“Vindicated”: that is the new buzzword in American politics. It is being parroted by Democrats, from West Wing spin doctors to recently re-elected dog-catchers. In its origin, it is a commonplace example of political-speak, damage-limitation vocabulary; but it has implications far beyond the current election and, in the long term, has the potential to become, for the Democrats, a lethal example of the law of unintended consequences.
In the short term, “vindicated” is simply intended to promote the Democrats’ “narrative”, in the argot of political PR, that losing control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate is a famous victory. There is nothing surprising about this: it is politics, and politics is about deception. Joe Biden did not get where he is today – nor did any of the 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen – by telling the truth. “Vindicated” is just part of the routine smoke-and-mirrors exercises by which practitioners of the dark art attempt to persuade the public that black is white.
