Category Archives: rhetoric

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases, canards, shibboleths and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOTP language factories, Dec. 29, 2014-Jan 6, 2015

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note: GOTP=Grand Old Tea Party

adherence to the rule of law: like “Constitutional originalism” or “American exceptionalism,” this is a GOTP appeal to so-called natural law.  By definition, any GOTP law or policy is orderly and supportive of “common sense” values, whereas any Dem law or policy is by definition unruly, irrational, and socially destructive. Just another instance of “how the GOTP saved civilization” rhetoric.

balancing : lip-service phrase for seeming to compromise when you actually have no intention. Somehow, the “balance” always seems to tip in favor of the GOTP. For example, fracking proponents argue that they are willing to “balance” (or “take into account”–another weasle phrase) their position against “environmental concerns.” But they always have their finger on the scale: when the “balancing” is done, the fix is in.

first principles: GOTP bedrock: Constitutional originalism (always “strictly adhered to”), limiting the federal government, and protecting individual liberties. Dems, by contrast, don’t have “principles” so much as “dogmas” or “ideologies”. GOTP “first principles” serve “the people,” whereas Dem policies serve “cronies and special interests.”

gridlock is a good thing: only GOTP Congress members–people with government jobs, being paid with taxpayer money–has the audacity to say that Washington gridlock is a good thing because it means no governmental acts are taking place.  Using their usual form of reverse English, where everything means its opposite, their highest principles are thus realized when they get paid for doing nothing.

judicial engagement:  when the GOTP agrees with court decisions; judicial “activism”, on the other hand, is when courts implement Dem laws & policies, or overturn GOTP laws & policies,. (see “adherence to the rule of law,” above)

malign: what libs do when they criticize the police.

market-driven and patient-centered: the paradox at the heart of the GOTP’s Obamacare alternatives. This mythical creature could also be called a griffin, minotaur or dragon: pure fantasy. As if anything that is purely “market driven” can be anything other than that.

mob: any public gathering opposing GOTP policies or positions. Sometimes, in a nifty bit of thinly-veiled racism, it’s called a “lynch-mob mentality”. When Teabaggers gather, it’s simply called a “crowd.”

self-government: since any government is axiomatically nothing but “meddlesome,” it’s useful for the GOTP to enforce this dichomy netween “free people” somehow governing themselves, and “Washington — its officeholders-for-life, its strangling bureaucratic sprawl, its incestuous network of staffers and lobbyists, its naked cronyism, and its invested media.” Apparently, every person is to be a government of one; radical self-reliance without any mitigating mutuality; freedom without responsibility.

the time for debate is over: what either side says when they are losing the argument.

 

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, phrases, canards, shibboleths and obsessions in the Wall Street Journal and other GOTP language factories, Dec. 15-24, 2014

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note: GOTP stands for Grand Old Tea Party

America hater: Obama, who loves the Cubans, Russians, Iranians, and illegal immigrants too much.

America’s moral standing: something Obama always talks about, but the GOTP actually does something about. This is the gold standard for GOTP criticism of Obama foreign policy because anything short of aggressive, unilateral action “tears down America” and “gives comfort to the bad guys”. Like the gold standard, only the GOTP seems to have the golden tablets on which are inscribed ways to gauge “America’s moral standing”.

anti-fossil fuel masochism: any opposition to fracking, coal production, or the use and consumption  of fossil fuels. Thus being “green” is not only to destroy the economy  but also to destroy oneself. Greenies are pathologically self-loathing.

comrades, cronies and pals: Obama supporters, especially any person or business getting a tax break or benefiting from a change in regulatory policy. The Grand Old Tea Party, of course, has “allies” and “supporters” rather than  comrades, cronies and pals.

demonizing the police: a prophylactic term intended to render the police immune from criticism. In this meme, freedom, as represented by the police, is equated with obeying authority, and order is privileged over justice. This all-purposecharge exemspts police from the social contract and the law.

hyena pack: journalists, progressive activist and trial lawyers (especially those pursuing class-action suits against corporations.

