One of my most leaned-on cliches is “reasonable minds may differ.” I think saying this is a good habit, a reminder of the thing that makes living in a society with more than one political party and more than one religion and more than one official viewpoint possible, which is pluralism or Enlightenment values or classical liberalism or call it what you like. We all think our opinions are the correct ones, or else they wouldn’t be our opinions, but we engage with other perspectives and don’t freak out about the idea that somewhere, somebody may be communicating something we disagree with. Or, at least, that is how it is supposed to work.

The system breaks down somewhat when people insist on the use of language that wins the argument for them. Imagine how confusing it would be if, instead of the Washington Commanders, the football team in the capital had changed its name to the Washington Team That Won the Game. Of course, you can say “The Team That Won the Game lost,” but you now sound pretty unreasonable.