An analogical war of attrition

Reporters for CNN and others, while not directly blaming inflamed rhetoric and military metaphors for real-life violence, are denouncing its usage and trying to eliminate it from their mainstream vocabulary.

Bravo! For four years I languished  in J-school classrooms at the hands of Draconian print-media champions, learning of the perils of succumbing to cliched and lazy writing. But old habits die hard. In that same article,

Major Garrett...said that he's been trying to avoid some of the "pugilistic metaphors" and "bombastic clichés" that are prevalent not only on his former network but across cable news. Garrett said that he found himself "less and less journalistically inspired by the tone of the debate on cable and the brevity of the debate" on cable news and decided to return to print journalism. "I've been reprogramming myself ever since," he added.

That reprogramming includes being mindful of using clichés -- describing two political parties as being involved in "trench warfare," for instance. And "since Tucson," he said, "I've really tried to police myself."

Well, well, Garrett: you may want to bunker down and work to excise that verbal shrapnel. Military metaphors may have won this battle, and it appears they're well on their way toward winning the war.