Word Salad

Note to Self:

Don't try this in the kitchen, at a fancy party, or anywhere near a microphone tuned in to catch the latest palaver from a politician.

What exactly is word salad, and why should you worry about it?

Well, word salad is what happens when either lack of preparation, failure of education, lack or refusal to read, and inability to string thoughts together all smoosh together in front of crowds, video cameras linked directly to YouTube, or when you're trying to impress someone, or worst of all, when you need to get something done.

I am sticking to oldies but goodies here for a reason.   

It is similar to Speaker Nancy Pelosi stumbling through the answer to, "what is your favorite "word"," and coming up with a meandering answer that misses points on cogent, but might have managed to offend believers and non-believers alike.  Check it out by clicking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSko2ixEB8U&feature=related.

The favorite word is the word -- is the word-- is the word -- is the word...[cue sound of phonograph needle scratching record.]  Mercifully it ended.  But not before critics got ahold of it, and used it a day or two to bash the faith of Ms. Pelosi, and tried to make her statement into something akin to Christo-fascists taking over the government.  This all happened when all reality has and remains pointing the other way round, and making our Speaker briefly, the then latest victim of Faith Bashing.

The favorite word of the Speaker is the Word.  As in Word of God.  As in Word made Flesh.  As in Jesus the Christ.  As in God, Son and Holy Ghost.  The Word.  Many meanings.  Of course, not once did she actually say all of what I have said.  She did make a vague "gospel reference," which she was sure "everyone knew."  And went on and on about her favorite word being "the Word."

Not likely that everyone knows that reference these days, and for that reason, the Word word is word salad in so many ears.

The word salad debacle hit Sarah Palin when she entered a world of spymasters and national security, implying she could check out Vladimir Putin's barbecue technique from her Alaska backyard.  And no, the Northern Lights were not going to interfere with her spying prowess.

Word salad can be fun.  After all, it keeps late night comedians in business.

It makes high school debates interesting.  It can make college lectures entertaining.  In the well of the Senate or on the Floor of the House, it can unveil true intent.  Sometimes.

All too rarely.  But it does happen.

Reality gets into that Word Salad Bowl, tosses a few greenbacks around, spins like a whirlwind of truth, and the ease or unease with which the word salad hits the plate reveals so much.

Ms. Palin was pretty comfortable in her spying revelations.  Ms. Pelosi appeared not so much at ease with her encounter in the spinning word salad bowl.  She was searching.

And there you have the essence of good word salad. It reveals, without the guile of dressing the words up, the real intent of the salad maker.  Ease with it means either it's a good joke or a far too serious impossible view of reality.  Unease reveals an internal search. 

And intelligent chef notices.   Just as an intelligent chef knows when something is missing, or is too much in the dish, the maker of word salad uses the moment to continue the search until the answer to the question brought about in that tossing about, that tilt-oh-whirl of verbiage mixed and spun, leads to an answer found, certainty established, the world righted. 

Let's hope that by the time the first course is over, the answer is either found, or at least identified, so that it can be truly made one's own later.  That is always the way with questions posed in public to yourself, and no answer is readily at hand.