What if Churchill had been a bureaucrat?

I was digging around in some old email and found this quote:

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Whatever else Churchill may have been doing in those days, he was always providing the English with words. With words he formed their thoughts and emotions. "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills," said Churchill. Millions answered, apparently, "By God, so we shall."
Imagine, however, that Churchill had been an ordinary bureaucrat and had chosen to say instead:

"Consolidated defensive positions and essential preplanned withdrawal facilities are to be provided in order to facilitate maximum potentialization for the repulsion and/or delay of incursive combatants in each of several preidentified categories of location deemed suitable to the emplacement and/or debarkation of hostile military contingents."

That would, at least, have spared us the pain of wondering what to do about the growing multitudes who can't seem to read and write English. By now we'd be wondering what to do about the growing multitudes who can't seem to read and write German.

- Richard Mitchell, Less Than Words Can Say

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I don't remember hearing of Richard Mitchell before. He looks worth checking out. Here is the link to an online version of "Less Than Words Can Say."

Words have power. One of the reasons is have a place where I try to write persuasively.


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