PJ Media

PJ Mediahttps://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2009/06/02/dont-tell-me-words-dont-matter/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 14:02:12 -0400"Don't Tell Me Words Don't Matter"<![CDATA[Michael Totten at Instapundit asks whether Egypt is really the best place from which Barack Obama should address the Muslim world. Because Egypt is governed by an authoritarian regime, it may be a bad choice for symbolic reasons. J. Scott Carpenter at Middle East Strategy at Harvard implicity raises the same question, pointing out how tentative and lukewarm US support for democracy has been. In a piece called “Ditching Democracy in Egypt”, Carpenter writes about how democracy is in danger of becoming a “Bush word” at the State Department. A “well-placed source at the State Department recently told me that in his bureau, they were no longer to use the words ‘freedom and democracy’ in speeches. ‘Those are Bush words,’ he was told. No. They are not. They are American words as Secretary Clinton herself makes clear.”]]>Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:51:35 -0400<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2009/06/02/dont-tell-me-words-dont-matter-n188398