Hit ‘Em Again, Dipnut!

Dipnut over at Isn’tapundit has an excellent disassembly of Bezerkly professor George Lakoff’s assertion that conservative think tanks “use language to dominate politics.” Excerpt:

No, don’t tell me, I think I can guess:

We say things that make sense, and you don’t?

Conservatives have spent decades defining their ideas, carefully choosing the language with which to present them, and building an infrastructure to communicate them, says Lakoff.

No fair having ideas! That’s like…like…beating up a baby or something!

The work has paid off: by dictating the terms of national debate, conservatives have put progressives firmly on the defensive.

That’s not our only dastardly trick. We also have ideas which map to the world we live in as it actually exists! We’ve harnessed objective reality itself, to serve our political ends! Bwahahahahaaah!

Go read the whole thing. It’s great for a laugh.

When you’re done with that one, go read this outstanding City Journal piece (link courtesy of Bill Hobbs) on “Why We’re Not Losing the Culture Wars Anymore.” When you’re done with that, go read Hobbs. It’s all outstanding. (And I’m not saying that just because he linked to me long, long ago, either.)

UPDATE: Swen of Coyote at the Dog Show comments on the original piece, and makes some telling points.