Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, and innuendoes in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, New Year’s edition, January, 2014.

agitprop: any Democractic policy statement or any op-ed piece criticizing Tea Party positions. Anything the Dems say is propaganda; anything the Tea Party says is public policy and common sense.

anticapitalists: environmentalists.

card: any Democratic moral position. Always a cynical ploy, as in “playing the race card”. which currently characterized as being in the same suit and hand as other Democratic “cards”: fairness, victimhood, equality, justice. Away to demean all of these moral claims, and demote them to self-serving propaganda status.

civic courtesy: the indecent lack of grace Democrats exhibit every time they criticize the GOP.

consequences: often used by the GOP as a pejorative term for outcomes. “Consequences” are almost always connoted as negative–as in the phrase, “truth or consequences”. Thus, for example, the ACA is said to have nothing but “negative consequences,” whereas tax cuts have nothing but stimulative effects and positive economic outcomes.

cooperation: the new euphemism for competition.

crowd: any Democratic or liberal advocacy group,  always a nefarious, corrupt, and self-serving. e.g.: “the global warming crowd”.

disincentivizing: the overall effect of any government aid programs the GOP opposes, from unemployment benefits to food stamps. Government “handouts” are the opposite of the only force known to truly incentivize: the “free” market. Only regulation and social welfare are holding back a truly Darwinian social, moral and economic golden age.

envy: the main motivating force behind any attempts to raise taxes, regulate markets, bring charges or fines against financial institutions, or offer any form of social welfare.

favoritism:  the main motivating force for any policies helping unions and teachers. Tax breaks for Big Oil, on the other hand, are seen as neutral or even rational ways to stimulate the “free” market.

gambit: any Democratic policy initiative. Dem public policy is always propagandistic, thus nothing but a ploy.

gliding:  the aloof, “lazy” trait of Obama (when he isn’t actively trying to overturn the capitalist system). In foreign policy, Obama is said to be “gliding” when he refrains from potentially counter-productive  interventions, as in “leading from behind”. In political policy terms. he is accused of this whenever he defers to Congress, takes a vacation, or uses any of the perks of office.

hand wringing: any criticism of aggressive, interventionist foreign policy, or of any “sentimental” attempts to help the poor or needy.

lesser mortals: always used sneeringly in reference to Obama’s  hauteur. Obama is always accused of aloofly “talking down” to us “lesser mortals” whenever he makes a moral assertion, especially when pointing out inequalities. Synonyms in this word family include aloof, grandiose, preening, and arrogant.

moral relativism: a perennial GOP rhetorical meme, still employed to attack government policies protecting free speech, religious diversity, and human rights. Thus, for example, the so-called “War on Christmas” is seen as a leveling attempt at relativism, whereas Christmas itself is an absolute–just as Santa is, of course, a white man. The current debate over mandating birth control insurance coverage by Catholic  employers is also contextualized as a form of moral relativism, as if a belief in a woman’s right to choose is not a “moral” position.

narcissism: one of academia’s main character traits, (along with “an obsession with victimhood” and the drive to reduce everything to race and class politics). Rhetorically linked to “moral relativism”. What society’s “takers”are indulging in when they try to redress “oppression”.

rogue: an adjective used to describe any deviation from Tea Party orthodoxy.

steadfast resistance, refusal: any principled moral stand on an issue opposed by Democrats. Called recalcitrance or a “gambit” or “hand wringing” or “agitprop” when the Dems do it.

unrestrained growth:   a very bad thing when it comes to things the GOp opposes (such as entitlements), but a very good thing when it comes to the “animal spirits” of corporate profits and unfettered market.

victimhood: said to be one of the main Dem rhetorical meme or “card” (as in, “the race card”).  Linked in a complex semantic web to “envy”, “redistribution, “oppression”, “grievance”, “obsession with race and class,” and “fairness”.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Dec. 19-20, 2013

big government:  any government. “Big” serves a mandatory modifier of neutral-sounding “government”. “Big government” leads to a “federal takeover” (see below); also is he opposite of “self government” (see below)

college education as an investment: the reductionist view of education that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. This is the wedge strategy for doing away with tenure, academic freedom, and the social sciences.

commitment: what Republicans value in sexual behavior. Democrats, on the other hand, prefer one-night stands, promiscuity and, and irresponsibility.

federal takeover: any government

guilt:  Obama’s core emotional appeal, said to be ” vast, vague, and unanswerable”, also insatiable. Always used derisively, as when belittling “crippling white guilt”. Without guilt, and its sense of moral obligation, no social mitigation of inequality is necessary.

