Speaking Politics phrase of the week: 'My good friend'
鈥淢y good friend鈥�:聽Perhaps the most annoying of political euphemisms, it鈥檚 Congress-speak for someone that the speaker may not be friends with 鈥� and who they may in fact loathe.
鈥淢y good friend鈥� is routinely used on the House and Senate floors when one colleague addresses another. Of the many politicians, aides, lobbyists and scholars that David Mark and I interviewed for 鈥淒og Whistles, Walk-Backs and Washington Handshakes,鈥� most cited this expression as the one that best demonstrates how polite speech masquerades as the truth.
When Rep. Gene Green of Texas (D) arrived on Capitol Hill in the early 1990s, 鈥淭he joke we had was, when someone calls you their good friend, look behind you,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淚 try not to say it unless people really are my good friends.鈥澛�
But Representative Green is the exception. After Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) won his recent primary following his with Donald Trump, Trump running mate Mike Pence 鈥� a former Indiana congressman 鈥� sought to smooth things over. 鈥淐alled my good friend Senator McCain today and offered our congratulations,鈥� Mr. Pence
And with Congress back in town 鈥� albeit 鈥� the exercise in decorum is now being heard all the time. Last week, the House took up a that proponents said would make it easier for small businesses to raise capital by lessening the burdens of securities regulations imposed. Democrats, however, cried foul at their 鈥渇riends.鈥�
鈥淚 feel it is a very dangerous bill,鈥� Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York (D), 鈥渂ut I would also like to point out to my good friends on the other side of the aisle that keep talking about the economy 鈥� that when President Obama took office, this country was shedding 700,000 jobs a month, and because of his leadership and Democratic policies, we have climbed out of that deep red valley of job loss.鈥�
Meanwhile, Orrin Hatch of Utah (R), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, what he called the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 continuing inadequacies. 鈥淢y friends on the other side of the aisle have done their best to downplay our criticisms and minimize every negative story written about the problems with Obamacare,鈥� Hatch said.
The Senate鈥檚 majority and minority leaders, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (R) and Harry Reid of Nevada (D), are known for persisting in using the term despite their toward each other. In 2012 they sat for a 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� piece in which interviewer Steve Kroft they made every attempt to hide their feelings. 鈥淭hey kept saying 鈥� 鈥楳y good friend, Harry鈥� or 鈥楳y good friend, Mitch,鈥� 鈥� Mr. Kroft said.
鈥淔riend,鈥� of course has always been a fungible word in politics 鈥� witness the famous maxim attributed to President Harry Truman (but which he may ): 鈥淚f you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.鈥�
But Washington isn鈥檛 the only place where the expression can have a negative connotation. In his best-selling book 鈥淜itchen Confidential,鈥� chef-turned-cable television star Anthony Bourdain that among restaurant workers, 鈥� 鈥楳y friend鈥� famously means [an expletive for an obnoxious person] in the worst and most sincere sense of that word.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon writes his 鈥淪peaking Politics鈥� blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
Interested in decoding what candidates are saying? Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淒oubletalk: The Language, Code, and Jargon of a Presidential Election,鈥� is out now.聽
