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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
 Posted - 01/24/2007 : 22:58:01
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Listen to the audio of Bush's State of the Union Address at about minute 2:25. While the transcripts found on various news web sites say "Democratic majority", Bush says, "I congratulate the Democrat majority". You may think this is insignificant. A Bush gaff, what else is new, or he probably uses the label all the time and just slipped. As carefully as he pronounces words in his speeches, as if he had to practice a foreign language, I don't buy it. The transcripts offer a convenient excuse from culpability.
Check out the "mentalist" magic James Randi discloses and you'll see just how small of a subtle suggestion will make you pick a certain card or envelope on a table. The choice to slip Democrat majority in the speech shows Bush's claim of wanting a new bipartisan working relationship is phony, which I guess is no surprise.
GOP strategists christen "Democrat [sic] Party" -- and the media comply
"Newt Gingrich, the nominal author of the notorious 1990 memo 'Language: A Key Mechanism of Control,' and his Contract with America pollster, Frank Luntz."
"The words in that paper are tested language from a recent series of focus groups where we actually tested ideas and language."
His political action committee (GOPAC) mailed a pamphlet entitled Language, A Key Mechanism of Control to Republicans across the country. The booklet offered rhetorical advice to Republican candidates who wanted to "speak like Newt." It was subsequently awarded a Doublespeak Award by the National Conference of Teachers of English in 1990.
Or this one:quote:
This is Luntz' bipartisanship in action during the 2000 presidential race:
The post-debate extravaganzas were very damaging to the Gore campaign. In one memorable case, Republican operative Frank Luntz (not identified as such) conducted a “focus group” discussion of the just-completed debate. Up front, he asked the group which candidate came across as more “likeable.” When they voted for Bush, Luntz proclaimed Bush the “winner” of the debate.
A member of that group, Lisa Ramsey, later blew the whistle on Frank Luntz' con:
I was part of Frank Luntz' "focus group" that pitted ten Republicans against ten Democrats.
We were told to come to a hotel in West Palm Beach an hour before the show. Upon arrival, we were checked off a list and segregated by party. I was close enough to the Republicans to see a man passing out "talking points" to his fellow panelists -- telling them that it would be great if they could incorporate them into whatever they said -- and to make it sound personal.
As near as I can tell, this is the transcript of the memo, including suggested good and bad words. It comes from this excellent source, How They Change Your Mind - Subliminal Persuasion Today. The weblog for HowTheyChangeYourMind.com
I assume this blog comment has merit whether it is factual or not.
quote:
Democrats Must Stop Being Appeasers Email Print
By Devilstower
09/09/2006 03:50:27 PM EST
The word first appeared in the mealy mouths of the right wing venom patrol. Bill and
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Edited by - beskeptigal on 01/24/2007 23:04:40
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 02:19:42 [Permalink]
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I caught that, too, the weaselly old Republican-standard tactic of not using their opponent's real name. And in a supposed congratulation. Back-handed compliment, that was. And of course the hard-core liars were ready to use Karl Rove's talking points. Scumbags, all.
Would they like being called the Republics? That's be just as silly, and wold be meant only to irritate.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 04:01:22 [Permalink]
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Al Franken noticed that and commented on Air America. He then referred to the Republicans as "Repulicans". Keith Olbermann on MSNBC also made a comment about it after the speech and introduced a "Republic" commentator.
About 10 years ago I was working in an office adjacent to a retail music distribution warehouse. One day a notice appeared on the bulletin board to the shipping staff. It was a complete fake, deliberately worded so as to give the impression that registered Democrats in the warehouse were invited by the local "Democrat" Party to a meeting and to bring a portion of their hard earned paychecks in support of "Democrat" candidates. The text was designed to shock what right-wingers conceived of as conservative, 'moral' workers and sway them away from the immoral aims of the "Democrat" party as falsely stated in the pamphlet. I called them on it and reported it to the office but it was greeted with indifference. (I also informed the local Democratic Party.) Turned out sometime later the warehouse manager was a big Arnold Schwarzenegger supporter. He later rounded up all the mentally "challenged" kids in the warehouse and lined them up at Arnold Schwarzenegger political rallies. They would mechanically cheer Arnold Schwarzenegger in unison on cue in the front rows for news cameras.
