Not the preferred nomenclature
It’s ‘undocumented’ not ‘illegal,’ Dude
Sherman R. Frederick/Properly Subversive
When President Joe Biden identified the alleged murderer of Layken Riley as an “illegal,” I couldn’t help but think of that iconic bowling scene in “The Big Lebowski” in which Walter Sobchak corrects the Dude about using the word “chinaman.”
“I'm talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you DO NOT... Also, Dude, ‘chinaman’ is not the preferred nomenclature. ‘Asian-American’, please.”
And so it was Big Lebowski-esque to watch Democrats for the next 48 hours after the State of the Union address swallow their tongues. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the next morning on MSNBC brushed off using the word “illegal” as “no big deal”. Biden the next day also refused to correct, saying the Venezuelan suspect who crossed our border illegally in 2022 was in the U.S. and “he shouldn’t have been.”
Of course, that prideful dodge wasn’t good enough. You knew an admission of sin was coming and it came in an interview with MSNBC.
“I shouldn’t have used ‘illegal.’ It’s ‘undocumented,’” Biden said. Asked if he regretted using the word, he unsheathed his figurative sword right there on cable TV and thrust it into his belly and said: “Yes.”
Bringing the president into submission on the proper nomenclature is a good example of the ongoing and completely insane war of words in modern American culture. It’s tribal and it’s fascinating to take note of who gets immediately clubbed for being “insensitive” and who gets a hall pass.
Consider this dude in Nevada by the name of Patrick Boylan. He’s an obscure regent for the Nevada System of Higher Education. Even though I’ve been bumping around Nevada for some 50 years, I remarkably don’t know Mr. Boyland. So please don’t mistake this essay as a complete endorsement of him. All I really know about him is contained in an article from the Nevada Independent on a dust up over his choice of words on trans gender athletes.
According to the story, he referred to female trans athletes as “men masquerading as women.” That brought the wrath of the liberal establishment down upon him. Men who identify as women are women and all must respect and adopt that nomenclature in public discourse.
His fellow Regent Michelee Cruz-Crawford (now running for Senate District 1 in North Las Vegas as a Democrat) offered this assessment: “Anyone that says hurtful things to the community should not be in office.”
That’s quite the standard, which was not applied to President Joe. Not one Democrat in the word-sensitive universe even hinted that Biden should be thrown out of office for mis-identifying that “undocumented” Venezuelan who did, in fact, cross the U.S. border illegally.
It’s a surreal Big Lebowski world we live in. The sooner you recognize that reality, the better, Dude.
Also, Mr. Biden, you did cross the line. Mark it zero.
ONE MORE THING
— Just when I’m losing faith in society, I see a little old lady smile and give up her seat for a pregnant man with a beard.
(Sherman R. Frederick is a longtime Nevada writer and a member of the Nevada Press Association’s Hall of Fame. He can be reached at ShermFrederick@gmail.com.)