Insurgency

What exactly is an "insurgent" anyway? Our good friends over at Dictionary.com will tell you that it is "Rising in revolt against established authority, especially a government." The entry goes on: "a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions) [syn: insurrectionist, freedom fighter, rebel]."
Hold on there. Did they say"rebel?" Did they say "freedom fighter?" Wasn't that Paul Revere? Wasn't that George Washington? Wasn't that Luke Skywalker? I'm afraid that the war of words continues to be lost on the vaguely literate. At least we've stopped referring to people fighting in their own country as "terrorists."
Near the end of the page, the wordsmiths at Dictionary. com add this to the mix: "a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment [syn: guerrilla, guerilla, irregular]." This reminds me of a particularly amusing bit by Bill Cosby did (on his album "Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow - Right!") about having a coin toss before a war begins. Since we won the coin toss in the Revolutionary War, we got to pick the rules: “We say that our team gets to wear buckskin jackets and coonskin caps, and shoot from behind the rocks and trees and fences. We say that your team must wear bright red, and march in a straight line.” Sounds like insurgents to me. And who are the guys marching in a straight line?
Once again, sleep tight, America.