I have been ridiculed by the media and my opponents for defining the enemy Islamic fascism – they say words don’t matter. But words do matter because words are what define the enemy we confront.  Words are needed for Americans to comprehend what motivates the deeds that the enemy is planning, so we can effectively defeat them. ~Rick Santorum

Which is why you don’t use the words “Islamic fascism”!  Obviously, no one I know of has objected to this phrase by claiming that words don’t matter.  It is because they are the wrong words, misleading words, confusing words, that deemphasise the religious fanaticism of the jihadi and pretend that we are, once again, fighting Arab and Pashtun versions of hypernationalists from Italy in a conventional war against modern nation-states full of Axis-like enemies.  Words are very important, which is why Santorum’s insistence on using words that do not reflect reality is so troubling and so frustrating.