Shibboleths

The  Republican nominee for president and former Massachusetts governor Patrick Bateman uttered this during the second presidential debate: "Government does not create jobs! Government does not create jobs!"

Some viewers were confused by this. To most sane people, the evidence of government created jobs is all around them. Whether you look at the members of the armed services, school teachers and firemen, or more indirectly at factory workers at a Lockheed plant or even anyone who works with the internet (created by DARPA).

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No, that statement wasn't meant to relate anything about reality. It was a shibboleth. Shibboleths are words or phrases used to identify outsiders. The word itself is Hebrew and refers to something I can't remember and can easily be found on the DARPAnet. Basically it's something that's hard to say if you don't belong to a certain group. For instance, in WWII American soldiers exchanged the word lollapalooza to make sure that person walking around at night wasn't Japanese, presuming it would be impossible for a Japanese speaker to say. Or it could be obscure knowledge. If I was applying to a job and I knew the boss was a diehard Florida Gator fan, I might gain favor by talking about Steve Spurrier's family or the length of Tim Tebow's cock.

At the moment the candidate invoked that phrase, he was doing poorly in the debate. Fearful that he may be losing voters former governor Bateman tried to reassure his audience that he was one of them. Bateman's candidacy has struggled with the appearance of sincerity. "Is he one of us?" Conservative voters ask. Despite a record indicating a willingness to hold any position to get elected, Bateman insists that his politics are firmly Right-Wing. By uttering nonsensical shibboleths like the one above he is hoping to allay any Conservative suspicion that he is a fraud. A normal person would be too embarrassed to say such a thing in front of the entire nation. We'll see if it works.