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STRAP YOURSELVES IN, NERDS: I want to dissect the use of "inflame" in Ken Buck's attributed statement and tell you why it strikes me as...weaselly. (Because if I'm going to distract myself from the fall of the Republic, I'mma do it MY WAY.) 1/n https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1348032696333774849
"Inflame" in English is pretty much a straight-up borrowing from the Latin _inflammare_ (via medieval French). It's original meaning was "to set on fire," but by the 14th century, "inflame" had a figurative meaning: "to stir up excitement/passion." 2/n
When "inflame" is used in reference to people, its object is usually an internal emotion. Some of the most common collocates of "inflame" are "passion," "tensions," "emotions," "feelings," "opinions," etc. 3/n
Sometimes the intangible feels that get excited are good, and sometimes they're bad, but the face remains that what's most often "inflamed" in common use are _internal feelings_. And that, kids and people, is the problem here. 4/n
Impeachment isn't at all about Trump supporters, and framing impeachment around not making them angry basically conflates governance with how a group of people feels about governance. Miss me with that, Ken Buck. 5/n
Lots of people feel shitty about the state of the US right now, Ken. I'm one of them. My parents, who are as far from me politically as Jupiter is from Ken's district, are too! But only one of us has been fed the lie that our suffering and *only our* suffering is un-American. 6/n
(Sorry, food break!) Look: there have been days when I have not felt like being a good citizen. Days when I have wished I could blow things up using only the power of my mind. We all have 'em. It's days like that I'm grateful that gov't is a clustercuss of red tape and delay. 7/n
"Inflame" adds a sugar-glaze of nobility and romance to that pain. It makes the wronged party the hero of this story. It lets them off the hook for bearing the full responsibility for their actions. Sure it was a crime--but it was a crime _of passion_.
Again I say: nuh-uh. 8/n
Again I say: nuh-uh. 8/n
Impeachment is not a ball at Netherfield Goddamned Park, Ken, and you are not Mr. Bingley trying to make sure everyone has a good time. It's a governmental process, and the thing you should be talking about is not how people will _feel_ about it, but whether it's _right_. 9/FIN
P.S. Not fixing those typos, my dinner's getting cold. LOVE YOU, MEAN IT
