Read My Cliche

By Laurence Zuckerman

George Bush is hardly known for his rhetorical gifts. But his speech at last summer's Republican Convention has already left its mark on the American language -- at least the kind pundits write and speak. Ever since Bush invited the Congress to "read my lips," invoked a "thousand points of light" and promised a "kinder and gentler nation," journalists have become obsessed with the phrases.

"Read my nose," declared NBC News commentator John Chancellor last November, decrying the foul atmosphere of the fall campaign. READ MY LICKS, headlined the Los Angeles Times in a story about the menu for an Inaugural reception this month. Christian Science Monitor reviewer John Beaufort could not resist pointing out the "thousand points of incandescent light" in the lavish Broadway musical Legs Diamond. Last week USA Today ran a story about the pre-Inaugural cleanup of Washington. The headline: A THOUSAND POINTS OF GLEAM.

Most pervasive, however, has been the use of "kinder, gentler." Since August, journalists have conjured up the images of a kinder, gentler Congress, Soviet Union, FCC, sitcom and leveraged buyout. The Washington Post even reported that the IRS was preparing a "kinder, gentler 1040." New York Times columnist William Safire feels that the epidemic (to which TIME itself has not been immune) has taken hold because journalists need such pithy lines to play on. Says Safire: "It's catnip, and we're all cats."

Of course, the press is not entirely to blame: politicians are overusing the phrases too. Asked how his meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev was going during last month's minisummit, President Reagan replied, "Read our smiles," a line that turned up on the next day's front pages. New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who faces a tough re-election fight, recently promised reporters -- you guessed it -- a "kinder, gentler Ed Koch." But just in case the President- elect is growing tired of his own cliches, help is on the way: Peggy Noonan, the writer who penned his New Orleans speech, is currently honing a new batch for the Inaugural Address. And none too soon.