Posted on 03/11/2012 1:07:58 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
.........In 1995, Gingrich, then speaker of the House, wrote a memo for GOPAC, which trains Republican candidates, citing language as "a key mechanism of control used by a majority party." In his inimitable, insufferable fashion, he went on to say that his videotaped GOPAC courses had elicited a "plaintive plea: 'I wish I could speak like Newt.'
"That takes years of practice. But we believe that you could have a significant impact on your campaign and the way you communicate if we help a little. That is why we have created this list of words and phrases,"..
He went on to give those Republicans who wanted to "speak like Newt" a list of "contrasting words" that he urged them to use in their campaigns: "These are powerful words that can create a clear and easily understood contrast. Apply these to the opponent, their record, proposals and their party."
The list included several words and phrases that are by now routinely batted about in the course of public commentary about the opposing party, usually by Republicans against Democrats..: "betray," "bizarre," "cheat," "corrupt," "destroy," "endanger," "greed," "hypocrisy," "ideological," "incompetent," "liberal," "lie," "machine," "mandate," "pathetic," "radical," "sick," "taxes," "traitors," "unionized," "waste" and "welfare." There were many more listed.
I'm not going to dwell on the supreme, well, hypocrisy of the fact that Gingrich's lexicon includes the words "hypocrisy" and "ideological." I will simply credit him with a superb understanding of the strong emotional undercurrents that govern political choices -- not to mention the power of using words as weapons.
It took a few years for me to see that the Gingrich style would do lasting damage.....It's no great surprise, for example, that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., yelled "You lie!" at President Obama during a 2009 speech to a joint session of Congress......
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
But Cynthia Tucker, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize certainly has a place in incivility’s hall of shame. The Pulitzer is awarded by communist/socialists to other communist/socialists for advancing their agenda. Way to go Cynthia.
Well said....like "Newt speak."
When you no longer consider Mark Steyn a member of your team, it may be time to stop and consider worth of the team you are a member of.
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