Letter: The power of a name

I saw the Aug. 20 cartoon by Jeff Koterba with the bemusement that comes with familiarity. Had Bush II and Cheney labeled the USA Patriot Act something more accurately descriptive like "Expansion of Government Surveillance of Citizens Act" there would have been protests in the streets.

When involved in the agricultural chemical supply industry in the mid 1990s, I attended an educational session by reps from the Nebraska Farm Bureau and the Agriculture Department of the University of Nebraska. After the presentation, one of our group asked an unrelated question along the line of, "We have seen changes in the patterns of when farmers are making purchases, in particular making them earlier in the season. Is this related to this global warming thing we're hearing about?"

The response was: "Don't call it global warming. Growers know it's real and have started adapting. Nobody sees it clearer. But when we call it "global warming," they will tell you it was cool yesterday so it's not happening and shut down." And soon we started hearing about "climate change."

If calling this new bill "Anything But Action on Climate Change" makes it more sellable, so be it.

Paul Bruno

Gurnee