avoiding the 'e' word
Wag of the Finger
anonymous State Dept official
"Instead of a surge, it is a bump," said a State Department official. He spoke on condition of anonymity, because Bush hasn't yet unveiled details of what the White House is calling a "new way forward" in Iraq.
January 3, 2007
Tweaking the language does not negate the reality of an escalation, and the sooner progressives get that out into public discourse, the better.
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it's time to use "escalation"
I've said several times on this blog that "escalation" was only the right word to use if a withdrawal schedule did not accompany a surge. It's no longer "a surge" because Bush.43 has omitted a schedule for return. It's time to get senators to hold Bush to the "surge" concept.
New! Why call it a bump?
Thanks for pointing this out, michlev. I guess the point of using the word "bump" might be to try to express that it is not such a big change in policy. Therefore, people do not need to worry or pay much attention. Still, I don't expect to hear others in the administration start using the word "bump." I also don't think it would be very effective for the Bush administration to suggest that they are just making small adjustments because few people are satisfied with the present situation.
Evan