# Examples of right-wing rhetoric/word usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 4, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635 "2012-09-04T13:24:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/41 "2012-09-05T13:54:45Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Yeah, they show no versatility or imagination. They just chant “racist sexist homophobe” over and over again. No they don’t. The “racist sexist homophobe”-chanting democrat is a cartoon character invented by the right, itself an example of framing, to preemptively dismiss the opposition’s positions whatever they are. In the last decade or so (as long as I’ve really been paying attention) I’ve heard someone being accused of getting ready to “play the race card” and backing off of anything even tangentially related to race, at least an order of magnitude more often then I’ve heard anyone actually playing the race card. I call it the “race meta-card”. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/42 "2012-09-05T13:57:35Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Which part of that would you care to deny? There’s nothing there to deny. It’s brainless chanting, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/43 "2012-09-05T14:12:15Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > No they don’t. The “racist sexist homophobe”-chanting democrat is a cartoon character invented by the right, itself an example of framing, to preemptively dismiss the opposition’s positions whatever they are. That cartoon works because there’s an awful lot of truth in it. > [@leahcim](#): > > In the last decade or so (as long as I’ve really been paying attention) I’ve heard someone being accused of getting ready to “play the race card” and backing off of anything even tangentially related to race, at least an order of magnitude more often then I’ve heard anyone actually playing the race card. I call it the “race meta-card”. You might consider how widespead the “dog whistle” meme has become in progressive circles these days. Calling something a “dog whistle” is just an underhanded way of attaching a stigma to an idea or a point without actually having to talk about its merits. When phrases like: \*Chicago golf Holding down the fort kitchen cabinet privileged Constitution Professor\* – and others like them are called code words or dog whistles (meaning they’re somehow supposed to be a veiled appeal to racial prejudice) then it’s quite clear that many progressives no longer care about facts or truth. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/44 "2012-09-05T14:21:23Z")
My favorite was the “rammed down our throat” phrase that was popular among Republicans when referring to Obamacare. I still have co-workers who use that exact phrasing when talking about the Act. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/45 "2012-09-05T15:48:49Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > There’s nothing there to deny. It’s brainless chanting, that’s all. Dead-accurate brainless chanting, you mean. If you’d like to discuss any part of it, then open up a GD thread entitled “Republicans are no more sexist [or racist or homophobic, your call] than Democrats are” and you can present your argument. But a blanket denial, with zero evidence, just looks like an affirmation that you could never win a rational debate. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/46 "2012-09-05T16:22:54Z")
Elitist: someone with a brain who is a Democrat. I don’t know what they call someone with a brain who is a Republican. Does anybody else remember when an education was something to be admired and to strive for? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/47 "2012-09-05T16:26:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Elitist: someone with a brain who is a Democrat. I don’t know what they call someone with a brain who is a Republican. Extinct. Sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/48 "2012-09-05T16:35:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > “Climate change” was originally developed to sound less ominous than “global warming”. I thought the change was made to more accurately describe the problem and to short-circuit the idiotic argument that “colder” winter weather proves that the globe can’t really be “warming”. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/49 "2012-09-05T17:54:55Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Lamestream media. A Palin favorite, meaning anybody who criticizes her or her buddies. Which is a take-off of mainstream media, abbreviated MSM, which is used pejoratively by the right-wing as anything that isn’t Fox News or conservative talk radio. It may have simply begun as a synonym for mass media. The right also uses the phrase “real America” as if anyone who isn’t conservative is an American. The left-wing counter is “flyover states.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/50 "2012-09-05T17:55:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Extinct. > Sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. There are a lot of smart folks on both sides. I just wonder how they do a workaround for their own breed of elitist. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/51 "2012-09-05T18:14:48Z")
