Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Mealy-mouthed Healey

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Last Friday, I was sitting with friends at a local football game. The four of us are active democrats. Behind us sat a family (mom, dad, voting age son) I’ve known for a few years through youth sports. This family is politically quite conservative.

Deval’s name came up and one of the conservatives piped up in a sarcastic tone, “free education for immigrants”

Most of us know how wrong this statement is yet it was spun with sufficient energy by anti-Deval people that the conservative sitting behind me quoted it like it was gospel truth. Can “Spend-it-all-Deval” be any different?

Sadly, that means we must fight fire with fire – we cannot go on the defensive and attempt to deny Healey’s claim. Instead, we must go on the offensive.

I’m not much for political writing but here is a suggestion: Mealy mouthed Healey or Mealy Healey for short…

On the top left side of this page is a wonderful list of “for _____ before she was against it” I think they would serve as good (not great) examples of Healey being mealy mouthed.

Does anyone have any better examples?

Mark

Mealy Mouthed

ADJECTIVE: Unwilling to state facts or opinions simply and directly.

WORD HISTORY: It seems fitting that Martin Luther, a man noted for the forthright expression of his ideas, may have had a hand in giving us the contemptuous term we apply to those unwilling to state facts or opinions directly. Mealy-mouthed may come from a saying such as German Mehl im Maule behalten, “to carry meal in the mouth, that is, not to be direct in speech,” which occurs in Luther’s writings. In English we find the terms mealmouth (1546) and meal-mouthed (1576) recorded around the same time that we find mealymouthed (around 1572). Mealy-mouthed is the only form that survived to describe this trait described by Luther, which not only survives but flourishes in our time.

 

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Comments

  1. Next time you find someone with that attitude, put your Deval button in your pocket and give the following response.  “Yeah, and that Healey.  Intentional indifference to the $14.6 billion disaster under Boston.  Mihos got THAT right!”

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    Maybe we can get some nice bumper stickers printed:

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    Kerry Muffy Healey
    INTENTIONAL INDIFFERENCE

    • “INTENTIONAL INDIFFERENCE” would go over too many peoples’ heads. But your point is excellent.

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      “Gee, were’t the republicans in charge during the Big Dig Project that ran billions over budget?”

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      (I can see the counter argument already – “democratic legislature” – to which I respond, Republican appointees…)

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