I had a good laugh watching this video of Ben Shapiro’s reaction to Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) politically correct prayer at the opening of the 1st session of the 117th Congress on Sunday.

In case you missed it, Cleaver (who is an ordained minister) ended the prayer by saying, “Amen. And A-women.”

Cleaver was making a playful reference to Nancy Pelosi and James McGovern’s proposal of a new rules package regarding the use of “gender-inclusive language” in the House. But Shapiro took him seriously and called it the single stupidest thing he’d ever heard. He explained that the word “amen” is derived from Hebrew via Greek and Latin, and its meaning has nothing to do with men. What he did not explain is that the words “man” and “men” are derived from Old English, have their roots in German, and meant, even back then, “person” and “people.”

The war on words has had a long history of incredibly stupid causes – every bit as stupid as a-woman. That’s because the war on words is a political war, a war for power. And if you are a politician ,you must abide by the golden rule of politics: The ends justify the means.

Number Two Son made fun of my laughter, saying, “Boy, you Conservatives are like snowflakes when it comes to language.”

I said, “As you know from reading your George Orwell, words matter. Words matter because words influence thought. And thought influences political ideas. And political ideas are the keys to power.”