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Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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Original_Intent
SFN Regular
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 08:28:11 [Permalink]
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LOL. My god, so many thing to worry about, and you are picking on what could possibly be "speech insecurity."
First, maybe some bone-head made a msitake, and that mistake copied itself. Maybe Bush caught the mistake and said "Democrat majority", because, hey, the Democrat Party is in the majority (or did someone swith the name to Democratic Party and not tell me).
And in the case of "weasels", for years I have heard President Bush refered to Mr. Bush, even when using the name President Clinton in the same sentence.
Peace
Joe
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 08:40:15 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Would they like being called the Republics? That's be just as silly, and wold be meant only to irritate.
That's the point that I was thinking about, but couldn't articulate, last night in chat when Boron10 was wondering why anyone would take offense at "Democrat Party."
If you continue to do something to irritate someone else, and you know it irritates them, then you're doing it in order to get them royally pissed off. And by that time, you're not just being annoying anymore, you're being offensive. "Democrat Party" might seem like a small thing, but when it's repeated despite correction, it's intended to become a big thing.
The WTC guy we had here not too long ago, Steve, was trying to do that to me by calling me "Davey." |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 09:39:35 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Original_Intent
LOL. My god, so many thing to worry about, and you are picking on what could possibly be "speech insecurity."
First, maybe some bone-head made a msitake, and that mistake copied itself. Maybe Bush caught the mistake and said "Democrat majority", because, hey, the Democrat Party is in the majority (or did someone swith the name to Democratic Party and not tell me).
And in the case of "weasels", for years I have heard President Bush refered to Mr. Bush, even when using the name President Clinton in the same sentence.
Peace
Joe
No, OI, it's been well-documented (and if you bothered to look at BSG's links you'd know) that using "Democrat Party" instead of "Democratic Party" is one part of the RNC's largely successful war to dominate verbal political discourse.
The party has always been the Democratic Party, OI-- no one switched anything on you. The use of the pejorative "Democrat Party" is to disassociate the party with the word "democratic"-- a word viewed positively by most Americans.
Again, follow BSG's links and read up on it. Given how well the RNC machine has dominated the discourse over the last 20 years or so (note, for example, the clear pejorative nature of the word "liberal"), it's good to see that people are waking up and fighting to expose such underhanded but effective tactics.
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 12:26:05 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Original_Intent
LOL....hey, the Democrat Party is in the majority (or did someone swith the name to Democratic Party and not tell me).
Peace
Joe
Your "Original Intent" is to still pitch the Republian line I see.
Raspberries 
Chip |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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Orwellingly Yurz
SFN Regular
USA
529 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 13:09:21 [Permalink]
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YO! George W. Bush is the President of the United States. When he speaks at a mandated, formal occasion, he should speak with respect, whether he wants to or not. His calling the Democratic Party the Democrat Party is his problem, not mine.
However, I'm a private citizen of the United States with the right of free speech. Since I'm not at the podium of the US House of Representatives, speaking to a join session of Congress, I can call the President's party the Republican'ts if I want to.
If I were speaking in a similiar scene of decorum that the State of the Union is delivered, I would refer to the Republican'ts as Republicans, despite the fact that much of the GOP has corrupted the semantics of its party's official name.
My favorite term regarding our government is liberal democracy, something that shouldn't be manipulated, much as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is trying to do as I write this.
Chavez, Bush and Ahmadinejad are all wannabe tyrants who threaten liberty as much as terrorist assaults on innocent people threaten governmental revocation of civil liberties by such wannabes.
OY! |
"The modern conservative...is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy. That is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
--John Kenneth Galbraith
If dogs run free
Then what must be,
Must be...
And that is all
--Bob Dylan
The neo-cons have gotten welfare for themselves down to a fine art.
--me
"The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights."
--J. Paul Getty
"The great thing about Art isn't what it give us, but what we become through it."
--Oscar Wilde
"We have Art in order not to die of life."
--Albert Camus
"I cling like a miser to the freedom I lose when surrounded by an abundance of things."
--Albert Camus
"Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes."
--Oscar Wilde |
| Edited by - Orwellingly Yurz on 01/25/2007 13:27:53 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 13:20:30 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Original_Intent
LOL. My god, so many thing to worry about, and you are picking on what could possibly be "speech insecurity."
