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Liberals are winning the language war
Reuters ^ | 4/11/2014 | Keith Koffler

Posted on 04/14/2014 8:35:19 PM PDT by Hoodat

Are conservatives linguistically challenged? Or are they just naïve enough to think they can win the battle of ideas with — ideas?

Okay, and money.

Conservatives, like liberals, will spend huge amounts of money this year to get their ideas across to voters. But what they fail to do is bundle their thoughts into a bright, shiny linguistic package that explodes in the face of their enemies when opened.

The left has assembled a rich lexicon of phrases that serve either as stilettos that can be turned again and again in the guts of their opponents, or shields that obscure their true intentions.

The phrasing can be at best vicious, at worst dishonest. But conservatives should consider concocting some nasty comebacks, lest they continue to be perceived as Neanderthals battling forces of progress.

Did I just use the term “Neanderthal”? You immediately knew I couldn’t have meant liberals, because liberals are enlightened. They are Cro-Magnons, each and every one.

Now you see the problem.

Herewith, a list of the top liberal epithets and euphemisms. Let’s start with the former:

War on Women: When Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) noted a few weeks ago that Democrats, who accuse Republicans of waging a “war on women,” were strangely unappalled by President Bill Clinton’s “predatory” behavior, he was slyly undermining one of the worst charges lodged by Democrats.

Really? A war on women? This is blandly repeated by Democrats everywhere as accepted science. But how foolish. One supposedly hates women because . . .

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: language; liberals; progressives; rhetoric; thoughtcrime; waronscience; waronwomen; waronwomenmeme
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To: savagesusie

In 1984, Winston Smith’s friend, Syme, a phylologist and expert in Newspeak, admits to Winston that the goal of his department in the newest edition of the Newspeak dictionary is the destruction of words.
Why have a dozen words with a dozen shades of meaning describing, for example, qualities when you can simply use ‘good’ or ‘ungood’? It spares people the chore of thinking and encourages orthodoxy, or ‘goodthinking’ and discourages ‘thoughtcrime.’


21 posted on 04/14/2014 10:08:52 PM PDT by tumblindice (Are all Democrats inveterate, habitual liars?)
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To: Sarah Barracuda
I have a good system HERE
22 posted on 04/14/2014 10:32:08 PM PDT by Loud Mime (Character matters for those who understand the concept)
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To: AlexW
Who has kept conservatives from entering the halls of academia as teachers/professors? If many of them persisted in that endeavor, eventually a balance could be met and students would benefit from various points of view that they are being deprived of now.

Actually, I strongly believe teachers are paid to teach subjects they are hired to teach; their personal opinions have no room in a classroom.

23 posted on 04/14/2014 10:45:20 PM PDT by IIntense (WH)
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To: Hoodat

The Truth is hoe you deal with Liberal Lies. You win by not engaging them and discussing nonsense.


24 posted on 04/14/2014 11:03:22 PM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: jsanders2001

The Truth is how you deal with Liberal Lies. You win by not engaging them and discussing nonsense.


25 posted on 04/14/2014 11:04:27 PM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: Impy

That’s a good start but there are many many more... some so subtle even republicans and some conservatives fall in the trap of using them. I’ve started making a list, here’s a few:

access (as access to birth control) - you pay for what I want

affordable housing - subsidizing housing

government expense - a tax cut

justice (as in social justice, environmental justice, economic justice, reproductive justice, etc. ad infinitum) - I want what you have

investment - a new government program

diversity - backdoor quotas

sustainability - politburo type of planning

giving back (as giving back to the community) - shakedown

community - a pressure group

tolerance - forced acceptance and even exaltation of behavior you abhor

hate speech - something they disagree with, or very often, the truth

That’s enough for now.


26 posted on 04/14/2014 11:28:32 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: Hoodat
There is no excuse for losing the rhetoric war with those who defy the truth.

The left owns every medium of public education but for radio talk shows. The reason is simple: when public opinion can control access to resources, owning education media becomes very profitable. In a system like that, liberty operates at a structural disadvantage.

