Strung out on slippery slopes

I'm at the end of my rope when it comes to the slippery slope.

And this election year, the slope has gained traction.

There are all the slopes that send us sliding toward the dark reaches of socialism - health care reform, auto industry bailout, efforts to stop foreclosures, cap and trade, Cash for Clunkers, etc.

There are the slopes that will carry us to cultural ruin - immigration reform, same-sex marriage, legalized marijuana, high-fructose corn syrup, etc.

Who knew a country that survived a civil war, world wars, depressions, etc., could be knocked out cold by so many different punches. A glass-jawed USA? No way.

Iowa has been particularly slippery. The state Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling, we're told, has put us on a path to a freedom-less state ruled by robed tyrants determined to issue unpopular rulings. “This is a very, very slippery slope ...,” said Bob Vander Plaats, who wants to unseat three justices up for retention.

Criticism and opposition, even strenuous opposition, are healthy. And some actions do lead directly to unwanted consequences.

The key word is directly.

It's those big leaps we need to worry about.

Why do we feel the need to deploy the end-of-the-world argument so swiftly? Maybe try “I understand your points, but I'm afraid you're mistaken.”

It's like we just can't resist going first-strike nuclear on our opponents anymore. Couldn't we warm up a little first? I'm afraid we're going to pull something.

And worst of all, I feel like we're on a slippery slope to more slippery slopes. Slopes even more slippery than today's slopes. Great, now I'm doing it.

Maybe if we find the origin, we can learn how to stop it.

The late New York Times word sleuth William Safire wrote in 2006 that “slippery slope” may have made its first U.S. appearance in Will Thompson's 1888 poem “High Tide at Gettysburg.” Thompson wrote of Union troops bravely holding their line: “They smote and stood, who held the hope/Of nations on that slippery slope.”

Then came an 1894 appearance in the Davenport, Iowa, Daily Leader: “John Rademaker has an elastic and sympathetic auricular appendage” - that's an ear, Safire noted - “that is always wide open to the reputable men in the profession who get stuck on the slippery slope.” If only the writer had chosen “treacherous incline.”

But I'm afraid slippery slope is stuck in our language as long as weak hyperbole passes for strong argument. And I see no sign of that ending anytime soon.

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