honorable self-government:    Ideally the equivalent of no government in the perfect libertarian state in which individuals would be entirely self-determining.The modifier is a key part of this equation when it refers to states’ power (as opposed to federal power) because the states (or certain states) are inherently honorable and can be trusted with power.

identity politics: (see the “race, class and gender industry” entry, below). A card played whenever Dems address issues of social equity. When the GOP appeals, say, to Tea Partiers, it’s called “playing to the base.”

man’s work: timbering, mining, drilling

the political class: used derisively to refer to any democratic-leaning journalists or analysts.

the productive engines of the economy:  nurturing  (i.e., “coddling”) undermines these; only the “unfettered” free market releases these animal spirits. Overt attempts at equity or qwlfare re automatically defined as “unproductive”.

the race, class, and gender industry:  the social sciences in higher education. As if the only motive for addressing discrimination and inequality is an economic one.

reeducationIn true Stalinist fashion, the technique the so-called liberal “thought police”  use to silent dissenters and force them into  ideological compliance.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Dec. 16-17, 2013

bureaucratic bloat: a redundancy, because, from the GOP perspective, government is inherently excessive, toxic, and unnecessary.

class warriors: anyone arguing for economic equality, equal opportunity, or the end of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

credibility and deterrence: everything the Obama/Kerry foreign policy lacks, no matter the content or the result. credibility comes from the barrel–or at least the direct threat–of a gun.

fawning: any pro-Obama editorial.

full-bore democracy: akin to “perfect Marxism,” a political ideology and practice not yet tried in America, due to liberal intransigence and re-distribution schemes. In a “full-bore” democracy, corporations are people, my friend, and corporate rights have precedence over human rights or civil rights.

half-truths, misdirections, puffery: any Obama policy statement. Everything the administration says is to be suspected of mendacity and subject to interrogration.

runaway spending: any spending; see “bloat”, above. The point is that Democrats have no self-control when it comes to government spending.

winners and losers: most characteristically used in the phrase “there are always going to be winners and losers”. A naturalizing phrase,  always used by the winners, to justify not helping the losers.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Dec. 11-13, 2013

corrosive: all-purpose intensifing adjective for all Dem policies, laws & initiatives; most often used to alliteratively modify “controls”.

famous: a term of derision and ironic deflation for a largely mythic Democratic claim, as in “the famous Keynesian multiplier”.

the Greater Good: in Ayn Randian terms, the pernicious and ludicrous shibboleth/fantasy that undermines individual initiative, self-interest, and success.

hammering: any Democratic attack on GOP laws, policies or politicians.

market pricing: whatever business can get away with–or, rather, could get away with if government restraints (“shackles”) were “unleashed”. This is of course a core mantra of the Right.

passivity: in foreign policy, anything short of boycotts, invasions, bombings or assassinations. Also used as a translation for “restraint,” which in foreign policy is always a euphemism for passivity.

stranglehold: any Democratic attempt to govern or legislate. Since total government, all the time, is seen as Obama’s ultimate aim, any domestic policy –be it health care, energy, financial regulation or education–is a smokescreen for a total power grab.

trample: what Obama’s policies do to human rights, the free market, personal liberty or religious freedom. Strangleholds are especially prone to trampling.

the war on men: The GOP answer to the Dem’s War on Women. Especially applicable to rape and sexual assault & harassment cases in which women’s testimony leads to conviction or censure.

Washington gimmicks and games: any Democratic political maneuvering or policy making. GOP law- and policy-making, on the contrary, is always transparent and based on bedrock principles of the free market and individual initiative. Note: “Washington” gimmicks are the most virulent kind; in general, “Washington” serves as a shorthand pejorative, much like “trial” in “trial lawyers”.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Dec 7-10, 2013

apologist: anyone who defends the Obama administration or the Senate. Aka, “sycophant”.

dignity and purpose: The very qualities the spineless, profligate, illegitimate President lacks.This is a kind of master trope, trotted out to defend pro-life activists, the military, free marketeers, and non-freeloading, working Americans.

false narrative:
any claim about Obama administration successes–always of course manufactured by the Democrats. Recent “fale narratives” included: the ACA as being afforable and offering Americans choices in health insurance; Obama as successfully countering terrorism, and the economy as in any way better than it was when Obama took office.

firm response: bellicose GOP foreign policy initiatives–the opposite of “rewarding terrorism”–see below.

nannies: any government official. Aka, “self-appointed experts”.

