What I just mailed

From "Obama Lied, the Economy Died" …

"Most importantly, I chose to separate the two clauses with a semicolon rather than a comma because the rule of grammar is that a semicolon rather than a comma) should be used between closely related independent clauses not conjoined with a coordinating conjunction."

Well, that's the general practice in formal writing, and there are good reasons for it. However, separating independent clauses with a comma instead of a semicolon or conjunction is a rhetorical device with a fine pedigree; it's known as asyndeton, and is commonly used for short clauses which are closely related. (It's also used when a conjunction is omitted from a list of noun or verb phrases.) American readers should recognise this famous case of asyndeton: "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground." (Note how semicolons would screw up this sentence by making the phrase "this ground" seem to apply only to the last clause.) A more common and colloquial example is "Walk, don't run."

"In the age of Barack Obama, there is little more important than maintaining the integrity of our language - against the onslaught of Orwellian language abuse that is already a babbling brook, and will soon be a cataract of verbal deception."

Ironically, Orwell railed against the use of cliched metaphor in "Politics and the English Language".