Amused by Government Double-Speak

To the Editor:

I am always amused by "Government Double-Speak."

You know, when something presented to you is actually something else entirely. Only certain people can master this technique and you will find it mainly from those who are or have been an associated worker of the government.

An example of this is the ballot question that Dixfield voters were presented last November. It asked if we favored local regulation to industrial wind projects, but “Government Double-Speak” had it spun into whether we favored industrial wind projects. Is it not logical to assume if you favor industrial wind, than you don’t favor regulations on it, because regulations hinder and cause expense to development?

So, did the voter vote yes to industrial wind or yes to regulations? A real conundrum that only the associated worker can create with skillful double-speak, so that he, the associated worker of government is the only one with ability and authority to solve it. The people vote, the government decides the meaning of your vote at their choosing.

The next amusing Government Double-Speak was pronounced during the last Dixfield select board meeting concerning a citizen letter to the editor in the Rumford Falls Times entitled, “The Value of Citizen Input."

After proclaiming comments from citizens would be a welcome addition to board meetings, the chairman, nonetheless, reverted to double-speak and advocated that the board shall have authority over the topics a citizen is allowed to bring forward. In other words, the chairman said , in one breath, citizen input has value, while, in the next breath, he said the board will predetermine the value.

In essence, his double-speak moved the request nowhere.

Dan McKay,

Dixfield