Expanding One's Vocabulary

What a wonderful thing it is to learn new words and new ways of expressing oneself

To Bloviate: To pontificate; to preach; to make a political point; to impress the impressionable using bombast; to use a plethora of important sounding but usually empty words.

Any aspirant to the presidency of the US has been, is, or will be guilty of bloviating before the dust settles. When one of the blue people starts a statement, “This presidency is ----“, or, “This administration has ----“ bloviation is sure to follow.

I love the word. I get the immediate mental image of Al Capp’s Senator Claghorn (or was it Phoghorn? See below.), or of Elmer Gantry, or, in present day terms, perhaps George W. Bush, Al Gore or Michael Moore.

As an attention getter, bloviating appears to have worked, or else why would so many unfortunately prominent people use the technique? If it were followed by an invitation to thoughtful listeners to debate an issue, it would be an effective introduction to problem solving. More often, the follow up is to focus on a single facet of a problem, like, for instance, lack of health insurance for a poor wretch somewhere in our midst. The knee jerk response is an outcry for more money for more - or more available - health insurance for ALL OF US IN THIS OBSCENELY WEALTHY COUNTRY FROM WHICH PATIENTS IN BOATLOADS ARE FORCED TO FLEE TO FOREIGN SHORES TO GET THE CARE THEY CAN’T AFFORD AT HOME DUE TO THE RAPACIOUSNESS OF DOCTORS, HOSPITALS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, PHARMAGIANTS, AND / OR INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO ANY DEITY WORSHIPPED BY THE AFOREMENTIONED SCUM OF THE EARTH!!!

Please. Learn to ignore bloviations, and focus on small, doable, effective solutions to the healthcare problems facing us. Maybe we are going to emulate Canada and institute a single payer system. We can learn at least one fact from their experience: It is not necessary to screen, study, scan, refer to consultants ad nauseum in order to achieve a life expectancy similar to that expected in the US of A.

Canadians live just as long as we do, and they do it cheaper by using a variety of techniques which, I venture to suggest, if forced upon our country would go over like a mother-in-law on her son's honeymoon cruise.

(Editor's Note: My good friend and dissecting table partner, Bud Miller, reminds me that Beauregard Claghorn, played by Kenny Delmar, was a regular on the Fred Allen radio show. Capp's creation was Senator Phoghorn.)