Category Archives: logos

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, and innuendos in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Feb 23-March 1, 2014

Posted on by
Reply

asset bubble: what a market rally is called when there’s a democratic President.

climate alarmism: the Chicken Littleization of the climate change “debate”.

cultural pressure and insistence:  the Obama admin’s relentless war on traditional, middle-class values. A fancy label for “political correctness”.

dithering: a mandatory modifier for any Dem foreign policy.

decay: the general malaise Obama has mired America in; the result of “cultural pressue and insistence” (see above).  The slow moral rot of the US.

disquisitions: scolding, grandiose Obamaseque pomposities. Lately, the target has been “disquisitions on inequality”.

gender complementarian norm: a fancy-sounding name for marriage between a man and a woman.

host: new GOP synonym for a pregnant woman.

hounding: what any government agency–especially the IRS–does when it enforces regulations, especially against Republicans.

hysteria and misinformation: the by-product of “cultural pressure and insistence” (see above). Whatever arguments and facts Dems muster in any given “debate,” such as this week’s Arizona brouhaha over “religious liberty”.

matriarchal leviathan: the intensifying modifier gives birth to a new monster: Big Mother rather than Big Brother

mischief: the overall effect of Obama’s policies and reforms (aka, “fiats”). All regulations and taxes are seen as “mischief,” as if Obama is Dennis The Menace.

privilege: mistakenly confused for accomplishment by liberals.

sacramentalizing sodomy: GOPspeak for any sex except for missionary-position hetero.

socialism: the secret creed of the Obama administration, closely allied to fascism.

trampling: what liberals always seem to do to religious freedom, especially in the recent Arizona fracas. Inevitably leads to “hysteria and misinformation”–see above.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, and innuendoes in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Feb 8-14, 2014.

Posted on by
Reply

artiste in search of his muse: (aka, “the butterfly guy”) Krauthammerspeak for anyone with a new health care policy who thus can finally give up a hated job and pursue other paths. Overnight, having an ACA health insurance policy became, in GOP talk, a scarlet badge of shame, a ripoff of America. People with health insurance are suddenly a new generation of Obamacare “poverty pimps”.

assault: (see also “runaway,” below): any Democratic policy initiative, as in “Bill Blassio’s assault on so-called ‘progressive’ unions”.

the dignity of work: Ryanspeak for relegating people to non-living-wage jobs with no benefits, day care, consistent hours or workplace safety enforcement. The hope for a decent human life, in other words, gets turned into what is sneeringly referred to as an “entitlement” (now transmuted from what is due someone based on their human dignity to a “handout” to “the takers”).

dynamism: can only be nurtured by free markets, deregulation, lower taxes, the end of environmental protection laws, etc.

industrial-age unions: the new epithet/slur for unions, akin to “trial lawyers”.

the new opportunity society: a nation of Obamacare-enabled freeloaders (aka, “parasites”).

“Progressivism”:  the emerging rhetorical strategy seems to be to always cloak this word in fright quotes as shorthand for saying that old-fashioned Progressives are really regressive, and are launching all the “wars” (see below) on progress.

runaway: any Dem policy initiative, such as “runaway regulatory reform”. Anything the GOP can’t stop.

teachers’ unions: now directly being blamed for poverty and inequality because of their “war” (see below) on charter schools and education reform.

war on….: a war on jobs, a war on small business, a war on the health care system, a war on America’s international influence and prestige, a war on economic recovery, a war on energy independence, a war on the Constitution, a war on educational reform, and a war on minorities. The mother of all wars is The War on Truth.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, and innuendoes in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Jan. 30–Feb 3, 2014.