inappropriate: in the Peggy Noonan, moral scold, family of rhetorical sneers. An “adult” word, like “honor”, “dignity,” “duty,” etc. Somehow, Dems are always, like children, a little “inappropriate” and untempered in their public utterances. Any direct challenge to received GOTP pieties or shibboleths is automatically “inappropriate”. The idea of what is actually “appropriate” is lodged in the “moral bedrock” (see below) that only the GOTP seems to be born with.

to increase choice and competition:  Hold onto your wallet whenever you hear this ominous incantation. It’s axiomatic that decreased regulation and scrutiny invariably, over time, tend to lead to less choice and competition, but these two words are classic cases of what John Lanchester calls “reversification” of terms–when words become their opposites.

it’s only with hindsight: this is a deflective, prophylactic term, used to shield GOTP from especially effective challenges or criticism: e.g., it’s only “after the fact” or “with hindsight” that waterboarding and other “harsh interrogation policies” might be seen as amounting to torture. Invidious moral distinctions that run counter to GOTP dogma are thus portrayed as impossible to imagine in real time. (see also, “reasonable people can disagree,” below).

let the courts figure it out: another immunizing meme, intended to stifle public debate and free speech. Don’t criticize the legality of police actions because you aren’t “qualified” to speak out on subjects of justice, social equity, and morals or ethics.

moral bedrock: any GOTP ideology. Dem morality rests on the shifting sands of “moral relativism” and permissiveness. Playing this rhetorical card goes toward establishing one’s ethos. It is on this very bedrock that civilization itself rests.

norms of public speech: what deBlasio and Obama violate whenever they speak about race relations in America. This is a rhetorical term of scolding, based on high moral dudgeon that such “bleeding heart” Dems are irresponsible and “inappropriate”. (See above). This charge is typically couched in rhetoric around the notion of “truth,” which itself becomes relative when weighed against “appropriateness”.

political operatives, cowards, and apologists: anyone still supporting Obama. (see also, “comrades, cronies and pals,” above)

the political unrest of the 60s:  pejorative description of The Civil Rights Movement

pro-growth policies: like progress, “growth” is said to only be possible in an environment of such “free market” policies as right-to-work legislation, private school vouchers, and pension and tort reform. In other words, the only way to promote growth is to cripple unions, reduce retirement benefits and make corporations basically immune from litigation, especially class action suits.

reasonable people can disagree; you can disagree with those rules or facts: another prophylactic term, and a false claim to rationality, and a misleading, startegically concessionary term. When the GOTP prefaces their rhetorical attacks on Dems with this phrase, they are really saying that even if the facts work against them, they are morally in the right.

stifling: what government inevitably does to innovation and competition. the “animal spirits” of business yearn to live free and unfettered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and meta-narratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Nov 21-28, 2014

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anticarbon putsch: any attempt to regulate coal or other fossil fuel emissions.

climateers: the GOTP’s infantalizing characterization of anyone worrying about climate change.

common sense: like “hard-won experience” (see below), this GOTP master trope is always deployed in contradistinction to “feelings” (a stand-in for the much sneered at concept of idealism”). These “feelings” are at the core of the slow rot, or “deterioration” (see below) of America.

deterioration: the decline and fall of America, as presided over by Obama and the “Snobocrats”. What’s deteriorating: everything from culture to sexual norms to decency, honor and “common sense”.  This is the master jeremiad trope.

emasculation: what the internationalist wing of the GOTP (see below)  say has happened to US power under Obama. The next surge will be a bellicose, aggressive, confrontation, full-frontal phallic thrust into Iran, Ukraine, China, etc. etc.

internationalists: the McCain/Graham/Lieberman/Cotton wing of the GOTP. See “emasculation”, above.

grandee: any liberal member of the so-called “Snobocrats”, or the “Bossypantsocrats”.

hard-won experience:  the trump card of the GOTP, in its guise as the “Daddy Party”; contrasts to Obama’s perpetual “disappointed idealism”. Boy, is the GOTP a buzzkill these days!

