'Breathtaking': It's IN as trash talk on Capitol Hill
Breathtaking. An increasingly common hyperbolic criticism of political opponents.
In everyday life, 鈥渂reathtaking鈥� usually describes something positive, such as or an entertainer鈥檚 show-stopping . Back in 1986, the group Berlin had a with the love song 鈥淭ake My Breath Away,鈥� on the Top Gun soundtrack. But in politics, it鈥檚 often deployed in the opposite fashion, to connote wrongheaded actions on an epic scale.
The Sunlight Foundation鈥檚 鈥淐apitol Words鈥� project, which categorizes language spoken on the floors of the House and Senate from the Congressional Record, shows that 鈥渂reathtaking鈥� has in use over the last five years, with Republicans employing it more often than Democrats.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R) of Texas, a hero of the tea party movement and a probable 2016 presidential candidate, is especially fond of the word. He routinely lambastes President Obama and his administration over what he calls a range of errors that should make anyone gasp. 鈥淭here is a pattern of lawlessness in this administration that is breathtaking,鈥� 聽Senator Cruz, a former Texas solicitor general, on Glenn Beck鈥檚 radio show last year. Asked to elaborate on exactly how Obama had broken the law, Cruz expounded on the chief executive鈥檚 recess appointments as well as provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
Similarly, Cruz on Sean Hannity鈥檚 radio program that Obama鈥檚 overall disregard for the law not only 鈥渋s breathtaking,鈥� but 鈥渄angerous.鈥� And Hannity himself, in criticizing House Republicans last week for passing a 鈥渃lean鈥� funding bill for the Homeland Security Department, instead of using the measure to block the president鈥檚 executive action on immigration,聽 鈥淩epublican leadership has a breathtaking level of fear of being blamed for a government shutdown.鈥� Earlier, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) of Alabama聽聽Hannity that the executive action was 鈥渁 breathtaking overreach of monumental proportions.鈥�
Obama鈥檚 defenders, meanwhile, have used the word to complain about Republicans. 鈥淭he scale of the Republican hypocrisy on the Ebola crisis is breathtaking,鈥� Democratic political consultant Brad Bannon in U.S. News & World Report last October about GOP criticisms of the appointment of Ron Klain as the leader of the administration鈥檚 efforts to fight the disease. And 鈥淩achel Maddow Show鈥� blogger Steve Benen of Republicans seeking an Affordable Care Act alternative if the Supreme Court rules against the law: 鈥淚t takes a breathtaking amount of chutzpah for Republicans to demand an 鈥極bamacare Plan B鈥� from the president and his team in the first place.鈥�
But breathtaking isn鈥檛 always a pejorative. Cruz described support for his fledgling presidential bid that way. 鈥淚鈥檝e been incredibly encouraged by the support I鈥檝e seen,鈥� he said last Saturday outside the Iowa Agricultural Summit, . 鈥淭he support from the grassroots, frankly, has been breathtaking, and the financial support we鈥檝e received from Texas and all across the country.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark write their 'Speaking Politics' blog exclusively for Decoder Voices.聽
