Neocon Bingo
9 o'clock, February 6, 2004
About a decade ago, I invented a game with a colleague of mine who, like me, had once worked for Irving Kristol. We called it neoconservative bingo. The idea was that the clichés of neoconservative discourse would be arranged in various combinations on bingo cards: “The World's Only Superpower"; “The New Class”; “The China Threat”; “Decadent Europe”; “Against the UN”; “The Adversary Culture”; “The Global Democratic Revolution”; “Down With the Appeasers!”; “Be Firm Like Churchill.” The free space in the center of the bingo card would be “The Palestinian People Do Not Exist” (nowadays it would be “No Palestinian State” or “All Palestinians Are Terrorists”). As you read an essay or a book by a neoconservative, you would check off each slogan on the card in the order in which it appeared.
—— Michael Lind, “A Tragedy of Errors”, The Nation, Feb. 2004
Sounds like 'Bullshit Bingo',
Where current Business Buzzwords are arrayed.
- ROI, TCO, Time to market, go to market,
Some oldie but goodies:
- germane (popular in the 80's)
- 'user friendly' (popular in the *early* 80's)
- 'Internet speed'
...