perceptual/factual: in the words of Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, in response to Obama’s immigration speech, “The president ought to walk into this a lot more slowly, especially after an election. This idea, the rule of law, is really concerning a lot of people where I come from. And whether it’s factual or perceptual, it really doesn’t matter.” The GOTP finally admits that it’s indifferent to facts. Facts are stubborn things and only get in the way.

sermon (or lecture): any Obama moral statement. The GOTP, being “realists” using “hard-won experience,” act as if they are revealing the eternal verities of human nature, and not filtering everything through a moralistic filter.

tenderfoot Talleyrands: Obama’s foreign policy team, the ones who have “emasculated” (see above) America.

traditional state authority to police…..(just about anything): this mythical and mystical reserve clause for states obviates any federal regulation,and is a perennial trump card the GOTP plays whenever they don’t like a federal policy. Note, of course, that the “traditional state authority to police” elections wasn’t relevant back in 2000 in Florida.

vouchers: Republicans’ version of redistributionism. With their ascendancy in Congress, look for a lot more “voucher” talk in 2015.

working alongside/not getting in the way: the m.o. of red states when it comes to environmental regulation. “Working alongside” industry means never getting in their way–thus only “working” to further corporate interests.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and meta-narratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Nov 16-20, 2014

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climate hysteria: any environmental control regulation.

confiscatory: any taxes the GOTP (Grand Old Tea Party) opposes.

dictator, authoritarian, statist: The GOTP declension, accusing Obama of being everything from a Stalinist to a believer in government.

failed Presidency: the GOTP’s central self-fulfilling prophecy.  Within a month of Obama’s inauguration, Mitch McConnell was already talking about blocking every White House initiative and making it his “number one goal” to doom Obama’s re-election.

feminist bullies: just as anyone who questions racial justice is accused of “playing the race card,” anyone who defends women’s rights is now accused of bullying. It’s somehow Ok to call all feminists “bullies” now, since calling them “bitches” became socially and politically toxic.

free phones: one of the GOTP’s enduring urban myths: that Obama is giving all the “takers” free cell phones.

inequality warrior: denigrating label for anyone talking about social justice, economic disparities, higher taxes for the wealthy, or minimum wage. In fact, how long will it before anyone even addressing these issues is accused of “playing the class card”?

job killer: any government worker.

lawyerly: what the GOTP has to concede when Obama does something legal that they disagree with. This word is always a concessionary one, since they are saying that, in a “technical” legal sense, Obama has the right to take certain actions.

micromanage: argument for getting the federal government out of the states’ rights to self-govern. Regulations that are deemed onerous are also said to be “micromanaging,” such as nearly every provision of Dodd-Frank. The opposite of “micromanaging” is NOT just plain managing, but not managing at all.

perspective, gaining some: coming around to the Grand Old Tea Party’s positions and policies.

politicization: any Dem policy opposed to GOTP dogma. When the Dems address an issue, they “politicize” it; when the GOTP does it, it’s called “getting things done”.

power grab: any act of Presidential power; see “shredding,” below.

shredding: what Obama is doing to the Constitution with his immigration amnesty. Any executive action from now on will become an act of “shredding” the Constitution, and any policy opposed to the GOTP will be a sign of “disrespect” for the Constitution.

slap in the face:  latest metaphor for GOTP umbrage, especially over immigration. Really, a synonym for any perceived affront from the Dems.

Venezuelan caudillo: what else do you call a Preisdent who slaps people in the face, shreds the constitution, and is in contempt of Congress? Likening him to Hugo Chavez is also a political master trope.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and meta-narratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Nov 9-15, 2014

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bribe: any form of government subsidy or tax break. (That is, except for tax breaks or subsidies for the job creators).

the business community: in the Grand Old Tea Party’s Manichean anti-Obama morality play, business is the enemy.

cronyism in America: as defined by the Koch Brothers’ Freedom Partners, every government regulation, subsidy, bailout, loan, corporate tax break, tariff, and occupational licensing “scheme”.

envirogelicals: According to Erick Erickson, “The environmentalists who have replaced worship of Christ with worship of Christ’s creation. They are a large part of the donor base of the Democratic Party.”

the governing trap: what the Grand old Tea Party most wants to avoid between now and the 2016 elections: actually passing bills that have real consequences. Their challenge is to make it appear that Obama is the obstructionist, not them.