Posted on by
Reply

America’s calming presence: it’s worked so well in Iraq and Afghanistan–both part of the new Pax Americana.

bureaucrats: formerly known as public servants. Always an invidious condemnation in GOP rhetoric.

democratic freedoms: invoked as being endangered any time Democrats call for new laws on guns, voting rights, right to life, women’s health care, or campaign finance. (See “rights, liberty and justice”, below).

efforts to improve competition: any GOP reform that shield business from competition, regulation, scrutiny, or litigation.

evidence-based science:  any study that undercuts the ‘theory” of climate change. Doesn’t matter what the quality of the evidence is, just that there be the whiff of some.

extreme and muddled beliefs: climate change, women’s rights, voting rights, financial and environmental regulation, workplace safety, Endangered Species Act, immigration amnesty. “Extremism” is always portrayed as “muddled”, as in not clear or “rational”.

green indulgence: any environmental protection regulations or legislation. “Indulgence” does double rhetorical duty here, suggesting both naivete (as in indulging a child), and a nefarious payoff.

imperial presidency: Any attempt by Obama to act by executive order. Never mind that he has issued fewer executive orders or signing statements than any recent President.

private investment: doing anything to undermine this is always absolutely unacceptable.

protectionism (and poison pills): labor rights and woprkplace safety, environmental laws, minimum wage, childhood labor laws.

rationally balancing risks and benefits: hint: in this “rational” exercise, the benefits of deregulation always outweigh the risks. When the GOP uses the word “rational,” they have their thumb on the scale.

reform:  used to mean protection against harmful effects of unfettered capital markets, now, in GOP/Tea Party parlance, means removing those protections.

rights, liberty and justice: the core sustaining rhetoric of the libertarian-leaning, “don’t tread on me”  Right. Includes “freedom from” being told what to do and “freedom to” do whatever you want. No implicit sense of obligation, communitarianism or social contract. The “justice” dimension is derived from getting what is due you, not from a Rawlsian theory of distributed and balanced outcomes. Sometimes called “democratic freedoms”.

sacrifice: what the GOP pays lip service to but only the poor and middle class seem to actually have to make.

unilateral action: any Obama policy; the only way an “Imperial President” can govern.

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

Posted on by
Reply

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. 1-3, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Let the Chess Game Begin: Rope-A-Dope

Posted on by
Reply

If rhetoric is akin to a chess game, with strategies, maneuvers, feints and sudden attacks (sort of like boxing), then Wednesday’s first debate was just the opening gambit. Neither candidate performed his expected role: Romney became a born-again moderate redistributionist, while Obama retreated to the chilly Olympian heights of the Presidency, giving all the correct answers but conveying none of the necessary emotions. So everyone says Obama lost the rhetorical battle (which is always to persuade your audience by connecting to them both emotionally and substantively), though if you read the transcript he pretty much countered everything Romney claims. It just didn’t feel that way.

In Aristotelian terms (Rhetoric, 1356 A), oratorical persuasion relies on three elements: ethos (establishing an image or identity), logos (the appeal to reason through argumentation), and pathos (arousing the audience’s passion).  All three have to work in tandem. On Wednesday, Obama failed at pathos, but Romney is now even more vulnerable on ethos and logos because his identity is ever-shifting and his arguments don’t add up.

Romney’s is now totally exposed as Etch-A-Sketch Man, Hollow Man. The rhetorical key is that Obama did not surrender his authenticity or authority, and did not shape-shift. His identity, gravitas, and dignity remained firmly intact. He banked his fires and  stayed within himself because he’s the one with a core and a consistency. He still has authority because he is the author of himself. He just needs sharper focus and cogency, as Jonathan Alter put it to Rachel Maddow.

He needs presence, not just reporting as present.

The Town Hall format of the next encounter should prove more conducive to openly challenging Romney face to face. Obama can try a little more of that scoffing, mocking tone he clearly excels at when he allows himself off the leash. (He did it a bit on Wednesday, like when he said that Romney’s new campaign slogan should be “never mind.”)

And let’s also hope for the return of Wednesday’s no-show memes that play so well for Obama–practically every women’s issue, “the 47%”, immigration, labor rights, Republican obstructionism, Bain, Romney’s offshore tax shelters, etc. Obama is playing the long game and betting that Romney will not wear well over the next few weeks as his evasions, hypocrisies and contradictions become transparent. Like Warren Buffet says, you don’t know who’s not wearing trunks until the tide goes out.