WEBVTT 00:00:00.666 --> 00:00:04.247 One of my favorite words in the whole of the Oxford English Dictionary 00:00:04.271 --> 00:00:06.114 is "snollygoster," 00:00:06.138 --> 00:00:07.784 just because it sounds so good. 00:00:07.808 --> 00:00:11.197 And what snollygoster means is "a dishonest politician." 00:00:12.116 --> 00:00:14.646 Although there was a 19th-century newspaper editor 00:00:14.670 --> 00:00:16.703 who defined it rather better when he said, 00:00:16.727 --> 00:00:19.243 "A snollygoster is a fellow who seeks office 00:00:19.267 --> 00:00:22.850 regardless of party, platform or principle, 00:00:22.874 --> 00:00:24.382 and who, when he wins, 00:00:24.406 --> 00:00:29.630 gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnancy." NOTE Paragraph 00:00:29.654 --> 00:00:31.183 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:00:31.207 --> 00:00:33.305 Now, I have no idea what "talknophical" is. 00:00:33.329 --> 00:00:35.131 Something to do with words, I assume. 00:00:35.155 --> 00:00:38.430 But it's very important that words are at the center of politics, 00:00:38.454 --> 00:00:41.659 and all politicians know they have to try and control language. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:41.683 --> 00:00:44.711 It wasn't until, for example, 1771 00:00:44.735 --> 00:00:49.158 that the British Parliament allowed newspapers to report 00:00:49.182 --> 00:00:51.954 the exact words that were said in the debating chamber. 00:00:52.454 --> 00:00:54.751 And this was actually all down to the bravery 00:00:54.775 --> 00:00:58.084 of a guy with the extraordinary name of Brass Crosby, 00:00:58.108 --> 00:00:59.834 who took on Parliament. 00:00:59.858 --> 00:01:01.936 And he was thrown into the Tower of London 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:04.054 and imprisoned, 00:01:04.078 --> 00:01:06.887 but he was brave enough, 00:01:06.911 --> 00:01:09.390 he was brave enough to take them on, and in the end, 00:01:09.414 --> 00:01:11.849 he had such popular support in London that he won. 00:01:11.873 --> 00:01:13.636 And it was only a few years later 00:01:13.660 --> 00:01:18.531 that we have the first recorded use of the phrase "as bold as brass." 00:01:19.061 --> 00:01:21.085 Most people think that's down to the metal. 00:01:21.109 --> 00:01:24.939 It's not; it's down to a campaigner for the freedom of the press. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:25.551 --> 00:01:29.737 But to really show you how words and politics interact, 00:01:29.761 --> 00:01:32.381 I want to take you back to the United States of America, 00:01:32.405 --> 00:01:34.769 just after they'd achieved independence. 00:01:35.209 --> 00:01:36.957 And they had to face the question 00:01:36.981 --> 00:01:39.686 of what to call George Washington, their leader. 00:01:39.710 --> 00:01:40.966 They didn't know. 00:01:40.990 --> 00:01:43.946 What do you call the leader of a republican country? NOTE Paragraph 00:01:44.335 --> 00:01:47.202 And this was debated in Congress for ages and ages. 00:01:47.226 --> 00:01:49.758 And there were all sorts of suggestions on the table, 00:01:49.782 --> 00:01:50.977 which might have made it. 00:01:51.001 --> 00:01:53.238 I mean, some people wanted him to be called 00:01:53.262 --> 00:01:55.052 "Chief Magistrate Washington," 00:01:55.076 --> 00:01:57.565 and other people, "His Highness, George Washington," 00:01:57.589 --> 00:01:58.823 and other people, 00:01:58.847 --> 00:02:01.605 "Protector of the Liberties 00:02:01.629 --> 00:02:04.680 of the People of the United States of America Washington." 00:02:04.704 --> 00:02:06.040 Not that catchy. 00:02:06.347 --> 00:02:08.781 Some people just wanted to call him king -- 00:02:08.805 --> 00:02:10.311 it was tried and tested. 00:02:10.335 --> 00:02:12.065 They weren't even being monarchical, 00:02:12.089 --> 00:02:15.303 they had the idea that you could be elected king for a fixed term. 00:02:15.327 --> 00:02:17.591 And, you know, it could have worked. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:17.615 --> 00:02:19.473 And everybody got insanely bored, 00:02:19.497 --> 00:02:21.571 because this debate went on for three weeks. 00:02:21.595 --> 00:02:24.585 I read a diary of this poor senator who just keeps coming back, 00:02:24.609 --> 00:02:25.857 "Still on this subject." 00:02:25.881 --> 00:02:28.410 And the reason for the delay and the boredom 00:02:28.434 --> 00:02:32.049 was that the House of Representatives were against the Senate. 00:02:32.073 --> 00:02:36.290 The House of Representatives didn't want Washington to get drunk on power. 00:02:36.314 --> 00:02:39.401 They didn't want to call him "king," in case that gave him ideas, 00:02:39.425 --> 00:02:40.765 or his successor ideas. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:40.789 --> 00:02:43.936 So they wanted to give him the humblest, meagerest, 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:46.607 most pathetic title that they could think of. 00:02:47.356 --> 00:02:48.586 And that title ... 00:02:49.444 --> 00:02:50.839 was "President." NOTE Paragraph 00:02:50.863 --> 00:02:52.927 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:02:52.951 --> 00:02:54.978 "President." They didn't invent the title. 00:02:55.002 --> 00:02:56.324 I mean, it existed before, 00:02:56.348 --> 00:02:59.013 but it just meant somebody who presides over a meeting. 