Some of my friends will occasionally either quote from editorial columns they have read or in some cases even provided the link to them. I usually don't attempt this. But the Thomas Friedman (NYTimes) column dated I think Nov 22 but in the San Antonio paper on Nov 26 is well worth reading. So I will attempt either to link it or cite the URL.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/opinion/22friedman.html?_r=1

Hey, the little icon above worked !

(Warning , this is NOT an anti-Obama right-wing rant.)

Language Inflation __ Part Deux

During the Viet Nam Conflict (or did it, too, suffer from language inflation and become a "War" even though war was never formally declared) the elite Army units were known as the "Green Berets". There was a song written about them. John Wayne starred in a movie about them. They were big stuff.
Today seemingly every podunk average infantry outfit in the US military now sports berets. {I was reminded of this this week during the several press conferences held by the Commander at Fort Hood}. Now the beret is standard issue for many military purposes. Yet at one time it was exclusive, special. I'm not denigrating Fort Hood, just the fact that standard issue military headdress is no longer the norm.