Pearl River      You can’t make this stuff up.  Here’s a true story from radio land that intersects the politics and horror of our times.

Pat Ward has a show called “Arkansas Speaks” on KABF-FM, the 100,000-watt station AM/FM manages in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Sister Ward is an old school Black Republican.  The show tends to focus on general interest topics, economic development, self-help, and best representation themes.  She’s been trying for years to have Arkansas’ Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders come on her show as a guest, and she finally succeeded.

Governor Sanders claimed she was delighted to be a guest on the show and wanted to talk about the changes coming to the SNAP or food stamp program in the state.  She wanted people to know the details, so that they could make sure they applied or adjusted anything about their situation, so that eligible people would be able to access or remain benefit recipients.  Then after questions on the air, she claimed the policy of the state was to get people off of food stamps and other programs in any way possible, supposedly to assure their independence from assistance and the value of work.  One question came to her about whether this wasn’t a contradiction to both claim to want people to apply and remain on food stamps to support the health of their families while at the same time indicating it was the state’s policy to get as many people off of food stamps as possible?  Before she could answer, as if there might possibly be a satisfactory explanation for his paradox, her press officer jumped in and said Governor Sanders had to leave for another engagement.

What a great, contemporary example of classic doublespeak, but there are so many these days, it’s hard to keep up.  An op-ed columnist, writing for this hard right section of the Wall Street Journal had the temerity to pen a piece called “The Banality of Doublespeak.”  Andy Kessler starts with a warning, that “We’re awash in a world of deceptions and misdirection, by those creating illusions to distract from the truth. Don’t fall for it.”

He then gives a litany of examples that include:

• The hype of artificial intelligence claims.
• Trump’s calling the justification for a tariff on upholstered furniture and kitchen cabinets as a “national security threat” justifying a 25% tariff.
• Trump claimed TikTok would be owned by American investors despite the money from MGX, based in the United Arab Emirates and backed by the royal family.
• Stablecoins backed by US Treasury aren’t allowed to pay interest, so they claim they are paying “rewards.”
• Brokers claim commission-free trading and hide the fees in the spread and payment system.
• Tesla claims “full self-driving” with a warning that it “may do the wrong thing at the wrong time, so you must always keep your hands on the wheel.”
• Airlines claim “on time arrivals,” but pad all the schedules and claim on time even within certain minutes late.

The famous George Orwell book, “1984”, was marked by authoritarian doublespeak.  Sure, there are laws about “truth in advertising”, but that only has meaning, if enforced.  When the government and its officials are specializing in doublespeak, we’re all on our own out here now.