Those "Contentious Words" At The NYT, Ctd

From TNC's take on the NYT's cowardice:

Some years ago, I heard a linguist jokingly assert that the differencebetween languages and dialects, was that languages had armies. I am notconvinced that this holds in every case. Nevertheless his point wasthat the labels we affix to things have a direct relationship to power.Throughout the 20th century, unpleasant regimes have made use ofwaterboarding. But they lacked the power of proximity, and thus couldnot cleanse their acts with the white words...