>the use of 'war' for civil matters This has always been the wrong word, yet a favorite going back at least as far as Lyndon Johnson's "War On Poverty". It su

>the use of 'war' for civil matters This has always been the wrong word, yet a favorite going back at least as far as Lyndon Johnson's "War On Poverty". It suggests an "enemy" to be "defeated" -- but the enemy is a monster of our own making. Reform, Reconstruction, or New Deal are more truthful as descriptions, but tend to sound like hard work rather than the quick fix voters crave.