And the granddaddy of them all, “liberal.” Once meant generous, freely giving, tolerant of other’s views or shortcomings. Now, apparently, means filthy amoral baby-eating puppy-kicking degenerate scum. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/52 "2012-09-05T18:24:14Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > When phrases like: > > \*Chicago > > golf > > Holding down the fort > > kitchen cabinet > > privileged > > Constitution > > Professor\* > > – and others like them are called code words or dog whistles (meaning they’re somehow supposed to be a veiled appeal to racial prejudice) then it’s quite clear that many progressives no longer care about facts or truth. I’ve never seen those words referred to as “dog whistles”… with the possible exception of “Chicago”- but only when it’s used in reference to “Chicago-style politics”. It’s very clear that when that’s used, it’s a veiled attempt to describe the subject as mafia-connected. > [@Toxgoddess](#): > > And the granddaddy of them all, “liberal.” Once meant generous, freely giving, tolerant of other’s views or shortcomings. Now, apparently, means filthy amoral baby-eating puppy-kicking degenerate scum. This. This one saddens me the most. “Liberal” \*should \*be a good word, but the Republican spin machine has managed to turn it into a pejorative. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/53 "2012-09-05T19:12:09Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I don’t think I understand. Is it supposed to be inferring a “Party of Democrats” as opposed to “Democratic Party”? > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > [Yes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_%28epithet%29). Grammar nitpick: Actually, it’s supposed to be _implying_ it; the listener is then invited to infer it. Serious answer: “Democrat” is a noun; “Democratic” is an adjective. When the name of the political party is “The _ **blank** _\_ Party,” it is more appropriate to fill in the blank with an adjective. To use the noun makes it sound stilted. Also, it hearkens back to a political ad from (iirc) 2008, when the Republican candidate flashed a subliminal-type graphic of the word “DEMOC **RAT** ” on the screen. The campaign was called out for nastily trying to associate the Democratic Party with rats. The public response to the accusation was along the lines of “Who, _US_?” Privately (my sense is) they started passing around the word that _“Hey the Dems go all ape-shit when you call them the DEMOCRAT Party. Keep it up.”_ ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/54 "2012-09-06T12:55:21Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > But a blanket denial, with zero evidence, just looks like an affirmation that you could never win a rational debate. It’s at least as good as a blanket accusation with zero evidence. Trying to prove you’re not racistsexisthomophobic to progressives is like trying to prove you’re not a subversive counterrevolutionary to the KGB. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/55 "2012-09-07T16:36:39Z")
One of the first I remember was detractors calling the Strategic Defense Initiative “Star Wars” as a pejorative. It eventually was adopted by detractors and supporters alike and became the default conversational term. ---
**Author:** ![Lazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc29f/32.png) [@Lazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/56 "2012-09-08T02:33:44Z")
One long-standing example of biased word usage that exists not only on the right but in the mainstream media is the description of the elected leaders of unions as “union bosses.” Maybe it is just me, but it seems that a union leader is more likely to be described as a “boss” in the press than a corporate executive is. ---
**Author:** ![Lavasoap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lavasoap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lavasoap)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/57 "2012-09-08T15:50:17Z")
Rush Limbaugh coined the name “Moochelle” to refer to Michelle Obama. I assume he combined Mooching + Michelle, because the right likes to harp on about Michelle’s shopping and holidays. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/58 "2012-09-12T02:14:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > There are a lot of smart folks on both sides. I just wonder how they do a workaround for their own breed of elitist. Job Creators? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/59 "2012-09-12T02:18:35Z")
> [@Lavasoap](#): > > Rush Limbaugh coined the name “Moochelle” to refer to Michelle Obama. > > I assume he combined Mooching + Michelle, because the right likes to harp on about Michelle’s shopping and holidays. Mooch isn’t pronounced moosh. He was comparing the First Lady to cattle, which moo. Moo - shell. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635/60 "2012-09-12T02:23:25Z")
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is not exactly a winger, but he knows when and where to parrot the party line. In 2009 he coined the memorable phrase [“pull the plug on grandma.”](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/12/grassley-endorses-death-p_n_257677.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-right-wing-rhetoric-word-usage/633635.md?page=2)