When Politicians Speak, What Do We Hear?

Yes, theer’s smoehitng wonrg wtih the seipllng. No, I dinid’t foregt splel chcek. I’m wirintg lkie tihs on pursope.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.  The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

I lfietd taht pgararah off of a stie I sblmuted uopn, and wonreded if I colud wrtie an enrite Nwes Tcao psot in taht way. It’s not an esay thnig, eevn for a poor slleper. But an egchxane wtih a  ttetiwr fneird, @Juanhijo, got me to tkinhing. Tihs is a lot lkie our prenest polcaitil dguiolue (@juanijo’s words, exactly). The pliubc at lgrae dsnoe’t seem to conrecn ieltsf too mcuh wtih the detlias of the polcaitil mesgesas, and that sutis the policiantis; as lnog as the frmae is recoizegnd the finillg dsnoe’t meattr.

It’s what the pundits call red meat – slogans and the hot button issues that they’re attached to. It doesn’t matter what is meant by core values, only that a politician have them.  It doesn’t matter how the national debt is brought under control, just don’t raise taxes or spend more money doing it. Never mind which taxes are not to be raised, for who or by how much – we’re not socialists.

What part of illegal do you not understand? The fact that undocumented workers have for years buoyed the service and agricultural economies is of no concern. Illegals (I seriously dislike that word) are taking American jobs, and that’s all some people need to know. This is the kind of double-speak where babies are anchors and government is evil, and within those frames are details that some voters are not interested to know.

Our political dialogue is structured with codes that hide details that matter; we talk about Obama care and a Texas miracle like they were urban legends; we mention being pro-life and pro-death penalty as if they were mutually exclusive; we want to repeal the 14th amendment and defend the 2nd as if we could cherry pick the constitution; we talk about changing Washington and then make it more intransigent.

Our polcaitil diaguloe is jsut lkie tihs speinllg. Get the fisrt and lsat leertts rihgt and our idaes of waht sholud go in the mildde tkae oevr. The detph of our polcaitil udenrsdintang geos as deep as the symlobs that camgnpais use to rusoe the faifuthl.

Accdingorg to smoe votres a canatdie sholud expsers uebr pattisriom, but taht pattisriom, wrapepd in a falg and wanntig in subsnctae, is enteliry subtivjece. Repicalbun preentisidel candatdie Rcik Prrey was asekd if he thghout Predensit Omaba levod Amicera, he siad he dind’t konw and taht the repteorr sholud ask Omabaa hiselmf.

It’s all part of the same skimming-over-the-top politics that relies more on slogans and symbols than it does on vital issues and real concerns. It makes perfect sense, then, to take the country to the edge of default in order to save the economy, because the message read is “take the country…save the economy.”

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda