In this morning’s Albuquerque Journal, Jeff Jones reports on Nancy Pelosi’s visit to a campaign rally for Patricia Madrid. His story includes a comment from Heather Wilson spokesman Enrique Carlos Knell.
First, here is Jones’ set up line:
"And Knell had other sharp words for Madrid and Pelosi."
Now the paragraph that follows:
"Nancy Pelosi is a liberal with a liberal agenda," Knell said of the California Democrat and minority leader who could become speaker of the House if Democrats win a majority in November. "And she aggressively recruited fellow liberal Patricia Madrid to run for Congress so they can advance their liberal agenda together."
It’s clear that the "sharp words" are "liberal" and, maybe, "liberal agenda."
Was Jones smiling as he wrote "sharp words" or was he perfectly serious?
I don’t know. But characterizing those words as "sharp" is justified.
So long as liberals duck, bob and weave, rather than proudly identifying with the term, Republicans and their friends who dominate our news mediums will use the term as if it’s a bad word.
And reporters like Jones will properly characterize it as "sharp." Smiling, maybe, or perfectly serious.