I would to introduce you to one of my favorite Dutch phrases: plaatsvervangende schaamte. Here’s how to pronounce it (no, that’s not me).
So, what does plaatsvervangende schaamte mean (if you haven’t clicked that link above)? It means “place exchanging shame”, or, the shame I feel because you aren’t ashamed of what you’re doing. You know, like when you’re friend is singing terribly but thinks they sound like a pop star?
Or, say, when you’re the biggest newspaper in the most liberal town in the state, and you can’t even find your dignity to choose a candidate to endorse for one of the more important Presenidential races in history. Yet that’s what I feel today for the editorial board at the Ann Arbor News.
Granted, this is the paper that twice endorsed George W. Bush. But, today less than 2 weeks before the election, the AA News endorsed… no one. In 816 words they managed spit out every Republican talking point, most of the Democratic points, a smear or two, and still say absolutely nothing.
As one commenter put it, this is the “coward’s way out”, which indeed it is. We haven’t subscribed to the News in many years and I see there’s no reason to give them another look. What a waste of an opportunity and potential.
Plaatsvervangende schaamte.
You Know What Part 