First, maybe some bone-head made a msitake, and that mistake copied itself. Maybe Bush caught the mistake and said "Democrat majority", because, hey, the Democrat Party is in the majority (or did someone swith the name to Democratic Party and not tell me).
And in the case of "weasels", for years I have heard President Bush refered to Mr. Bush, even when using the name President Clinton in the same sentence.
Peace
Joe
Surely you know better than you pretend. That "Democrat Party" thing has been GOP policy for decades. The Party has never had that name, as a matter of historical record. It's been called the "Democratic Party" since the 1830's. "Democrat" is proper when referring to a member of the Democratic Party, just as a small-d version is correct when referring to someone who upholds democracy. (I'm proud to call myself first a democrat, and secondly a Democrat.)
Hell, I use "GOP," and that's not considered a pejorative to Republicans. In fact, it's an exaggeration of both their grandeur and their Party's age. I don't mind the exaggeration -- they're surely grander and older than the Natural Law Party. And Lincoln was pretty damned grand, in my book, as were the "Radical Republicans" of the Civil War era.
Here's another thing I noticed: Bush gave a nasty little squinty-eyed look just after he used the word. You'll deny it and laugh, but I noticed. It signalled his intentions to insult. And I saw the "there they go again," grins on faces of Democrats in reaction.
It's hard for a Democratic politician to attack this kind of thing only because it's subtle. Complaining about it can look a little paranoid, petty, or silly. (Which is why the insult is used so often.) But it's real, and intentional, and the purpose is to undermine the fact that the Democratic Party just happens to have a better name.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Orwellingly Yurz
SFN Regular
USA
529 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 13:34:24 [Permalink]
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YO!
[/quote] from Mooner....
Hell, I use "GOP," and that's not considered a pejorative to Republicans. In fact, it's an exaggeration of both their grandeur and their Party's age. I don't mind the exaggeration -- they're surely grander and older than the Natural Law Party. And Lincoln was pretty damned grand, in my book, as were the 'Radical Republicans' of the Civil War era."
Orwellingly Yurz sez: Well Halfmooner, it's time we make up or borrow a couple of pejoratives for the Bushits.
How 'bout the aforementioned: Republican'ts for the party?
And for the GOP: Guarding Our Possessions!? It has a nice, clear ring to it, don't you think?
OY!
[/quote] |
"The modern conservative...is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy. That is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
--John Kenneth Galbraith
If dogs run free
Then what must be,
Must be...
And that is all
--Bob Dylan
The neo-cons have gotten welfare for themselves down to a fine art.
--me
"The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights."
--J. Paul Getty
"The great thing about Art isn't what it give us, but what we become through it."
--Oscar Wilde
"We have Art in order not to die of life."
--Albert Camus
"I cling like a miser to the freedom I lose when surrounded by an abundance of things."
--Albert Camus
"Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes."
--Oscar Wilde |
| Edited by - Orwellingly Yurz on 01/25/2007 13:37:10 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 13:36:14 [Permalink]
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Wiki says:quote:
It is appropriate to refer to candidates and the party using the adjective "Democratic" as opposed to the noun "Democrat," (i.e. "Democratic" Party, the "Democratic" candidate). Some conservative commentators and some past and present leaders of the Republican Party have referred to the Democratic Party as the "Democrat Party," usually in a pejorative sense.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 13:44:08 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Orwellingly Yurz
YO!
quote:
from Mooner....
Hell, I use "GOP," and that's not considered a pejorative to Republicans. In fact, it's an exaggeration of both their grandeur and their Party's age. I don't mind the exaggeration -- they're surely grander and older than the Natural Law Party. And Lincoln was pretty damned grand, in my book, as were the 'Radical Republicans' of the Civil War era."
Orwellingly Yurz sez: Well Halfmooner, it's time we make up or borrow a couple of pejoratives for the Bushits.
How 'bout the aforementioned: Republican'ts for the party?
And for the GOP: Guarding Our Possessions!? It has a nice, clear ring to it, don't you think?
OY!
I've got a few names for the GOP. If I were the President congratulating a new opposition majority, however, I would not throw insults into the mix. (BTW, if nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve. So relax.)
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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McQ
Skeptic Friend
USA
258 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 14:50:29 [Permalink]
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I don't know if we can have it both ways here. We tend to say what a moron a certain Executive branch leader is, and how he can't make a good speech. Now we try to give him too much credit for being really clever and slipping in Democrat?
