# What phrases are or will be regarded as dog whistles?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [June 15, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593 "2015-06-15T18:21:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/61 "2015-06-16T23:37:33Z")
> [@doorhinge](#):
>
> As you said up thread, "Note that none of these answers to your question are, “dog whistles don’t exist, and the whole thing is made up.” Most of your answers were based on your belief that Bush blew the dog whistle.
There are two Bush scenarios, and you quoted both here. I’m not sure what one you’re referring to. One where Bush referred to Dred Scott in a 2004 debate, which was a clear dog whistle. One where he made some comments about Harriet Miers. No one has linked to what those comments were, so I have no idea whether those constituted a dog whistle or not.
> [@](#):
>
> In the one answer that suggests there was no dog whistle, you concluded that all dog whistles are fake and that you were wrong if you suggested that.
I conclude that all dog whistles were fake? Really? I did no such thing. If you think I did, I suggest you reread it.
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### Author:  [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/62 "2015-06-17T02:06:00Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> “Free speech” = the freedom to express politically incorrect or unpopular views (which is, indeed, what free speech is)
Yes, but nearly everyone in the U.S. largely has that, so one might suspect that people who call for “freedom of speech” in certain contexts actually mean something else.
Or they’re paranoid themselves.
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Trying to call “dog whistle” on someone who is going on about the Gay Agenda, for example, is just going to turn the debate to mush.
“Gay agenda” isn’t a dog whistle, or even a code word; it’s pretty much straight-up (so to speak) gay-baiting. Maybe I’m just too young to remember, but I can’t imagine it’s ever been anything else.
> [@](#):
>
> I’d say something like, “Care to explain that code word?” and put the onus on the obfuscator. […] The goal is to force the speaker to explain their code in three-letter words until it sounds as stupid as it is.
Part of the purpose of dog whistles is that they make people who point them out look hypersensitive and paranoid (and indeed, sometimes people point to alleged dog-whistles when in fact those people are hypersensitive and paranoid).
I saw one blogger speculate, years ago, that Republicans at the time were running into trouble with Jewish voters in some areas because they were using phrases that had traditionally been antisemitic dog whistles (praise for farmers and soldiers and condemnation of “academic elites” and “Hollywood values”), but meaning them literally. Similarly, it is my recollection that Mitt Romney in one of the 2012 debates said something about “international bankers,” by which I strongly suspect he meant literal international bankers, but it’s hard to tell.
In trying to find something more reliable than my memory for Romney talking about “international bankers,” I saw mention of the phrase on an Obama-rimming blog, a context in which I have no trouble believing it’s a dog whistle.
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### Author:  [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/63 "2015-06-17T02:13:36Z")
Dammit, just missed the edit window looking for [the blog post in question](http://yglesias.typepad.com/matthew/2005/02/jews_to_the_lef.html). I misremembered it, Yglesias wasn’t saying Republicans were getting in trouble, he was noting the tendency. Still a good illustration, I think.
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### Author:  [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/64 "2015-06-17T04:12:50Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#):
>
> I point you again to my example of Bush’s mention of Dred Scott in the '04 debates. Am I paranoid to think that Bush intended for that to be understood differently by different audiences? And that he’d benefit by that?
I’ve read a great many anti-abortion articles, blog posts, and columns in my life. I recall the Dred Scott decision being mentioned in relation to abortion maybe once–my memory’s a little fuzzy about it.
Also, Bush had stated openly to everyone, long before that debate, that he was opposed to abortion. He said it often and clearly. So what benefit would he get from stating that he was opposed to abortion in a way that only a few people would understand?
I’m of the camp that doesn’t take any claim about dog whistles seriously. I’m particularly amused by the notion that “religious freedom” is a dog whistle; who were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison whistling to when they wrote our nation’s founding documents?
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/65 "2015-06-17T05:15:04Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#):
>
> Part of the purpose of dog whistles is that they make people who point them out look hypersensitive and paranoid (and indeed, sometimes people point to alleged dog-whistles when in fact those people are hypersensitive and paranoid).
It’s like the conspiracy theory that claims, because there is no evidence to support it, that is proof that it’s being suppressed!
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### Author:  [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/66 "2015-06-17T06:24:40Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Those are the dog. No whistle required.
No, I think welfare queen is _supposed_ to be a dog whistle. I don’t think Reagan, or those who came after him, ever came out and said what was the skin colour of that mythical lady living the high, steak-and-lobster life on food stamps.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s more of a dog foghorn these days, but still.
Anyway, my contribution : when the adjective is applied to a person, “cosmopolitan” tends to mean “Jew”. “International bankers” is another well-known one.
[QUOTE=ITR champion]
I’m of the camp that doesn’t take any claim about dog whistles seriously. I’m particularly amused by the notion that “religious freedom” is a dog whistle; who were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison whistling to when they wrote our nation’s founding documents?
