Political language, while crucial to our general understanding of public institutions and policies, is both useful and dangerous. Barack Obama, to take a rather inexpensive example, has paradoxically resembled a socialist and a fascist at different times throughout his Presidency in the eyes of some disgruntled voters. The political Right has even managed to transfigure the term ‘liberal’ into a curse word over the years. More worrying than a slimy campaign slogan here and there, however, is the pressing reality that media outlets are employing political language to inform the American people. Case in point, Iran’s Presidential election.
Hassan Rouhani won 50.7% of about 36 million votes in Iran, and will assume the Presidency come early August. Astonishingly, almost every mainstream media outlet has characterized Rouhani as a ‘moderate,’ despite a track record that speaks much to the contrary. The New York Times headline which reads, ‘Iran Moderate Wins Presidency by a Large Margin,’ is thus grossly misleading at best. Any fair-minded analysis of Hassan Rouhani’s upbringing and political career will fail to staple the term ‘moderate’ to his politics.