# What are some dog whistles of the American left? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012 "2020-07-02T02:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/62 "2020-07-03T17:03:02Z")
Sorry, I thought you were asking in general, not for specifics. But, as for specific groups that would have some members that would pick up on it and nod sagely, there are people in PETA, GreenPeace, the Sierra Club and a few others that would happily support legislation that limited the number of children people could have. ---
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/63 "2020-07-03T18:24:24Z")
Farrakhan and Sharpton aren’t right wingers. And there is quite a bit of anti-semitism in the BLM movement. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/64 "2020-07-03T19:00:05Z")
If there was ever a time I needed an upvote button, your comment was it. Nicely summed up all of the non-whistles listed. When I think of dog whistles, I think 88, pepe, and even states’ rights. Or thugs, looting, rioting (as opposed to protestors). So definitely a strong race component, but the “states’ rights” does hint that “no no we’re not taking rights away from people, we’re just transferring rights from the federal govt to states”, which is generally total BS. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/65 "2020-07-03T19:07:05Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > “Living wage” means “Pay them more than the value that they are contributing to society.” What would I have to pay you to work at McDonald’s and flip burgers? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/66 "2020-07-04T00:10:39Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > “Go by science” often means support of evolution and pushback against creationism. And…? Science has 0 support for creationism and fully supports evolution, so that’s not really a dog whistle. > [@](#): > > “Hate speech will not be tolerated” usually means banning Trump supporters, neo-Nazis, Confederate apologists, etc. Neo Nazism or support for the Confederacy IS hate speech. The Nazis believed that people like me should be dead, and they killed 6 million of us. I have a hard time thinking of anything MORE hateful than that. The Confederacy meanwhile was a pack of traitors to the United States who rebelled for the continued right to enslave the black race and treat its members as property. Trump Supporters aren’t inherently hateful but it doesn’t tend to take them very long to start expressing hateful positions. But if someone is trying to ban support for Trump in and of itself under grounds of “hate speech” that’s not appropriate. Got any examples? > [@](#): > > “Bodily autonomy” = support for access to abortion Again, how is this a “dog whistle”? I’m not sure how you can say a woman has bodily autonomy if she can’t even decide whether to carry a baby or not. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/67 "2020-07-04T00:15:01Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Left-wing antisemites use “Zionist”\* in the same way right-wing antisemites use “international bankers”. > > Other than that, I can’t think of any left-wing dog whistles. > > \*To be clear, I’m not saying that all people who criticize Israel are antisemites; I’m saying that many antisemites use criticizing “Zionists” as a cover for hating Jews. This is true and seems to back up the idea that it isn’t people who hold a political position who need dog whistles, but rather racists. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/68 "2020-07-05T14:04:25Z")
> [@agzem](#): > > When the left says “ **bankers** ” it is a dog whistle for “ **Jews** ” k9bfriender: “Could you give an example of this?” For some (and not just on the left) “Goldman Sachs” has been a dog whistle for “Jews”. > **[Is Criticism Of Goldman Really Anti-Semitism?](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126310251)** > > Investment bank Goldman Sachs has become a symbol of the financial excesses that helped to bring on the recession. The Atlantic's Michael Kinsley finds that because Goldman is thought of as a "Jewish" firm, criticism of it, or of bankers generally,... ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/69 "2020-07-05T14:28:07Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I have no doubt that that’s a code word used by antisemites, but it was my understanding that american left lost all of their antisemites to the right, who has better support for naziism. Naw, there is a lot of antisemitism on the left, and as best as i can tell, it’s growing. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > What would I have to pay you to work at McDonald’s and flip burgers? Me? A hell of a lot more than McDonalds pays. Maybe I’m missing your point? > [@Babale](#): > > This is true and seems to back up the idea that it isn’t people who hold a political position who need dog whistles, but rather racists. Yup. Conservatives don’t need dog whistles. They are proud of their views and want to advertise them. Same with liberals. It’s people who have view that they know the rest of us will condemn them for – principally racists – who use dog whistles. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/70 "2020-07-08T18:44:13Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Me? A hell of a lot more than McDonalds pays. Maybe I’m missing your point? That was not a response to something that you said, it was in response to @Tim_R.Mortiss, so I’m not sure if you are reading something into it differently than I meant it. The point is that @Tim_R.Mortiss says that paying a living wage is more than they contribute to society. If you would not flip burgers at McDonalds for the wage that is offered, then it sounds as though they are providing more value than their pay, not less. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/71 "2020-07-08T22:34:38Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The point is that @Tim_R.Mortiss says that paying a living wage is more than they contribute to society. If you would not flip burgers at McDonalds for the wage that is offered, then it sounds as though they are providing more value than their pay, not less. I don’t see how that follows. There are lots of jobs I wouldn’t do for the wage they pay, because I can make much more in my chosen profession. It has nothing to do with how much value that job contributes to society, or if it pays more or less that the contribution is worth. I’ve worked plenty of minimum wage jobs in my youth, and I could never have lived on them, nor would I have expected to. It motivated me to increase my skill set to where I could earn much more. I’m sure the same is true for most of us here. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/72 "2020-07-09T02:11:03Z")