[/QUOTE]
Did they mean “the freedom to discriminate against and/or bash gays” ? Because that’s pretty much what the word means now. “Religious freedom” in 2015 refers to a very specific subset of a very specific religion.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/67 "2015-06-17T11:15:03Z")
I may not be stating this well, but I seem to see the term “dog whistle” being used by people who cannot believe that a political opponent may just be saying something reasonable, and that these horrible persons must actually be calling for something horrible in code that the other horribleness-supporters will understand.
It seems as convoluted as any other conspiracy theory.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/68 "2015-06-17T14:17:27Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#):
>
> I may not be stating this well, but I seem to see the term “dog whistle” being used by people who cannot believe that a political opponent may just be saying something reasonable, and that these horrible persons must actually be calling for something horrible in code that the other horribleness-supporters will understand.
>
> It seems as convoluted as any other conspiracy theory.
No, you are not stating that well. Nor could you nor anyone.
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### Author:  [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/69 "2015-06-17T14:38:52Z")
I see, “Obama is a Muslim sympathizer” as a dog whistle.
The left disagrees. OK. But the right agrees, AND it’s a secret validation to their belief that he’s actually a Muslim.
Saying “Hollywood elite” is a dog whistle meaning Jews, gays, and liberals.
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### Author:  [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/70 "2015-06-17T14:47:20Z")
When the right says race relations have gotten worse during Obama’s presidency.
The message heard is, “This is what happens when a black man is in charge. He’s allowing the blacks to get uppity.”
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/71 "2015-06-17T14:50:18Z")
[QUOTE=rock party]
I see, “Obama is a Muslim sympathizer” as a dog whistle.
[/QUOTE]
That’s not a whistle. That’s not even a dog. That is the entire pack.
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### Author:  [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/72 "2015-06-17T14:58:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> That’s not a whistle. That’s not even a dog. That is the entire pack.
Yea, that’s pretty blatant, but many of the criticisms of Obama’s handling of Iraq and the Middle East in general aren’t just that he’s doing a bad job or lacking…there’s also the secret caveat, “BECAUSE HE HIMSELF IS A MUSLIM”
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/73 "2015-06-17T15:03:26Z")
Edit: good grief, was I ever wrong in this post. Never mind, I’ll repost again in a bit.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/74 "2015-06-17T15:06:26Z")
> [@rock\_party](#):
>
> Yea, that’s pretty blatant, but many of the criticisms of Obama’s handling of Iraq and the Middle East in general aren’t just that he’s doing a bad job or lacking…there’s also the secret caveat, “BECAUSE HE HIMSELF IS A MUSLIM”
If you call him a muslim, it’s not a secret that you think he’s a muslim.
A dog whistle is not “something someone says that I don’t like”.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/75 "2015-06-17T15:08:45Z")
I think that the former chair of the RNC Lee Atwater gives a pretty good description of what a dog whistle is:
> [@](#):
>
> You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger
> **[Southern strategy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy)**
>
> In American politics the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. As the civil rights movement and dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the 1950s and 1960s visibly deepened existing racial tensions in much of the Southern United States, Republican politicians such as presidential candidate Richard Nixon and Senator Barry Goldwater developed strategies that success The phra...
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### Author:  [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/76 "2015-06-17T15:08:57Z")
A better example: A few months ago when FOX was having panel shows discussing Obama refusing to label ISIS Islamic. They would stress how much indeed it is Islamic, then they’d ask WHY? WHY won’t Obama call a spade an Islamic? Why is he refusing to tell the obvious truth? WHY?
Now FOX has moved beyond the birther crap, but they were definitely sending a message out to those folks who still believe that Obama is really a Muslim.
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### Author:  [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/77 "2015-06-17T15:15:48Z")
> [@](#):
>
> If you call him a muslim, it’s not a secret that you think he’s a muslim.
Yea, I worded that wrong. When they say Obama sympathizes with Muslims.
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### Author:  [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/78 "2015-06-17T15:27:44Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#):
>
> I’ve read a great many anti-abortion articles, blog posts, and columns in my life. I recall the Dred Scott decision being mentioned in relation to abortion maybe once–my memory’s a little fuzzy about it.
>
> Also, Bush had stated openly to everyone, long before that debate, that he was opposed to abortion. He said it often and clearly. So what benefit would he get from stating that he was opposed to abortion in a way that only a few people would understand?
Bush was known to be pro-life. This was his way of signaling that he would use a pro-life litmus test for Supreme Court justices. But I suppose you believe he was simply indicating that he would only appoint justices that opposed Dred Scott.
> [@](#):
>
> I’m of the camp that doesn’t take any claim about dog whistles seriously. I’m particularly amused by the notion that “religious freedom” is a dog whistle; who were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison whistling to when they wrote our nation’s founding documents?
No, the founders actually meant religious freedom. Current republicans seem to mean freedom to gay-bash. I hesitate to call this one a dog-whistle, though. The phrase used up-thread, “dog fog-horn”, seems more apt.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/79 "2015-06-17T15:42:44Z")
Do Democrats ise dog whistles or are all Democrat politicians completely above board at all times,
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phrases-are-or-will-be-regarded-as-dog-whistles/722593/80 "2015-06-17T15:46:55Z")
As mentioned, “diversity” is often a dog whistle.
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