State senate majority leader: Vietnam War was "genocide"

Another example (as if Ward Churchill and his ilk hadn't provided plenty) of how the word means just about anything, and therefore almost nothing. The Post:

A state senator received a sharp rebuke from some of his colleagues on the Senate floor Thursday after he compared the Vietnam War to genocide.

Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon’s comments came during discussion on a resolution in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of the early 1900s. Gordon said it was important to remember the genocide and how all genocides are preceded by an attempt to dehumanize the targeted group.

He then mentioned the Holocaust, the campaigns against American Indians and the Vietnam War and quoted an ethnic slur that American soldiers called the Vietnamese people.

“People can't kill other people in large numbers who they think are human beings,” Gordon, a Denver Democrat, said.

After being rebuked by several senate Republicans, Gordon apologized.