What Dictates How a Ruler Is Described
David Boaz of Cato at Liberty catches The Wall Street Journal succumbing briefly to doublespeak in an obituary (link to WSJ requires subscription; 2nd obit at link):
Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, the military strongman who ruled Paraguay from 1954 until 1989. Among 20th century Latin American leaders, only Cuban President Fidel Castro has served longer.
As Boaz notes: “Why is Stroessner a ‘military strongman’ while Castro is ‘Cuban President’? Both came to power through bullets, not ballots, and ruled with an iron hand.”
Why indeed?
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