Download PDF of this full issue: v14n4.pdf (8.4 MB)

New Feature: Reaganspeak

By VVAW

(This issue, THE VETERAN is starting a new feature. It is called "Reaganspeak" and its aim is to give Reagan and others and outlet to share their views with the readers of THE VETERAN. Despite the name, "Reaganspeak" is not a new phenomenon; George Orwell introduced the term "newspeak" in 1984 and Reagan is just continuing a long tradition. Probably the most famous example is from Vietnam where a "tactical withdrawal" became a fancy way of changing the truth—it simply meant "retreat."

THE VETERAN calls this fashionable method of telling lies "Reaganspeak" in honor of the person who has elevated "Newspeak" to new heights.

Each issue of THE VETERAN will carry the best new example sent in; the person who submits the entry chosen (and these are real quotes) can win a free subscription to THE VETERAN. The first winner—since he thought up the contest is—Ed Damato of Brooklyn, NY, for the following entry).

A top federal housing official said that many Hispanic families live in crowded conditions because of "cultural preference," it was reported.

HUD Under-Secretary Philip Abrams, the #2 official in his department, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying he does not believe Hispanics might be living in crowded homes because of poverty.

"I don't think so," Abrams said. "I'm told that they don't mind and they prefer, some prefer, doubling up. That is, as I found out, characteristic of Hispanic communities, irrelevant to their social (and) economic conditions. It's a cultural preference, I'm told."

Representative Robert Garcia (D-Bronx), chairman of the Hispanic Caucus in Congress, said: "This is really a racist remark. These people have no concept of what is going on in America. They really live in another world."