(Washington’s) liberal class: the sneering Grand Old Tea Party rhetorical hijacking of what used to be called populism. Part of the GOTP’s new fake populism, which claims they are actually on the side of women, minorities and free speech, and opposed to big business. Always remember that every message from Frank Luntz, Karl Rove, and the Koch Brothers is the exact opposite of what it says it is.

mau-mauing: a verb the Grand Old Tea Party has resuscitated from a 1970 Tom Wolfe book, referring to harassing “activist” trying to take over government.

Obamaism: a fatal brew of liberal compassion (aka, pathetic naivete), self-preening, and arrogrance.

picking winners and losers: the fake argument that the free market takes care of itself, and makes for a level playing field. (I guess we’re not supposed to notice that the GOP/Tea Party supports all tax breaks and loopholes for corporate America).

the politics of envy: any mention on income inequality, social justice, or tax increases for the wealthy. Reverse Robinhoodism.

public sector jobs: jobs for the  low-skilled losers in the global economy. Curiously, the Grand Old Tea Party just spend billions of dollars trying to get these jobs at the local, state and national levels.

rational means and ends: what the Grand Old Tea Party (in its self-elected and self-regarding role as the Daddy party) decides will be the outcome of so-called voter preferences (affordable health care, minimum wage hikes, open Internet, etc.). The so-called voter preferences are thus just naive delusions and sentiments, that melt away when confronted by “reality”.

rents: any form of government regulation; what the fixers, lobbyists and activists use to control government and strangle competition. Thus the Wall Street Journal defines liberalism as a “self interested machine of influence peddling and rent extraction”. Note that reducing any form of tax or regulation to a “rent” renders any governmentality as a mere financial transaction, devoid of any more or public serve values or ideals.

Rube Goldberg scheme: any complex regulatory policy, such as federal fuel economy standards. Really, any policy the GOTP/Tea disdains.

visionless apparatchiks: any government regulators.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and meta-narratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, Oct 29-Nov 7, 2014

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arcane reporting rules: almost any language attached to regulatory oversight, especially in the much-despised compliance guidelines of Dodd-Frank or any challenge to what Paul KrUgman calls “the sacred pursuit of profit”.

the Democratic base: NARAL, ACORN and the media.

the deserving party.  Believing themselves to be harder working and more virtuous than Dems (especially minorities), the GOP feels that it deserves to rule.

fiscal responsibility: in Tea Party/GOP scripting, this always means tax and spending cuts. By this logic, the main responsibility of government is NOT to spend–a curious paradox. An alternative view would be that government’s fiscal responsibility is to stimulate the economy and make sure there is full employment and massive investments in the future (i.e., education & infrastructure). As in most of these rhetorical impasses, it comes down to rights vs. duties: is government defined by freedom from spending or the freedom to spend?

getting things done in the Senate: blocking Obama (see “poisoning the well,” below)

inescapable conclusions: the culmination of a whole chain of tortured GOP reasoning. So, it’s inescapable that Obama’s is a “failed Presidency” because of low poll numbers, driven by a “feckless” foreign policy, a listless economy, a “hated” health care program, an animus against business and finance, a foolish obsession with mythical “global warming,” and “racial divisiveness”. If any of these cartoonish oversimplifications were evn half true, then there might be grounds for debate, but, collectively, their logic hardly seems “inescapable” or even coherent.

a law of necessity: something considered so obvious and inevitable that it is taken for granted: that unregulated markets do best; that only low taxes spur growth; Manifest Destiny”; the City on a Hill”; rugged individualism. If you are a true believer in the necessity of your cause, then it’s your duty to push that cause whatever the method. The ends justify the memes. Thus the ardor of orthodoxy.