27 posted on 04/14/2014 11:35:17 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: savagesusie

Antonio Gramsci, an Italian communist theoretician of the early 1900 disagreed strongly with Marx and Lenin about how the communist revolution would occur, especially in the capitalist west. Marx believed that the workers in the west would arise spontaneously against the system. Gramsci believed that that would never happen and he was right.

He instead asserted that if you want to take over the west you have to do it through what he called “the long march through the institutions”, i.e. the taking over by leftist infiltrators of governmental, social and cultural institutions (i.e. government agencies, schools, media, entertainment, sports, armed forces,etc). He recognized that this would take a long time, but in the end it would succeed better than brute force because the people could then be peacefully indoctrinated (through schools, media, entertainment) in the socialist or communist culture, and would achieve a consensus which the people would be fooled into thinking they freely arrived at.

You must admit they’ve done rather well. They have indeed taken over the schools, the media, entertainment, government agencies, and most recently the armed forces and sports.


28 posted on 04/14/2014 11:35:59 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: IIntense

“Actually, I strongly believe teachers are paid to teach subjects they are hired to teach; their personal opinions have no room in a classroom.”
____________________________________________________
I agree, but keep in mind this popular saying:
“Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”
Put that line into your search engine in order to get many opinions.


29 posted on 04/14/2014 11:36:04 PM PDT by AlexW
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To: Hoodat

Dems appear more organized than Republicans in this regard. I’ve noticed a tremendous number of references to the Koch brothers the past week or so.They’re all over the internet and even a caller to Coast-to-Coast made a negative reference. I’m sure the worker bees have been ordered to put the name out there to make them the face of evil by November 4. “Koch Brothers” is going to be this election year’s version of 2012’s “War on Women.”


30 posted on 04/14/2014 11:36:55 PM PDT by cydcharisse (`)
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To: cydcharisse

Yep. Why don’t pubs talk about George Soros, who should always be referred to as “Former Nazi George Soros”. I suppose because the GOP-e is busy taking his money too.


31 posted on 04/14/2014 11:59:31 PM PDT by Hugin
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To: Sarah Barracuda

Libs control the media, hollywood, and education. It is not shocking at all that they are winning the war to redefine language.


32 posted on 04/15/2014 12:38:24 AM PDT by Organic Panic
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To: Hoodat

It is a war of words, and so far, the liberal swine have won the battle with slick dishonest catch-phrases like:

“affirmative action”
“affordable care act”
“tolerance”
“diversity”
“inclusion”
“income inequality”
“social justice”

Who is in charge of coming up with equally convincing catch-phrases for the conservative side of the battlefield??

-—”GimmeDats” is one of the best phrases we need to start using.
-—”Socioeconomic Fascism”
-—”Greedy Liberals” (after all, they are the greedy ones, not people who want to keep their own hard-earned money)

As long as the “GimmeDats” get “free stuff” they don’t care how much the government spends.

Obamacare needs to be called out for what it is: “Socioeconomic Fascism!!”


33 posted on 04/15/2014 1:30:22 AM PDT by AlanGreenSpam (Obama: The First 'American IDOL' President - sponsored by Chicago NeoCom Thugs)
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To: Impy; All

Agreed.

This ties in perfectly with the current level of devolution of Western culture - rank liberalism with emphasis on buggery and social engineering.


34 posted on 04/15/2014 2:39:01 AM PDT by GOPsterinMA (You're a very weird person, Yossarian.)
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To: Impy

Profligate spending on education = Investment


35 posted on 04/15/2014 2:59:16 AM PDT by raybbr (Obamacare needs a death panel.)
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To: Hoodat

“There is no excuse for losing the rhetoric war with those who defy the truth.”

Exactly what principles is the GOP planning to run on this year? It is April and the election is 7 months away. It is clear to me the Dems are running on income inequality, women’s rights, gay rights, gun control, amnesty, continuation of Obamacare, more spending, and stamping out racism.

What exactly is the Republican platform this year?

