If I see the word “weaponizing” in a sentence one more time I will either scream, do an eye roll while muttering “Oh my God”, or, at the most extreme, vomit.

In the world of germ warfare, one could direct the mutation of a benign bacterium into a pathogen, thus weaponizing it. OK. That I get.

Usually “weaponizing”, to the unimaginative people working in journalism and politics, means turning a neutral system or program into one such system that works against the political agenda of the complainant. This is usually the complaint of persons out of political power. They lack the ability to direct the bureaucracy, be it local, state, or federal. If they can’t direct the administrative state to suit their ends, it is being used against them. News flash!!!! This is how politics works.

Politics is a power game that we agree to play because it’s cheaper than killing people and blowing up buildings. In other words, politics is preferable to war. It is a game for the civilized or those who would like to be. Think Renaissance courts in Tuscany or Umbria.

So “weaponizing ……” is the new hot, trite phrase. When an op-ed writer uses it, it sounds less like they’re whining, but they really are doing just that. It is what my grandfather would have called “belly-acheing”.