power grab: any law or administrative policy or procedure originating anywhere in the Executive Branch or the Senate. Republican laws or policies are, on the other hand, always “reasonable” or “legitimate” exercises of governing. Aka, “fiat”.

resentment: the predominant ruling humor of all of the “dependent” classes, the “freeloaders,” etc. The only reason people sign up for food stamps, unemployment benefits, disability claims and welfare. Somehow, though, those on other forms of federal aid–Medicare, for example–are deserving and not all resentful of the accomplishments of the wealthy.

rewarding terrorism: any sign of a diplomatic olive branch, rapprochement, softening or reconciliation toward Syria, Iran, China, Russia  or any “othered” country. Aka, “romancing” tyrants or jihadis; “retreat”, “capitulation”.

tax simplification: lowering taxes and making them more regressive. Much like “regulatory reform,” this is a pure euphemism for drowning government spending in a bathtub, as Grover Norquist once put it.

true school reform: vouchers and privatization.

turning attention away from Obamacare: basically, discussing any other subject, such as inequality, Iranian nuclear disarmament, immigration reform, or gun control. Did Mandela die to turn attention away from Obamacare?

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Dec. 1-3, 2013

abdication of power: any Obama administration foreign policy initiative that does not include invasion, bombing, sanctions or coups.

blank check: any Democratic Congressional spending. According to the GOP, Democrats have carte blanche to write “blank checks” for immigrant benefits, birth control, food stamp recipients, and other forms of social parasite.

censorship: any GOP-spun meme, such as Benghazi, that the media doesn’t ceaselessly report on. Also referred to “underreporting” or “muzzling” by the Democratic “media pimps”.

crackdown: any regulatory or legal action taken against GOP-favored corporations, PACs or individuals. When the GOP does this, it’s jst a matter of enforcing the law. When the Dems enforce the law, their “crackdown” is always the result of “neuluous and arbitrary enforcement.”

executive fiat: anything Obama does that the GOP doesn’t support. When Bush did the same things, it was called “Presidential leadership”.

knockout game: the latest meme/metaphor for any Obama policy–how he has “mugged” the American people by “lying” about Benghazi, the IRS, the ACA, etc. Also shorthand for the libidinally-transgressive, ever-present baleful threat of the black man.

resentment: the root motivation for all Democratic social programs. Aka, “playing the race card,” “reverse discrimination,” and  “victimhood”.

statistical ploy: any Democratic use of statistics to support policy positions, social service provision, or regulatory reform.

utopian blather: anything and everything that Obama talks about.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Nov. 19-26, 2013

abject; mandatory intensifier for any Obama policy outcomes: abject failure, abject surrender, abject fraud.

feckless: trusty GOP catch-all descriptor for any Obama initiative; almost always used in the vicinity of its cousin-epithet, “weak”.

innovative: an inherent quality of any “pro-market” economic or political reform.

managerial liberalism: much worse than mere liberalism because of its Command and Control overtones. The rhetorical move here is to make a neutral term–like management–into an invidious one. Akin to using “trial lawyers” rather than just “lawyers”.

naked: much like “abject”, an intensifier used to magnify the painful effects of an Obama policy, as in a “naked power-grab”, or in the sentence, “Obamacare is a naked takeover of one-sixth of national economy”.

regulatory uncertainty: a kind of redundancy in the sense that all regulation–or, rather, the mere possibility of regulation–creates uncertainty. Oddly enough, in this tried-and-true rhetorical move, something “regular” is characterized as a source of radical instability.

serfdom: what Obama has put America on the road to, as explained by Friedrich von Hayek.

servility: what is leading America– suddenly a “servile nation”– to serfdom, under the spell of Obama the Charlatan, Obama the Liar.

sucker-punch: Obama’s devious and unscrupulous way of prevailing in foreign or domestic policy. Both the ACA and the Iran agreement are now routinely referred to as “sucker punches” to the trusting American public.

thinker: Paul Ryan. NOT Rick Perry.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Nov. 15-18

budget-busting: any new government spending the GOP doesn’t like.

cradle-to-grave care: any social welfare/safety net laws or policies. AKA, redistributionism, dependency, freeloading, Big Government.

end of liberalism: Krauthammer’s grandiose, hyperventilating claim for the endgame  of the vicissitudes of Obamacare.

fiat: Any Obama administration policy. The House rules by consensus and the rule of law, the White House by fiat.

fix: The thing that can never be done to Obamacare. The GOP scorched earth policy has always been no reform, no accommodation. As happened last week, when Obama does accommodate, his overtures are instantly and cynically dismissed as either political gimmickry or outright illegality. Obamacare is the GOP Alamo: no surrender. And just ask a texan: Ted Cruz. it’s in the Bible, right? Don’t gut it, kill it.

jam: the only way any Democrat-sponsored bill can get through Congress. Alternatively, anything the GOP passes is based on “consensus”. Aka, “demagoguery”.