- Obamacare - is it repeal or fix?
- Immigration - is it amnesty or not?
- Spending - Any real plan to reign in spending or is it more capitulation?
- Taxes - I haven’t heard a thing.
- Traditional marriage - Any plan to talk about it?
- Abortion - Seems like they are running away from it.
- Defense - Any proposals to prevent the gutting of our capabilities and nuclear forces?
- Trade - More one way “free trade”?
- Abuse of Presidential Power - No talk about repealing the Patriot Act, scaling back ammunition purchases by federal agencies, reigning in the IRS, or impeaching Holder.
- Gun control - Crickets chirping.

Seven months from the election I have no idea what the GOP stands “for”. All I know for sure is the GOP establishment is against the Tea Party.

Is this a winning strategy?


36 posted on 04/15/2014 3:52:38 AM PDT by Soul of the South (Yesterday is gone. Today will be what we make of it.)
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To: Impy; Hoodat; BillyBoy; GOPsterinMA; Clintonfatigued; GOPJ; Liz; fieldmarshaldj; NFHale
RE :”I agree, controlling the lexicon is very important.”

‘Marriage equality’
‘Tax fairness’
‘Pay equity’
‘gun safety’

I will repost part of a comment I made here on March 27, 2013.

Here's what Dems taught themselves to do in the 2000s:

1) redefine the terms of the debate so they favor them : marriage equality, gun safety, and tax fairness and repeat them over and over to the MSM and on camera.

2) Understand your opponents argument in detail so you can dismember it. This is very different than just listening to those who you like because they-say what you want to hear

3) Understand who you are trying to convince, so you understand what arguments he/she will be receptive too. #3 goes closely with #2.

comment I made(#11) on March 27, 2013.

37 posted on 04/15/2014 5:15:52 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Obama : 'You can keep your doctor if you want. I never tell a lie ')
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To: sickoflibs; Impy; BillyBoy; KC_Lion; Clintonfatigued; fieldmarshaldj; NFHale; Bender2

SOL - nice job.

The left are masters at finding a wedge issue that’s contentious and that there’s deep division on (race and culture are as about as big as they get). Start dog whistling and changing the dictionary until people get fenzied. Then get them to $upport your cause while blindly f***ing them (Blacks and the welfare society for example - keep them on the RAT voting plantation) since they’re too busy grabbing “their” freebies or demanding “their rights, too”.

Repeat the process, but keep it controlled enough so it doesn’t ruin the money making machine (fags, ACLU-types, pro-illegal alien lobby, etc.).

And “Multiculturalism” is a deliberate policy designed to keep the lower classes in check. If TSHTF, the powers that be will play one race/culture off one another to keep order.

Classic, effective divide and conquer strategies.

And the dullards on the other side nominate Todd Akins, Richard Mourdocks and use the “clicker” to see what time Lawrence Welk comes on.

Any wonder why the left’s winning?


38 posted on 04/15/2014 5:33:16 AM PDT by GOPsterinMA (You're a very weird person, Yossarian.)
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To: GOPsterinMA; sickoflibs; Impy; BillyBoy; Clintonfatigued; fieldmarshaldj; NFHale; Bender2
Then get them to $upport your cause while blindly f***ing them (Blacks and the welfare society for example - keep them on the RAT voting plantation) since they’re too busy grabbing “their” freebies or demanding “their rights, too”.

Yes, However, we must also look at ourselves. We have become addicted to voting for people with an "R" by their name because we are so afraid of the "D"'s, regardless if the "R" is a conservative or not.

That gives the left a huge advantage too.

39 posted on 04/15/2014 5:35:57 AM PDT by KC_Lion (Build the America you want to live in at your address, and keep looking up.- Sarah Palin)
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To: KC_Lion; sickoflibs; Impy; BillyBoy; Clintonfatigued; fieldmarshaldj; NFHale; Bender2

“We have become addicted to voting for people with an “R” by their name because we are so afraid of the “D”’s, regardless if the “R” is a conservative or not.”

Because as bad as most RINOs are they are still better than the best RAT. Sad to say, but it’s true.


40 posted on 04/15/2014 5:38:37 AM PDT by GOPsterinMA (You're a very weird person, Yossarian.)
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