King of the Misnomer

We all know that an organization can name itself anything it wants. Progressive, the auto insurance company, actually lives up to their name by giving away some simple comparative information for free via the Internet in the hopes that it’ll draw more people to evaluate their products. That is “more advanced” than their industry competitors.

But in the world of politics, misnaming organizations is merely a crafty ploy. Perhaps the leading contender in the Misnomer Champion contest could be People for the American Way. I wish I had written this, but Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council does such a good job of it, I’ll just credit his recent email newsletter.

To the surprise of no one, Ralph Neas and his group, People for the American Way (PFAW), came out against Supreme Court nominee John Roberts the other day. PFAW, according to their website, was formed in 1980 when television and movie producer Norman Lear feared that the “Religious Right was determined to impose a radical and extremist agenda.” When it comes to “extremist agendas” it would appear PFAW has cornered the market. The group has opposed “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, restrictions on simulated child pornography, efforts to protect marriage, and displays of the Ten Commandments in public forums.

Do any of those things sound even remotely similar to the views of our nation’s Founding Fathers? No wonder PFAW put a “watch” out on Tony and his organization. This reminds me of the pr0n people who bought whitehouse-dot-com with the plan of tricking people looking for real government information.

Spread the word, PFAW doesn’t stand for our view of the American Way.