In Illustrious Company with Some of the Worst Amongst Us...

Etymology. The study of words. Where do words come from? How did they evolve? What are their meanings? An interesting thought-trail for sure.

"Enemies of the People." It's been rattling around in my head.  A phrase "fraught" with meaning. A pretty unique string of words. A charged phrase, with a rich history. This New York Times article takes us through the history of this phrase, who has used it, and when.

Seems Nikita Krushchev thought the phrase was just too "toxic" to use. Usually if a strongman, a leader, a person in a position of power uses the term "enemies of the people," the next step is to round folks up, to ship them out to a work camp, or a Gulag, or put them up against the wall for shooting, or using some other means of "neutralizing" them - guillotine, hanging, etc.

Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong - they all used this phrase to target specific people. Once you become an enemy of the people, you are fair game. When it comes to Autocrats: “formulas of insult, humiliation, domination, branding, enemy-forming and name calling are always the same.”

So it's true, our so-called President is in illustrious company with some of the worst amongst us. When you label a FREE Press as "enemies of the people" you are throwing down a marker, a statement, drawing a firm line in the sand.

Words have consequences, have meanings... and once spoken, can not be taken back... some things are clear... words reveal so much...