The escalating misuse of “escalate”

By Dennis Byrne
PoliticalMavens

Because ideas in Potomac and media circles travel in packs, we’re now being hounded by the word “escalate” as it applies to the Bush administration’s new policy in Iraq.

Said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.): “Based on the President’s speech, I cannot support his proposed escalation of the war in Iraq.”

Chimed in Sen. John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina: “Escalating the war is a huge mistake.”

MoveOn.Org, never to be outdone, is organizing protests to stop “the escalation.”

There’s only one problem with this chorus. It’s not Bush who is escalating the war.

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