moral posturing: having a moral position inimical to Tea Party orthodoxy; any hint of idealism or principle in Democrats, always suspected to be “political correctness,”–self-advancement  posing as moral rectitude.

outdated Democratic policies: minimum wage, equal pay for women, anti-discrimination laws, access to contraceptives.

poisoning the well: in post-midterms rhetoric, to the Tea Party/GOP this means any Obama executive action, even if lawful. They might just impeach him for being President.

political mistake: in Tea Party sarcasm mode, making a profit is seen as the most politically incorrect thing of all. Part of Obama’s “war on business,”–you know, the Kenyan socialist’s secret agenda as proven by record high corpoRate profits and stock valuations.

social engineering shakedowns: any government regulation. The midterm tsunami has trumpeted the doom of redistributionism, Big Government, social engineering–all the sneers that the GOP/Tea Party has used to characterize Democratic politics & policy.

unproductive: pretty much any regulation the Republicans don’t like.

unseemly: any Dem attack on Tea Party positions or principles, or, more broadly, any Dem show of “partisanship,” itself a devil word in this context. For instance, it’s unseemly for President Obama to bring “partisan” perspectives to racial issues such as Ferguson or Trayvon Martin. Synonyms include “ungracious” and “grubby”. This family of “scold” words is Peggy Noonan’s habitual arsenal when she’s excoriating Obama.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and meta-narratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, October 22-28, 2014Tea Party

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and meta-narratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, October 22-28, 2014

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banker-bashing: regulating the banks. Usually the nefarious work of the “Sandinista wing” of the Democratic Party (see below), especially Elizabeth Warren.

black-on-black crime: the real reason for the high incarceration rates of black males in the US. Even though it is a Non sequitur, this card is always played to re-direct any charges of white police brutality, “driving while black,” etc.

broken culture: another of the “real reasons” for the high incarceration rates of black males in the US. Just as the housing crisis was supposedly caused by scheming, lying  minorities cadging bad loans, any economic, political or social inequality in the US is blamed on Black Folks’ general lack of culture, shame or gumption. Just as with the meme of “black-on-black crime,” this serves as a Non sequitur designed to re-direct the conversation and blame the victims.

criminalize: regulate. See “banker-bashing,” above.

electoral integrity: voter suppression.

handover: under Obama, the allegedly vast wealth transfer from the middle class to the poor.

looting: suing BP. Another form of “banker-bashing” or “criminalizing” (see above).

moral compass: an inherently Republican character trait, usually entirely lacking in Democrats (who will say or do anything to get elected), especially Afro-American Democrats (who have a “broken culture”–see above).

(of) negligible economic impact: the Obama stimulus package, the largest in US history. Can also be used to refer to any disparate economic impacts that arise from price-gouging, monopoly pricing, restraint of trade, etc.

political speech: money talks.

sabotaging our borders: the secret Obama master plan to let in terrorists, Ebola, and undocumented aliens.

Sandinista wing of Democratic Party: Elizabeth Warren, Barney Frank, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Saunders.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and meta-narratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, October 13-21, 2014

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the busybody brigade: guv’ment workers; academics; social activists, ethicists.

divisive: any form of racial identification.

honest broker: staggeringly naive description of the US’s motives in intervening in foreign affairs. As if nations never have vested interests and never defend their monied elites.

house arrest: Dodd-Frank’s overall effect on bankers and financiers. Titans of Finance, cast off your chains!

hubris: any form of government regulation, because in the long run anything but unfettered liberty begets catastrophe.

poor people have refrigerators: right-wing rhetorical judo just doesn’t get any better than this. This line of argument is equivalent to political standup comedy. Evades the issues by changing the subject; substitutes a part for the whole; reduces an argument to its absurdest possible conclusion, completely reverses reality so that day is night, up is down, and America’s poorest are rich but are just too obtuse and greedy to know it.

the responsibilities of hegemony: why we need to invade Ukraine, Syria, etc. Formerly known as Manifest Destiny.