Katrina:  Obamacare. Of course ma national health care plan is the same as the government causing–and then ignoring– the victims of a devastating flood. Aka, Obama’s Iran-Contra, or, of course, a “catastrophe,” a “disaster” or a “Greek tragedy”.

panic: any Dem response to the vicissitudes pf the Obamacare rollout. Even common-sense fixes to the law are characterized as “panic”.

preening elites: Democrats.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Nov. 9-12

bungling: anything related to the design or implementation of the ACA. Aka “blunder,” “sucker punch,” or “national embarrassment”. Also applies to all foreign policy initiatives, especially in Syria and Iran.

carrots: called “incentives” when offered by the GOP, and “bribes” when offered by Dems.

leverage: in foreign policy, what follows from any concession or compromise. So, for example, scaling back on sanctions on Iran only gives them “leverage” to continue to develop nuclear weapons.

Messrs: always derogatory; meant to demean and deflate, as in “Messrs Obama and Kerry”.

pack: what the Dems attempt to do with the courts with any judicial nominee.

political control: the underlying motivation for all Obama foreign and domestic policy: nothing is anything other than a cynical political tactic to gain the upper hand politically.

reform: always related to cuts or restrictions “Tax reform”= tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy; “entitlement reform” = Social Security and Medicare cuts, “immigration reform” means few if any “paths to citizenship”.

unconditional: the core of GOP foreign policy. Make no concessions to anyone even remotely connected to terrorists or jihadis. Closely related to “resolve”: never surrender, never apologize.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Nov. 1-3, 2013

the American people: In the rhetoric of Ted Cruz’s Manichean morality play, always under threat by any Democratic policy or initiative. Rhetorically, they serve as his ethical lodestar and source of fathomless pathos. The ACA is portrayed as an especially dire existential threat to them. Note: Democrats–or even Republicans opposed to any Cruz policy or vote–are excluded from this group.

arbritrary standards: the provisions of any Democratic policy the GOP rejects. (aka, “diktat”). In the case of the ACA, this becomes a blanket indictment of coverage for maternity care, preventive medicine, family planning, substance abuse, mammograms, etc. Other  “arbitrary” standards would include annual or lifetime reimbursement caps, rate equity for women,  and exclusions for preexisting conditions. The rhetorical irony here is that, strictly speaking all “standards” are “arbitrary”, as opposed, I suppose, to inherent, absolute, or natural. Values, morals, and ethics are all ultimately “arbitrary,” but that doesn’t make them any less defensible or legitimate. The GOP uses “arbitrary” as a pejorative term, while their policies are, on the other hand, “common sense” “model reforms” or “realistic”.

death spiral: what the ACA is purportedly headed into–all imaginary, premature, and unmitigated wishful GOP thinking.

overpriced: all aspects of the ACA, due to its “arbitrary standards”. Never mind that comparing it to the lesser coverage of current policies is comparing apples and oranges, the rhetorical purpose of this descriptor is to undercut all ACA provisions by invidious comparisons.

paternalistic: any imposition of “arbitrary standards” by the “nanny state” or the “urban, genteel elitists”. When Republicans ban abortion, they of course are being “paternalistic,” but “pro-life”. AKA, “liberal paternalism”.

Progressivism: a political, social and economic movement in the united states that lasted from the tun of the 20th Century until the Autumn of 2013, with the coming of Obamacare. progressives were especially known for their “hatred” of free markets, property, and private enterprise.

public outrage: when the GOP astroturfs a citizens’ uprising, it’s called Jacksonian democracy; when the Democrats talk about concepts such as “corporate welfare” or “the 1%,” it’s called divisive class warfare and phony or misplaced anger fomented by “special interests”. AKA, “witch hunt,” “cramdown,” “intimidation” or “inquisition”.

scheme: any Democratic bill or policy–ACA proponents pushing this “scheme” are now seen as liars, grifters, or con artists.

showered: how campaign contributions are bestowed on Democrats.

stacking: what Democrats do when they nominate anyone for an executive or judicial branch appointment.

statists: those who believe government has a role in public policy.