{"id":2686,"date":"2008-02-29T14:58:26","date_gmt":"2008-02-29T21:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2008-02-29T14:56:30","modified_gmt":"2008-02-29T21:56:30","slug":"it-is-a-mistake-to-think-that-the-language-of-the-bureaucrats-is-merely-an-ignorant-garbled-jargon-they-may-not-always-know-what-they-are-doing-but-what-they-are-doing-is-not-haphazard-it-works-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2686\/it-is-a-mistake-to-think-that-the-language-of-the-bureaucrats-is-merely-an-ignorant-garbled-jargon-they-may-not-always-know-what-they-are-doing-but-what-they-are-doing-is-not-haphazard-it-works-t\/","title":{"rendered":"It is a mistake to think that the language of the bureaucrats is merely an ignorant, garbled jargon. They may not always know what they are doing, but what they are doing is not haphazard. It works, too."},"content":{"rendered":"

More, for Diane Cipa<\/a> and others who have commented. You can’t buy Mitchell’s books, except used. The man is an incredible gift America mostly never bothered to unwrap. The fun part is that you can have everything he wrote as The Underground Grammarian at no cost<\/a>. That’s not the same as “for free,” of course. If you’re going to get anything out of Richard Mitchell, you have to have the means to pay attention.<\/p>\n

 
The Voice of Sisera<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

by Richard Mitchell<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

The invention of discursive prose liberated the mind of man from the limitations of the individual’s memory. We can now "know" not just what we can store in our heads, and, as often as not misplace among the memorabilia and used slogans. Nevertheless, that invention made concrete and permanent one of the less attractive facts of language. It called forth a new "mode" of language and provided yet another way in which to distinguish social classes from one another.<\/p>\n

Fleeing the lost battle on the plain of Megiddo<\/a>, General Sisera<\/a> is said to have stopped off at the tent of Heber the Kenite. Heber himself was out, but his wife, Jael, was home and happy to offer the sweaty warrior a refreshing drink–"a bottle of milk" in fact, the Bible says. (That seems to find something in translation.) It was a kindly and generous gesture, especially since Sisera asked nothing more than a drink of water.<\/p>\n

Having drunk his fill, the tired Sisera stretched out for a little nap and told Jael to keep careful watch, for he had good reason to expect that the Jews who had cut up his army that day were probably looking around for him. Jael said, Sure, sure, don’t worry, and when Sisera fell asleep, that crafty lady took a hammer and a tent spike and nailed him through the temples fast to the earth.<\/p>\n

I suppose that we are meant to conclude that the Kenites, not themselves Jews, were nevertheless right-thinking folk and that Jael’s act had a meaning that was both political and religious. I’m not so sure. I’d like to know, before deciding, just what language it Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More, for Diane Cipa and others who have commented. You can’t buy Mitchell’s books, except used. The man is an incredible gift America mostly never bothered to unwrap. The fun part is that you can have everything he wrote as The Underground Grammarian at no cost. That’s not the same as “for free,” of course. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,24,29,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-egoism-in-action","8":"category-group-therapy","9":"category-marketing","10":"category-real-estate","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9477,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9477\/from-the-gift-of-fire-by-richard-mitchell-who-is-socrates-now-that-we-need-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":0},"title":"From The Gift of Fire, by Richard Mitchell: Who is Socrates, Now That We Need Him?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Quoted from Mark Alexander's wonderful Richard Mitchell web site: \u00a0 When Benjamin Franklin was hardly more than a boy, but clearly a comer, he decided to achieve moral perfection. As guides in this enterprise, he chose Jesus and Socrates. One of his self-assigned rules for daily behavior was nothing more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egoism in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Egoism in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/egoism-in-action\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":171,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/171\/my-friend-richard-riccelli-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":1},"title":"My friend, Richard Riccelli . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"My friend and esteemed colleague Richard Riccelli called tonight to talk about the custom yard signs -- among many hundreds of millions of other things. I've known Richard since the day I found out that my son Cameron was certifiably enwombed -- fifteen and a half years ago (wow!). When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1939,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1939\/richard-epstein-on-zoning-kelo-and-the-takings-clause\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":2},"title":"Richard Epstein on zoning, Kelo and the “takings” clause","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. Richard Epstein is my favorite never-happen candidate for the Supreme Court. An expert on the \"takings\" clause of the Fifth Amendment (\"nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation\"), in the linked podcast, hemakes the case that many current zoning restrictions are essentially \"takings\" and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1840,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1840\/flashed-cards-how-direct-marketer-richard-riccelli-turned-his-business-card-into-a-demo-direct-marketing-piece\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":3},"title":"Flashed cards: How direct marketer Richard Riccelli turned his business card into a demo direct marketing piece","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Richard Riccelli is a direct marketing creative genius. Where better to express that genius than on his business card? Says Richard:A website preview and a free offer all on a business card... Each card features a common contact front with a different info back that makes a free offer --\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10111,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10111\/we-are-easy-prey-propositions-three-and-seven-by-richard-mitchell\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":4},"title":"\u201cWe are easy prey\u201d \u2013 Propositions Three and Seven by Richard Mitchell","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Propositions Three and Seven from The Graves of Academe by Richard Mitchell \u00a0In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is, as we all know, king. And across the way, in the country of the witless, the half-wit is king. And why not? It's only natural, and considering the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Mother"","block_context":{"text":"Big Mother","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/big-mother\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/neonbrand-Cmz06-0btw-unsplash-417x480.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2859,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2859\/why-chicks-dig-laand-dallas-and-phoenix-and-denver-and\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":5},"title":"Why chicks dig LA…and Dallas and Phoenix and Denver and…","author":"Richard Riccelli","date":"March 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Depending upon where you sell homes, you now have one powerful reason (of two) to target single, out-of-town buyers (as if Miami realtors need another reason to attract Minneapolis men). Me, I'm staying put in Charleston. But while the numbers may look good, I am furiously mining the data for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Enduring Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Enduring Interest","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/enduring-interest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}