Senator Richard Burr is in trouble for using nouns that describe tangible objects and verbs that describe explicit action, and responding with rational selfish interest to a crisis.

Last week, Burr told a group gathered at the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce a story he’s been telling for awhile about what he told his wife when the economy went south. “‘Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to go tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.’ . . . I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine, the last thing you were going to get was cash.”

Partisan spokesfolks, however, want to convince the media that the public demands “leadership” in the form of lies and glittering generalities, as in, “I am a family man. I care about families. We must hope as a nation. By coming together and speaking with one voice, we can work as a team and make America prosperous.”