Montana labor news., 1946-09-26
A NATION OF SLOGANS AND SUCKERS

families that are being raised and educated in the
American tradition. all have outstanding records in
public service. Their records show no indication Of
attempt to undermine our American. democratic way
Of life. Check the records. The proof is there! only
by intelligent pcrusal Of their records can we assure
ourselves that tho RIGHT candidate is selected to rep
resent rs in political office.
Ana usually there is little Or no basis for such
Titles. can remember one oldtime- politician. who.
whenever he had difficulty in answering a ticklish
question. resorted 10 r'aring back and calling his heck
Ter ii Communist Its a very effective way of saving
face because there isn't much an opponent can say at
The time. and when he does get around To answering
The charge. its too late TO be effective.
The word propaganda itself has come to mean the
distribution Of Slanderous. misleading information hurt
nl in itself. Yet its original meaning was any writ
len material or The spoken word designed TO promote
public relations
Another word. pronounced with a smear infection.
which has come TO give people a bad taste in their
mouths is "hureaucrat". Webster defines the word as
any employee in a government run by departments.
Are we to call our postmaster a bureaucrat? Are we
to call our mayor. orr governor, our secretary of state
4 burtaucrat? Certainly. but not with an cntwining,
insidious, pnmpIriming connotation. 1t has become
twisted and distorted in the same sense as liberal.
and progressive" and radical. Can we solve our
problems by dismissing all our government depart
ments? Nothing could be more ridiculous, nothing
could be more misleading. The use OF the labelled
word in political campaigns only tends to confuse, to
arouse conflicts in peoples minds. Watch for ii. 1t
has been used, and will be used time and time again.
There fore. we as Americans. interested in the vel
fare Of our nation. must remember this: In a political
campaign. we must turn Il deaf ear on such words or
phrases. designed only to confuse and disunite. If they
have any basis, the proof is in the background, the
experience. the record Of the candidate. The place to
check is in the record OF the individual. i'll the platform
Of the party seeking the nomination. Don't be misled
by namecalling and b%oobytrap words.
Only by understanding the true meanings of the
words ard slogans our politicians throw at us. can we
defeat the forces of disunity and confusion. Perhaps
we need an intensive course in semantics. Every poll
teal campaign has its bag of tricks. used over and
over again and guaranteed not to rust, All the inter
esed parties wish to keep their program before the
public eye in a favorable light. Words, phrases and
slogans turned into Smear words and phrases will not
help tb build Montana's future. 1t is the detectives.
the principles and the platform Of the men we elect
to office that will either build our state or keep her
staenant and undeveloped. Let's understand the words,
lets look at the record. let's quit hating words put out
for our consumption, let's take everything we hear
with a grain of salt and remember that no matter how
thin they slice il, it's still baloney.