Onomatophobia?

It's the fear of a certain word or words. Very much in vogue in the Republican party, and especially in the Bush Administration. It's obviously not the lone phobia on the right side of the Beltway, of course. There's been an epidemic of homophobia, as you know, but you might not be as aware of the recent upswing in poinephobia (fear of punishment), especially from those who associate closely with House Majority Leader Tom Delay. They probably don't have to worry much, though, since it seems that there are still plenty of voters out there suffering from optophobia (fear of opening one's eyes). The recent shameful display by the twelve Senators who refused to be associated with the official apology to African Americans, and others, for failing to outlaw lynching shows that there's still a bit of melanophobia (fear of the color black) mixed with sociophobia (fear of people in general) and phronemophobia (fear of thinking)... which actually makes them "mongrels," in a way. There's some delicious irony in that.

It's not all on their side. When I watch the talk shows and see Vice President Cheney revising history and setting the talking points that will be re-uttered, word for word, by everyone else for the rest of the week (now that he's gotten over his bout with pupaphobia, or fear of puppets), I get a little twitchy. When I see Rumsfeld sweating and repeating Cheney like a parrot an hour later (see "poinephobia"), I get a headache from involuntary rolling of the eyes. But my own phobias truly go on display when the Prez hits the screen, whether it's to commit our troops to endless purgatory (nostophobia, or fear of returning home) or to announce another death sentence for a wilderness area and a contract for a timber company (xylophobia, or fear of forests). Maybe it's that "you can't stop me" cackle of his, or maybe the ease with which he accomplishes these things using such short little words (hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words, but don't ask him to pronounce it because we're almost out of time here). All I know is I end up with a tweaked out case of coulrophobia. And fear of clowns is nothing to laugh at, my friend.