arms and held my shoulders high.

Goals and Hopes

Make America Great Again is a “word idea” that hits us in the face daily, if you listen to any media sources. And geez, who doesn’t want America to be GREAT? Red, White, and Blue, we all pretty much love America. I’m nuts about it! I’ve traveled all over it, and talked with people in every state, in fact, LIVED in all 50 capital cities. I want everybody to have a fair chance to live the best life they can live. And there is kinda-sorta where things get confusing. What, exactly, needs to happen to assure such an outcome? And what, exactly, is “great”? There are about 340 million of us Americans, and I daresay that even within a single household people don’t agree on what they want for dinner.

So we have to think about the little things, and the big things, and the really, really big things. And if you just happen to be president of a gaggle of 340 million diverse folks, I’m thinking it takes a heap of listening and talking to keep a country running smoothly. It takes a lot of working together. It takes respect.

The 100-Day Checkup

Our 47^th President reached his 100-day mark on April 30. How’s he doing? So far he has signed 143 executive orders, the most of any president in this period, 42 proclamations, and 42 memorandums. Major topics include immigration reform, deportations, applying tariffs on other countries, cutting federal spending, reducing the federal workforce, increasing executive authority, and implementing a non-interventionist foreign policy.

By April 30 multiple polls gave him an “F.” Failure? Polling on every issue was negative, and approval ratings were in the 40-47% range. CNN, USA Today, Civiqs, Marist, Economist, RealClearPolitics, and more. In response to the negative polls, especially the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, and Fox News, Donald called them “Fake” news, and “criminals who should be investigated for Fraud.”

On Donald’s own website for spreading the news, WhiteHouse.gov, he chooses these words to describe where our country is after 100 days:

• On prices: “Prices are down at tremendous numbers for gasoline.”
• On securing the border: “It’s really secure.”
• On deporting violent criminal illegal immigrants: “We have thousands of people … some of the worst, most dangerous on earth — and I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it.”
• On Iran: “I want Iran to be really successful, really great. The only thing they can’t have is a nuclear weapon … The Iranian people are incredible, I just don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon because the world will be destroyed.”
• On trade: “We’re making a lot of money. We’re doing great. We’re going to be at a point soon where we’re making money every day.”
• On peace in Ukraine: “I do believe we’re closer with one party and maybe not as close with the other … We’re talking tremendous hatred between these two men.”
• On China tariffs: “At some point I’m going to lower them because otherwise you could never do business with them — and they want to do business very much. Their economy is really doing badly. Their economy is collapsing.”

Searching For The Word

So what is the “F” word we choose as we move into May? It isn’t “Facilitate” as there doesn’t seem to be much listening and talking and working together going on. It’s like that teeth-gritting time in Rehab, when we definitely had a word in mind about our painful situation. We were reminded, however, of what we were working to avoid.

We didn’t want to FALL. So we kept pedaling.