Congress isn’t dumbing down
By Christian Trejbal
As a writer who uses words every day to persuade and inform, I passionately adore a well-written passage, a mellifluous conjunction of ideas and grammar that Cicero would have spoken before the Roman Senate as he excoriated villain Catiline, his sentences building one upon another in a crescendo of logic and sublime linguistics that listeners could neither ignore nor dismiss as sophistry lacking in truth but elegant in form.
Did you follow that? Let me put it another way: I like good writing. That needlessly baroque opening sentence says nothing more. Sure, there is a cute historic reference that gives the sentence verve and vigor, that elevates it above a simple subject-verb-object construct, but four words convey the idea just as well.
There I go again, getting long-winded. Sorry. I do not want to be accused of writing like a high school sophomore . . . or a congressman.
Trejbal is a Roanoke Times editorial writer. He is based in the New River Valley.
May 27, 2012 - 8:07 AM
No “read more” link.
This column failed to post to our main website this morning, so we couldn’t provide a link, but it’s fixed now. Thanks!
There are issues more complicated than simple. Often, in trying to simplify a complex issue, the Griffiths of the world come off as ignorant because in being determined to “boil it down” they miss the nuance (and misinterpret!). IMO, that is also why issues end up with “sides” as opposed to people coming to an understanding or having success. People who use a better vocabulary and “big words” are not sinister.
“Congress isn’t dumbing down”
Sez you.
A small matter, Christian. You cherish words. I cherish statistics as much. Tell me, if Morgan Griffith ranks 51st in Congress on that weird computer-generated ranking of congresspersons’ speech you cite, and there are – last time I looked – 535 members of Congress, how does being ranked 51st put him in the “bottom 10%” of the congressional population? Wouldn’t 51st put him in the top 10%? Or were there a whole lot of 51sts?
Just wonderin’. Words have meaning. Or should.
colloquy is nominal