scare tactics: the mere mention of women’s rights, equal pay, reproductive rights, civil rights. In fact, all rights talk is on its way to being called emotional bullying, race hustling, or grievance mongering.

screed: any Dem position paper, policy statement, or speech.

the war on police: Ferguson.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and meta-narratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, October 3-12, 2014

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burdensome licensing regimes: basically, ANY licensing body. It’s always a good touch to call a government office a “regime”.

capital unlocking: the projected fruits of the repeal of Dodd-Frank and the general loosening of financial market regulation.

common sense “free market” regulation: minimalism; see above, “capital unlocking”. “common sense” is always a rhetorical master trope (with Tom Paine turning over in his grave all the while). The “common” sense referred to is that of your average Goldman Sachs executive.

concrete moral action: something Obama is accused of forever lacking–all he gives us, according to this meme, is airy-fairy, idealized morality that is not pertinent to life on earth.

controlling the emotional narrative: what Dems are said to be “especially good” at because it implies a superficial ability to spin the facts into a wholly fictional narrative–i.e., “the war on women,” “global warming,” etc.

distributed public responsibilities: newspeak for ending almost all federal oversight, policy and administrative law. This “distribution” amounts to each state becoming a sovereign entity with its own laws and regulations.

gracious: whenever Obama criticizes Bush or any GOPers, who is accused (especially by Peggy Noonan) of lacking grace–being in fact “unseemly” (see below)

grit: another missing part of Obama; the meme is that he has “no stomach for a fight” and is inconsistent and flaccid when responding to foreign threats. This particular lack of character is also attributed to the “takers”–anyone getting any form of aid (except Medicare) is said to lack the true grit to get and keep a job or raise a family on their own.

incremental immigration reforms: none that anyone would ever notice

infantilization of women: any of the new “yes means yes” laws–more broadly, and government attempt to protect women from sexual assault, verbal or physical by keeping them “sheltered from reality”.

judicial activism: any legal decision opposed by the Tea Party. In the legal context, “activism” is pernicious, whereas it is highly encouraged in the public arena.

moral posturing: any moral position taken by a Democrat or liberal. They are never sincere (except when being “idealistic), but always have an ulterior motive. Thus they are said to be “posturing”–pretending to be something they aren’t.

tinpot dictator: an epithet revived every generation. Currently refers to Obama and his alleged takeover of the federal government. Infers that he’s a cheap alloy who cannot withstand any heat.

unseemly: another Peggy Noonan “mom” word. Peggy is always “disappointed” in poor, uncouth Barack.

Glossary: an anatomy of key memes, euphemisms, sneers, innuendos, and metanarratives in the Wall Street Journal and other GOP language factories, September 25-Oct 2, 2014

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the Age of Entitlement: what the Tea Party wants to repeal (aka, The New Deal)

arcane statistical analysis: Any Dem policy argument using numbers as an analytical tool. For example, “disparate impact”

bloated welfare state: part and parcel of the “Age of Entitlement” (see above). By definition, any welfare is too much, so any social safety net leads to “bloating”.

bromides: any Dem defense of principle or ideals, especially racial justice, etc.

a dangerous world: perennial justification for a foreign policy of confrontation and intrasigence; the  “peace-through-war” paradox

crisis-mongering: artificial social constructs of Dems, e.g., global warming, the war on women, gendered wage gaps, etc.

feminist-industrial complex: the nefarious modus operandi and motivation for feminism; a politically-correct cabal that censors free speech, protects their own and villifies others, challenges male power, and in general pursues an orthodoxy of vendetta.

honest elections: euphemism for voter suppression.

intrusive: any government regulation.

lifting the world out of darkness: what the US has been doing for 200 years. Not to mention deciding what constitutes the “darkness”.

retainers: any Dem political ally or aide–especially used for rich Dem donors.

politics trumping the law: what happens when Dems get their way legally. When the GOP prevails legally it’s called “original intent”.

safeguarding democratic integrity: another euphemism for voter suppression.

tendentious: any Dem argument, study, legal opinion or position paper