{"id":1401587,"date":"2026-01-30T09:04:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T14:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/?p=1401587&preview=true&preview_id=1401587"},"modified":"2026-01-30T09:48:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T14:48:45","slug":"column-the-language-we-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/01\/30\/column-the-language-we-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Column: The language we use"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ancient proverbs can be helpful in adjusting our language and behavior in ways that can benefit every generation. They have become ancient because they work.<\/p>\n

One example: \u201cA gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger ” (Proverbs 15:1). It means calm, patient and kind words can de-escalate conflict, while harsh, angry responses provoke further rage. Try it sometime when you are in an argument with someone. Display humility, or say \u201cI can see how you feel that way, but may I share my view?\u201d<\/p>\n

The language we use to communicate with one another can heal or wound, producing positive, or negative results.<\/p>\n

The latest of many examples is language used by President Trump, members of his administration, Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over their differing views on ICE agents seeking to arrest violent criminals.<\/p>\n

President Trump has called Walz\u00a0“Whacked Out”\u00a0and “Grossly Incompetent.\u201d Asked if he would call the governor, Trump said, “Why would I call him? … The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess.”<\/p>\n

He eventually called him. Trump also said Walz and Frey have been \u201cinciting insurrection,\u201d \u201cspreading misinformation\u201d and using \u201cdangerous rhetoric,\u201d such as comparing ICE agents to the Gestapo and Walz comparing children he claimed are afraid to leave their homes to Anne Frank. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called protesters \u201cdomestic terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frey said ICE should \u201cget the f\u2014k\u201d out of Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s use of language, even foul language, to demean and diminish his political opponents is nothing new. Such language diminishes him and the office of the presidency.<\/p>\n

None of this latest exchange of nuclear rhetoric has been helpful in producing a resolution of the tensions or resolving the problem of undocumented immigrants in the city and state. In fact, escalating and using vile rhetoric is guaranteed to make things worse. It can also fire up one\u2019s political base and raise money.<\/p>\n

On this latter point I have two stories. One involved a pastor of a large Florida church who had decided to dabble in politics. He told me of criticism he had received for sending out so many negative letters about how he saw the condition of the country. He decided to try a positive letter and described the response this way: \u201cNo one sent any money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second story is a corollary to the first. I once asked a top fundraiser for conservative causes why he never sent any positive letters to donors. He replied: \u201cYou can\u2019t raise money on a positive.\u201d How cynical is that?<\/p>\n

You might make money and shore up your base by denouncing others and using foul language, but the result is a deeper and wider divide and a hatred of fellow Americans.<\/p>\n

Ronald Reagan may be the best example of how to lower the rhetorical temperature and not make enemies more than one might expect from members of the opposition. Reagan said things like \u201cOur friends on the other side\u201d and \u201cThe trouble with our\u00a0liberal friends\u00a0is not that they\u2019re ignorant, it\u2019s just that they know so much that isn\u2019t so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reagan rarely engaged in personal attacks. It wasn\u2019t his nature, but he also believed he would rather win the issue than demean an opponent. The result? He often got Democrats to work with him on issues important to the country.<\/p>\n

As some of the ICE agents begin to withdraw from Minneapolis, the left will likely claim victory, but at what cost? The original issue of undocumented immigrants, some of whom may be criminals, who remain in Minneapolis and the fraud involving some Somali immigrants and misspent taxpayer money have yet to be resolved. Using better language would be a good place to start.<\/p>\n

