Criticism grows of feckless politicians who use 'feckless' fecklessly
Politicians increasingly like the word 'feckless,' because it sounds arch and smart. But Sen. John McCain 鈥� a man of undoubted feck 鈥� is the clear king.聽
Politicians increasingly like the word 'feckless,' because it sounds arch and smart. But Sen. John McCain 鈥� a man of undoubted feck 鈥� is the clear king.聽
Feckless:聽A common pejorative political synonym for weak, often to sneer at what鈥檚 seen as an insufficiently muscular foreign policy.
Feckless has found a comfortable home in our insult-driven political environment. The fact that it sounds so much like 鈥渞eckless鈥� undoubtedly has a lot to do with that.
During the Dec. 15 Republican presidential debate, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie drew the red-meat applause that he sought by blasting President Obama as a 鈥渇eckless weakling.鈥� Miriam-Webster.com聽reported that online dictionary lookups rose for the former following Governor Christie鈥檚 remark.
鈥淧eople appear to have a fairly good idea of the meaning of the word weakling, but feckless is more obscure,鈥� the dictionary said, adding that 鈥渇eckless鈥� has been around since the end of the 16th century and means lacking feck, a Scotch word connoting worth or value.
Meanwhile, the insult 鈥� which has been common on conservative websites ever since Mr. Obama took office 鈥� has popped up elsewhere. The Washington Post鈥檚 editorial board took Obama sharply to task for what it called the president鈥檚 lackluster response to Iran鈥檚 provocations since it struck the historic nuclear weapons deal with the United States and other countries this summer, including two missile tests as well as refusing to release long-detained Post reporter Jason Rezaian.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not hard to guess the reasons for this fecklessness,鈥� the Post said. 鈥淧resident Obama is reluctant to do anything that might derail the nuclear deal before Iran carries out its commitments, including uninstalling thousands of centrifuges and diluting or removing tons of enriched uranium.鈥� That led Guy Benson, political editor for the conservative website Townhall.com to run a piece headlined 鈥淲aPo Editorial: Iran is Exploiting Obama's 'Feckless' Foreign Policy.鈥�
In turn, Saturday Night Live鈥檚 Colin Jost used the word to poke fun at Christie over his own political troubles. On a recent 鈥淲eekend Update,鈥� Mr. Jost said sarcastically: 鈥淲hoa, someone got a dictionary for Christmas. I had to look that one up. 鈥楩eckless: inept or irresponsible.鈥� Let鈥檚 see it used in a sentence: 鈥業t would be a feckless attempt at revenge to close three lanes of a bridge in New Jersey.鈥欌��
The Sunlight Foundation鈥檚 peerless CapitolWords.org shows that the usage of 鈥渇eckless鈥� has risen over the past year and a half. The member of Congress who鈥檚 fondest of the word? By far it is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R ) of Arizona, who along with his close friend Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is the chamber鈥檚 most ardent hawk. Senator McCain has used it in connection with his old 2008 opponent鈥檚 approach toward Russia, Syria and just in general when it comes to dealing with other nations.
Chuck McCutcheon writes his "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.