> [@agzem](#): > > When the left says “ **bankers** ” it is a dog whistle for “ **Jews** ” I don’t think that’s true at all. When the left says “bankers” (or “Wall Street” or “Goldman Sachs” for that matter) I’m pretty sure they are talking about American capitalism. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/73 "2020-07-09T02:13:13Z")
Agreed. I’m left and that is what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/74 "2020-07-09T02:37:43Z")
The left doesn’t need dog whistles. We don’t find it clever or useful to use messaging that intentionally confuses outsiders. If you hear words or phrases that aren’t familiar, that’s good, you’re being intellectually challenged and we’re happy to explain ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/75 "2020-07-09T04:01:05Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > It has nothing to do with how much value that job contributes to society, or if it pays more or less that the contribution is worth. Well you did suggest earlier that these things are coupled, and a living wage necessarily means paying more than a person’s contribution to society. If you’re now accepting that pay and contribution is not the same thing, then great. It would be nice if we hard a simple yardstick for measuring value to society. But we don’t, and salary is not it. If hiring another burger flipper can earn my business an extra $5000 per week, I don’t pay that flipper some percent of $5000, I pay them whatever is the current market rate for unskilled labor in that region. So if an employee is currently earning X, the only guarantee is that their perceived value to that company is greater than X, but it could be 10X, 20X, whatever. And how you decide what kind of work is good for society is another massive issue with this line of thinking. Let’s say I strike it rich by starting a new fad of, I dunno, PVC dungarees. Within a year the fad is over, and there’s a big spike in the amount of plastic in landfills. But anyway, since I’m rich, my contribution is worth much, much more than nurses, firefighters etc? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/76 "2020-07-09T06:09:43Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > The left doesn’t need dog whistles. We don’t find it clever or useful to use messaging that intentionally confuses outsiders. If you hear words or phrases that aren’t familiar, that’s good, you’re being intellectually challenged and we’re happy to explain ourselves. HAHAHAHA!!! Good one! Man, you had me rolling on the floor. Here’s a new classic Leftist dog-whistle: Black Lives Matter. The BLM organization only cares about black lives that are extinguished by white cops. That’s it. Sure, black people being killed by white cops is a bad thing; nobody disputes that. But it’s a trivial proportion of the problem! Last weekend alone, eleven black lives were extinguished in Chicago. Every one of those murders was perpetrated by a black thug. Where was BLM? Nowhere, _mon frère_. Hundreds of black-on-black murders have occurred in the USA this year so far, compared to a handful of white-cop-on-black citizen murders, but look where BLM chooses to focus. Classic misdirection and dishonesty. A clear dog-whistle to their followers, hoping to deceive the rest of society. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/77 "2020-07-09T06:56:43Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > A clear dog-whistle What, praytell, is it a dog whistle FOR? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/78 "2020-07-09T08:37:14Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Last weekend alone, eleven black lives were extinguished in Chicago. Every one of those murders was perpetrated by a black thug. Where was BLM? Nowhere, _mon frère_ . I think you’re right: we should expand the discussion to include gun control, reparations and of course, as we were just discussing, a living wage… …oh, sorry, did you mean we should just label blacks as “thugs” and continue to be racist while at the same time denying systemic racism? > [@](#): > > Classic misdirection and dishonesty. Ironic that you would accuse others of misdirection. If BLM is laser-focused on one problem, then let’s discuss that specific problem, yes? There are always other problems we can “whatabout”, but one thing at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/79 "2020-07-09T09:00:53Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Here’s a new classic Leftist dog-whistle: Black Lives Matter. The BLM organization only cares about black lives that are extinguished by white cops. That’s it. Sure, black people being killed by white cops is a bad thing; nobody disputes that. But it’s a trivial proportion of the problem! Last weekend alone, eleven black lives were extinguished in Chicago. Every one of those murders was perpetrated by a black thug. Where was BLM? Nowhere, _mon frère_ . Hundreds of black-on-black murders have occurred in the USA this year so far, compared to a handful of white-cop-on-black citizen murders, but look where BLM chooses to focus. Classic misdirection and dishonesty. A clear dog-whistle to their followers, hoping to deceive the rest of society. Interesting how when criminals kill white people, it’s the police’s problem, but when criminals kill black people it’s black people’s problem. But in fact, I agree with you - BLM _should_ be protesting the police’s inability or unwillingness to protect innocent black civilians from criminals who prey on them. Ordinary black people have no obligation to stop criminals, of any race, any more than ordinary white people do; that should be the authorities’ job, and the authorities aren’t doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/80 "2020-07-09T12:15:04Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Left-wing antisemites use “Zionist”\* in the same way right-wing antisemites use “international bankers”. > > Other than that, I can’t think of any left-wing dog whistles. > > \*To be clear, I’m not saying that all people who criticize Israel are antisemites; I’m saying that many antisemites use criticizing “Zionists” as a cover for hating Jews. This is the only one that immediately popped to mind. Antisemitism in the left is pretty firmly rooted in the “Israel=Evil AND Israel=Jews THEREFORE Jews=Evil” canard. ---
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012/81 "2020-07-09T12:18:36Z")
Farrakhan : “Who’s the master of the bankers?” Audience: “Jews” Yes that really happened. It’s typical for the Nation of Islam [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-dog-whistles-of-the-american-left/914012.md?page=5)