Phony Moralizing

Earlier today I hear a news headline / story on NPR (see also, for one more example) that quoted Dick Cheney* as referring to objections to waterboarding# as "phony moralizing".

I naturally presume that this is directed at liberals like myself, particularly atheistic moral relativists who don't believe that a god is necessary to account for rules for good, civilized behavior.

I am, at this point, not too clear about what "honest moralizing" might be, although if it related to the very popular fundamentalist-christian moralizing, it would be mostly directed toward preventing equal rights for gay people, justifying a sort of economic Darwinism for the wealthy, and otherwise making excuses so that reactionaries can get some sleep at night.

I found myself wondering whether "phony moralizing" might have currency as a conservative talking point / buzz phrase, but that's not so clear. The google (today) only gave me 4520 hits for the phrase, a great many of which seem to flow directly from the specific remark of Cheney's referred to above.

Gosh, perhaps this is the genesis of a new conservative buzz phrase, right here. How exciting! I wonder whether it will gain more popularity than Bush's "at the whim of a hat" or "step up to the ball"?
———-
* For people who read this a few years from now when the name is associated principally with US war crimes, Dick Cheney was, from 2001 to 2009 the much reviled Vice President of the United States, also noted for introducing the phrase "fuck yourself" into the Congressional Record.

# A universally recognized method of torture, at the time of this writing sometimes described as "controversial" largely because people like Cheney kept saying that it was "controversial", thus generating the apparent but false controversy. This is similar to the treatment of other matters like, e.g., climate change, by the Bush/Cheney administration.

Posted on May 21, 2009 at 16.29 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Splenetics, Such Language!

2 Responses

Subscribe to comments via RSS

  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Friday, 22 May 2009 at 01.41
    Permalink

    "Phony moralizing" is Cheney's unsubtle way of dismissing those of
    opposing views as acting out of purely selfish political motives. As if
    he and the pack of jackals he consorts with are above and beyond
    acting out of dirty nasty, ol' self-serving political motives.

    The man makes Joe Isuzu look like honest Abe and has the intellectual
    depth of a cigar store indian. As for morals, Cheney is a black hole.

  2. Written by jns
    on Friday, 22 May 2009 at 10.23
    Permalink

    "Cheney : A Moral Black Hole". I think we can work with that.

Subscribe to comments via RSS

Leave a Reply

To thwart spam, comments by new people are held for moderation; give me a bit of time and your comment will show up.

I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.