Today's Tricky Code Talkers

            While the first use of Code Talkers in military operations came in 1918, we usually think of them as the Navajo patriots who helped U.S. Marines during World War Two.   With their native language based code, they saved thousands of lives and helped our country prevail in countless battles.  They were heroes among heroes.

            Today's America has code talkers, but many people don't know about them.  They use ordinary English words that have a special meaning for careful listeners.  I got a letter from one recently.  It explained my code talker's exact intentions, expecting all the while to convey a very different, superficial meaning.  The real 'clinger' in the letter was the idea that in dealing with runaway spending, congress is the crusader and not the runaway spender.  My Rep probably thought I wouldn't notice all those tax breaks that fritter away America's prosperity.  The message about an urgent need for spending reform was code for, “Keep the tax breaks and cut spending on food for the hungry, Medicaid and Social Security!”  You have probably gotten one of these boiler-plate letters from your code talker.  They are ubiquitous.  Code talkers know the messages don't have to be true to have an impact, just relentless.  So every speech, every letter, every slanted survey gets the treatment.

            Twenty-first century code talkers exhibit less empathy for Americans in need than for the comfort of the oligarchs who spend millions to get them elected.  And you may have noticed that the ones they got elected to congress haven't moved the needle for most of us.  They have instead been busily against affordable health care, job creation, safety net programs, and a decent living wage, except for themselves.   Their behavior may be a shameful insult to the altruism of the original Code Talkers, but it fools a lot of people, and it attracts big money.