Anthony Dick’s review of George Lakoff’s latest book is a must-read for anyone who is tired of the left’s obsession with “framing”:

“Extensive” is a fitting word for what Lakoff advocates in the name of freedom. For the sake of “freedom from want,” he deduces the necessity of “Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, public housing, homeless shelters.” To secure “freedom from harm via disease, unhealthy food, and dangerous pharmaceuticals,” he calls for “food inspectors, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control.”
By the time Lakoff gets to this point, it hardly comes as a surprise that his conception of “freedom” has boiled down to nothing more than a left-wing wish list of big-government programs. As you wade through his book, you steadily develop the sense that it is something quite different from a serious analysis of the concept of freedom. It is instead a how-to guide for left-wing rhetoric — an exhibition of how progressives can manipulate language to advance their political agenda. At one point Lakoff boasts: “You give me a progressive issue, and I’ll tell you how it comes down to a matter of freedom.”

Such modesty understates his true prowess. Actually, Lakoff can fashion any political concept into a weapon for the progressive cause. He’s like the Jack Bauer of meaningless gibberish.