Cynical about politics and terrorism? Me?

Yesterday, in "The friend of mine enemy is likewise mine enemy", I expressed shock -- shock, I tell you -- at the Canadian government's sudden discovery of an Islamic terrorist plot to blow up a VIA Rail train somewhere between Toronto and New York, and its sudden rush to push forward draconian anti-terrorism legislation that had been languishing on the order paper for a year.

Some have accused me of being cynical, for having suggested that it was more than a coincidence that this should have happened on the very day Canada's House of Commons was supposed to debate a motion which would have allowed MPs to speak more freely about the issues of the day.

OK, call me a cynic, but don't say I'm the only one who discerns a hidden agenda in the pronouncements and actions of "Call me Steve" Harper and his toady Toews. Check out  "Conservative anti-terror bill and arrests match up beautifully, don’t they", by Heather Mallick, in today's Toronto Star.

Ms Mallick calls the anti-terror bill shameful, and the arrests dubious. She states (as the fact is) that the tip from the alleged terrorists' imam, on which the Mounties acted, was a year old -- just like the legislation itself.

"How odd," she writes. "The week after the Boston bombings, the Conservative government had MPs suddenly debating an anti-terror bill that had long been hanging around with its hands in its pockets. The very same day, conveniently, the RCMP arrested two alleged terrorists."

Odd indeed. Enough to make even Walt cynical.

Crusade for good English

Where is William Safire when we need him so desperately? Alas, he shuffled off the mortal coil back in 2009, and, since no-one has stepped up to the plate, perhaps Walt and Ed. can at least get into the on-deck circle.

Wherever Mr. Safire is, I hope he can't read that introduction. He was a long-time political columnist for the New York Times and the author of "On Language" in the New York Times Magazine. That column dealt with popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics, including the avoidance of overwrought and overused clichés.

Walt has a long-standing love affair with the English language, and was a great admirer of Mr. Safire's efforts to promote good (and witty) usage. A collection of his columns appeared in book form as On Language (Times Books, 1981) and has a place of honour in Walt's working library.

It's good, in a way, that William Safire is not alive today to see what has become of the language of Shakespeare, Milton and Churchill. Or great American writers and speakers like John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Tom Wolfe and William F. Buckley Jr. Safire must have seen the dumbing-down of the language coming. Not just our language but our entire culture. Perhaps he was glad enough to leave the West to its decline.

Since the advent of "electronic communication", e-mail -- no-one writes proper letters any more -- and "text talk", the English language is not just in decline, but in free-fall. There are a few brave souls who, like King Cnut [careful... Ed.] are trying to stem the tide of illiteracy that threatens to inundate us. Over the next couple of weeks, Walt and Ed. will post some of their writings, with the aim of encouraging our dear readers to write (and speak) better, and eschew "English for dummies",

We begin with a link to "Neil Pasricha’s ‘awesome’ blog helped destroy language", by the Toronto Star's Heather Mallick. In this piece, Ms Mallick inveighs against "linguistic bleaching", which she calls a crime. She refers to the misuse of words in a way that drains them of meaning. Words like "awesome", which is used so often now that it has become awful... and not in the old sense of "full of awe". Please read and heed.

A big thank-you (note the hyphen) to Agents 6 and 17 for pushing us to do this.