George Orwell, the author of "1984" and "Animal Farm," wrote that "political speech is largely the defense of the indefensible and consists of euphemisms, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness." Newspeak was the official language of "1984." It was designed, "to diminish the range of thought." Today, the media saturate us with terms that would have made Orwell wince. The lexical minefield is littered with collateral damage, detainees, unlawful combatants and terrorism. Saudi Arabia, one of the most repressive countries in the world, is described as moderate.

Norman Solomon
Norman Solomon, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a leading political commentator and media critic. The National Council of Teachers of English honored him with the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language. He is director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a consortium of policy researchers and analysts. He is the author of many books including "Target Iraq," his latest is "War Made Easy."