Seventy-two years ago today, for the first time ever, the Emperor of Japan spoke to his subjects on nationwide radio. “Circumstances in the world conflict have proceeded in a manner not necessarily to our advantage,” he said. That was perhaps the greatest example of euphemism and circumlocution in history. What the emperor was really saying was “we have lost World War II, and we have no choice except to surrender.” I thought of this in the aftermath of the terrible events in Virginia, where a messed-up character obsessed with Nazis apparently drove his car into a group of people, killing one young woman and injuring many more people.