The utterly fatuous phrase “let me be clear,” favored especially by speciously articulate politicians like Barack Obama, is bleated constantly these days. Naturally, nothing that follows this phrase is necessarily clearer than what came before, so its complete otiosity is like a linguistic poke in the eye of those who are forced to hear it. Hopefully, it will soon have run its course as another token of insincerity and be dumped on the scrap heap of history.

MICHAEL SHAPIRO