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ancient proverbs can be helpful in adjusting our language and behavior in ways that can benefit every generation. They have become ancient because they work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1394919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[44,1],"tags":[],"feature":[],"location":[85],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[8410],"class_list":["post-1401587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-uncategorized","location-michigan"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"44","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":"","print_workflow_exported_ts":"","print_workflow_exported_username":"","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":"","really_short_title":"Cal Thomas column","short_title":"","syndication_source":{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.themorningsun.com\/2026\/01\/30\/column-the-language-we-use","id":"cG9zdDo5Mzc1MTQ=","siteName":"The Morning Sun","syndicationSourceStack":[{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.themorningsun.com\/2026\/01\/30\/column-the-language-we-use","id":"cG9zdDo5Mzc1MTQ=","siteName":"The Morning Sun","sourceUrl":"https:\/\/www.themorningsun.com"}],"source_url":"https:\/\/www.themorningsun.com","print_workflow_exported_ts":true},"market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":1394919,"title":"CalThomas","filename":"CalThomas.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/01\/14\/column-it-depends-on-where-you-stand\/calthomas-3\/","alt":"","author":"14","description":"","caption":"Cal Thomas\n","name":"calthomas-3","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":1394917,"date":1768330850000,"modified":1769784525000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"January 13, 2026","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Column: It depends on where you stand","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":637797,"filesizeHumanReadable":"623 KB","context":"","height":2831,"width":1999,"orientation":"portrait","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":300,"width":212,"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=212","orientation":"portrait"},"large":{"height":1024,"width":723,"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=723","orientation":"portrait"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg","height":2831,"width":1999,"orientation":"portrait"}},"custom_caption":""},"data":[{"id":1394919,"title":"CalThomas","filename":"CalThomas.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/01\/14\/column-it-depends-on-where-you-stand\/calthomas-3\/","alt":"","author":"14","description":"","caption":"Cal Thomas\n","name":"calthomas-3","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":1394917,"date":1768330850000,"modified":1769784525000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"January 13, 2026","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Column: It depends on where you stand","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":637797,"filesizeHumanReadable":"623 KB","context":"","height":2831,"width":1999,"orientation":"portrait","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":300,"width":212,"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=212","orientation":"portrait"},"large":{"height":1024,"width":723,"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=723","orientation":"portrait"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg","height":2831,"width":1999,"orientation":"portrait"}},"custom_caption":""}],"rendered_content":"\"\""},"attachments":[],"authors":[{"ID":923245,"display_name":"Cal Thomas","description":"","first_name":"Cal","last_name":"Thomas","user_nicename":"cal-thomas","user_login":"cal-thomas","user_email":"","type":"guest-author","linked_account":0,"website":"","twitter":"","facebook":"","google_plus":""}],"taxonomies":{"category":[{"term_id":44,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":44,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":4645,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1,"name":"Uncategorized","slug":"uncategorized","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1119,"filter":"raw"}],"location":[{"term_id":85,"name":"Michigan","slug":"michigan","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":85,"taxonomy":"location","description":"","parent":0,"count":12030,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_array":{"id":1394919,"title":"CalThomas","filename":"CalThomas.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/01\/14\/column-it-depends-on-where-you-stand\/calthomas-3\/","alt":"","author":"14","description":"","caption":"Cal Thomas\n","name":"calthomas-3","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":1394917,"date":1768330850000,"modified":1769784525000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"January 13, 2026","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Column: It depends on where you stand","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":637797,"filesizeHumanReadable":"623 KB","context":"","height":2831,"width":1999,"orientation":"portrait","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":300,"width":212,"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=212","orientation":"portrait"},"large":{"height":1024,"width":723,"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=723","orientation":"portrait"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg","height":2831,"width":1999,"orientation":"portrait"}},"custom_caption":""},"syndication_canonical":"https:\/\/www.themorningsun.com\/2026\/01\/30\/column-the-language-we-use\/","parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/thenewsherald.com\/2026\/01\/30\/column-the-language-we-use\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Column: The language we use","url":"http:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/01\/30\/column-the-language-we-use\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/01\/30\/column-the-language-we-use\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg?w=150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CalThomas.jpg"},"articleSection":"Other","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cal Thomas"}],"creator":["Cal Thomas"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The News Herald","logo":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/newsheraldfallback.jpg?w=600"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-01-30T14:04:51Z","datePublished":"2026-01-30T14:04:51Z","dateModified":"2026-01-30T14:48:45Z"},"rendered":"