A New Adjective

Bill Frist and intelligent design....strange bedfellows. A doctor, trained at the highest levels of the American university system, now sees fit to reject that knowledge and declare himself in favor of a primitive form of mythological allegory. The good doctor is now in favor of the ridiculous rather than the rational because of his desire to expose people to the "broad range of fact, of science, including faith". An occasion like this requires more than just ironic putdowns or the odd sarcastic comment. It requires a new adjective.

I propose that the word "Fristian" enter the American idiom. The word itself would refer to any person who bargains away their personal integrity for short-term access to power. Similar in feel and tone to the word "Faustian", this word would also be used to help illustrate the potentially painful consequences involved in immoral compromise. Unlike the tragic central figure in Goethe's masterwork (whose deal with the infernal brings self-destruction), the Fristian individual manages to succeed in their various intellectual charades due to a combination of Mesmer's techniques and a paralyzing blandness. Other indicators of Fristian characteristics involve a strong tendency towards sanctimonious pronouncements and a willingness to ignore scientific fact in order to agree with your boss.

One day, GW Bush may decide that the sun rises out of his closet at the ranch in Crawford, TX; he may say that his preacher recommends using ice cream for deodorant; or perhaps he may arrive at the conclusion that anthrax tastes better in coffee than sugar. Either way he can be confident that the Senate's Doctor will back up his claims. Harvard Medical School must be very proud to have such an alumnus, one who feels entitled to readily dismiss the sciences of geology and anthropology in order that he might assure himself of the potential votes of millions of mental defectives when he seeks higher office.