00:02:59.037 --> 00:03:00.920 It was like the foreman of the jury. 00:03:00.944 --> 00:03:02.780 And it didn't have much more grandeur 00:03:02.804 --> 00:03:04.658 than the term "foreman" or "overseer." 00:03:04.682 --> 00:03:07.555 There were occasional presidents of little colonial councils 00:03:07.579 --> 00:03:08.751 and bits of government, 00:03:08.775 --> 00:03:10.540 but it was really a nothing title. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:13.000 And that's why the Senate objected to it. 00:03:13.024 --> 00:03:16.773 They said, "That's ridiculous! You can't call him 'President.' 00:03:16.797 --> 00:03:20.216 This guy has to go and sign treaties and meet foreign dignitaries. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.795 Who's going to take him seriously if he's got a silly little title 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:26.460 like 'President of the United States of America'?" NOTE Paragraph 00:03:26.484 --> 00:03:27.495 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:03:27.519 --> 00:03:29.951 And after three weeks of debate, in the end, 00:03:31.287 --> 00:03:33.985 the Senate did not cave in. 00:03:35.366 --> 00:03:40.226 Instead, they agreed to use the title "President" for now. 00:03:41.056 --> 00:03:43.840 But they also wanted it absolutely set down 00:03:43.864 --> 00:03:45.681 that they didn't agree with it, 00:03:46.969 --> 00:03:52.418 from a decent respect for the opinions and practice of civilized nations, 00:03:52.442 --> 00:03:56.246 whether under republican or monarchical forms of government, 00:03:56.270 --> 00:03:58.384 whose custom it is to annex, 00:03:58.408 --> 00:04:00.424 through the office of the Chief Magistrate, 00:04:00.448 --> 00:04:02.579 titles of respectability -- 00:04:03.252 --> 00:04:04.499 not bloody "President." 00:04:05.382 --> 00:04:08.104 And that, in the intercourse with foreign nations, 00:04:09.010 --> 00:04:12.257 the majesty of the people of the United States 00:04:12.281 --> 00:04:16.264 may not be hazarded by an appearance of singularity -- 00:04:16.288 --> 00:04:18.700 i.e., we don't want to look like bloody weirdos. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:20.485 --> 00:04:23.090 Now, you can learn three interesting things from this. 00:04:23.114 --> 00:04:25.311 First of all -- and this is my favorite -- 00:04:25.335 --> 00:04:27.771 is that, so far as I've ever been able to find out, 00:04:27.795 --> 00:04:32.099 the Senate has never formally endorsed the title of President. 00:04:33.091 --> 00:04:36.010 Barack Obama, President Obama, is there on borrowed time, 00:04:36.034 --> 00:04:39.174 just waiting for the Senate to spring into action. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:39.198 --> 00:04:40.444 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:04:40.468 --> 00:04:41.920 The second thing you can learn 00:04:41.944 --> 00:04:45.164 is that, when a government says that this is a temporary measure -- NOTE Paragraph 00:04:45.188 --> 00:04:47.556 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:04:47.580 --> 00:04:51.951 you can still be waiting 223 years later. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:52.854 --> 00:04:56.370 But the third thing you can learn -- and this is the really important one, 00:04:56.394 --> 00:04:58.118 the point I want to leave you on -- 00:04:58.142 --> 00:05:02.074 is that the title, "President of the United States of America," 00:05:02.098 --> 00:05:05.403 doesn't sound that humble at all these days, does it? 00:05:06.244 --> 00:05:09.443 Something to do with the slightly over 5,000 00:05:09.467 --> 00:05:11.717 nuclear warheads he has at his disposal 00:05:11.741 --> 00:05:13.914 and the largest economy in the world 00:05:13.938 --> 00:05:16.457 and a fleet of drones and all that sort of stuff. 00:05:17.537 --> 00:05:23.506 Reality and history have endowed that title with grandeur. 00:05:24.491 --> 00:05:26.109 And so the Senate won in the end. 00:05:26.133 --> 00:05:28.561 They got their title of respectability. 00:05:28.585 --> 00:05:32.121 And also, the Senate's other worry, the appearance of singularity -- 00:05:32.145 --> 00:05:34.269 well, it was a singularity back then. 00:05:34.293 --> 00:05:37.142 But now, do you know how many nations have a president? 00:05:37.166 --> 00:05:38.949 A hundred and forty-seven. 00:05:39.512 --> 00:05:41.523 All because they want to sound like the guy 00:05:41.547 --> 00:05:44.099 who's got the 5,000 nuclear warheads, etc. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:46.155 --> 00:05:49.034 And so, in the end, the Senate won 00:05:49.058 --> 00:05:51.515 and the House of Representatives lost ... 00:05:52.563 --> 00:05:55.079 because nobody's going to feel that humble 00:05:55.103 --> 00:05:56.790 when they're told that they are now 00:05:56.814 --> 00:05:59.846 the President of the United States of America. 00:06:01.243 --> 00:06:04.009 And that's the important lesson I think you can take away, 00:06:04.033 --> 00:06:05.808 and the one I want to leave you with. 00:06:05.832 --> 00:06:09.626 Politicians try to pick and use words to shape and control reality, 00:06:09.650 --> 00:06:11.308 but in fact, 00:06:11.332 --> 00:06:16.512 reality changes words far more than words can ever change reality. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:17.242 --> 00:06:18.507 Thank you very much.