E. J. Dionne (The Washington Post):
We’re witnessing what should be called the Two Cadillacs Fallacy: Romney’s rather authentic moments suggesting he doesn’t understand the lives of average people (such as his comment on his wife’s two Cadillacs) are dismissed as “gaffes,” while Santorum’s views on social issues are denounced as “extreme.” But Romney’s gaffes are more than gaffes: They reflect deeply held and radical views about how wealth and power ought to be distributed in the United States. These should worry us a lot more than Santorum’s dopey “snob” comment or his tasteless denunciation of JFK.
Read the entire article.
As Yoda would say: Fail this is why you (Dionne)do.
ReplyDeleteYes... I'm not sure what to make of it. I can see his point and I understand more or less the accusation he's making, but I cannot really pinpoint the trouble with it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it is a nice example of hassle about words. Somehow, to produce a "gaffe" is better than to say something that is indeed a reflection of your views. Intuitively, I would use the word with the exact opposite meaning: a gaffe would be something that (accidentally) gives a picture of someone's "secret" views.