I don't buy it. This is the same guy who pronounces the word Nuke-YOU-lur. I mean, for Pete's sake, he's got the friggin' launch codes and can't even pronounce that word right!
I think it was just an idiotic slip. Occam's razor leads me to that belief with him. What's more likely? He got clever all of a sudden or just barfed up his speech because he so used to using the word wrong?
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Elvis didn't do no drugs!
--Penn Gillette |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 17:05:31 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by McQ
I don't know if we can have it both ways here...
Using "Democrat Party" in place of "Democratic Party" is an old repetitive Republican co-opt word trick. Bush is both a dumb-ass and intelligent. He's savvy to any and all political dirty tricks no matter how crass or sophisticated.
You can bet that while remaining aloof, ignorant and pompous, Bush was well aware of the Swift boat liars who attacked Kerry's Vietnam service and most recently the far-rightwing pseudo-news outlets and Rush Limbaugh attempted double whammy by saying the Hilary Clinton campaign is "investigating" Barack Obama's youthful schooling in a so-called "Madrasa". CNN, MSNBC and Media Matters all discovered it is just another attempted smear falsehood likely from Bush's buddies, designed (they figured) to simultaneously strike public fear toward Obama as some sort of "Manchurian Candidate" while making Hilary seem conniving and intolerant of her political competitors. (It didn't work, and was greeting with an enormous shrug - which is a good sign that maybe the country is getting tired and savvy of Bush's Rove-like plotting.)
http://mediamatters.org/items/200701200003
We can expect more stupid antics as we head toward 2008.
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Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 17:26:17 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by McQ
I don't know if we can have it both ways here. We tend to say what a moron a certain Executive branch leader is, and how he can't make a good speech. Now we try to give him too much credit for being really clever and slipping in Democrat?
I don't buy it. This is the same guy who pronounces the word Nuke-YOU-lur. I mean, for Pete's sake, he's got the friggin' launch codes and can't even pronounce that word right!
I think it was just an idiotic slip. Occam's razor leads me to that belief with him. What's more likely? He got clever all of a sudden or just barfed up his speech because he so used to using the word wrong?
McQ-- it's hardly "all of a sudden"; rather, this has been going on for some time, both by Bush and by other right-wing politicians and talking heads. Check out the links BSG provided. Sites like MediaMatters and TPM have this well documented. |
| Edited by - Cuneiformist on 01/25/2007 18:24:16 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 17:47:03 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Chippewa
quote:
Originally posted by McQ
I don't know if we can have it both ways here...
Using "Democrat Party" in place of "Democratic Party" is an old repetitive Republican co-opt word trick. Bush is both a dumb-ass and intelligent. He's savvy to any and all political dirty tricks no matter how crass or sophisticated.
You can bet that while remaining aloof, ignorant and pompous, Bush was well aware of the Swift boat liars who attacked Kerry's Vietnam service and most recently the far-rightwing pseudo-news outlets and Rush Limbaugh attempted double whammy by saying the Hilary Clinton campaign is "investigating" Barack Obama's youthful schooling in a so-called "Madrasa". CNN, MSNBC and Media Matters all discovered it is just another attempted smear falsehood likely from Bush's buddies, designed (they figured) to simultaneously strike public fear toward Obama as some sort of "Manchurian Candidate" while making Hilary seem conniving and intolerant of her political competitors. (It didn't work, and was greeting with an enormous shrug - which is a good sign that maybe the country is getting tired and savvy of Bush's Rove-like plotting.)
http://mediamatters.org/items/200701200003
We can expect more stupid antics as we head toward 2008.
I think you got Bush's number. He's willfully ignorant, lazy, and has the ethics of a sidewinder. But he has some raw cunning, and knows how to surround and insulate himself with people who are a single step more capable than he is, and can be sacrificed to take the rap when things go wrong. (Libby's now crying foul, saying he was sacrificed to protect Rove.) I saw that look in Bush's eyes, and I'm personally sure he meant to say just what he said. But this ain't science, and I can't prove it.
I also think, like you do, Chip, that the attacks of the Rove style will continue, even as (and, perversely because) they become less effective. Desperation will do that. And you can't get more desperate than the Worst President, Ever having his worst year, ever.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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