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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums5 Words And Phrases Democrats Should Never Say Again
Democrats have failed to speak in a language strong enough to rebut Republicans who have defined who we are and what we want.
We talk about the "Death Tax" and not the proper term, "Estate Tax." Two little words"Death Panels"were capable of nearly derailing the best thing that's happened to health insurance in this country in decades. Harvard-educated President Obama is universally considered "elite," while Yale-educated George W. Bush is considered "down home."
Many Democrats buy into the old saw that the Democratic party has had a history of "tax and spend" policies that needs to change or be lived down somehow. Until the Occupy movement brought the topic front and center, even most Democrats accepted the notion that businesses were "job creators" and worried more about distracting the opposition from this "fact" than debunking it for the lie it actually is.
Unfortunately, this is because Democrats have failed to speak in a language strong enough to rebut Republicans who have defined who we are and what we want, in a way that doesn't even remotely reflect an iota of the truth, and instantly conjures up the negative in the mind of the listener.
...
DEMOCRATS NEED A HANDBOOK OF OUR OWN
How can Democrats and Progressives fix this? Start by never saying any of the following five words or phrases again.
1. Never say Entitlements.
Instead, say Earned Benefits.
Click Here To Read More
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)Earth_First
(14,910 posts)Permanut
(5,687 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)of life in a world of spin leaves me overwhelmed with disgust. Feeling as though I shat upon myself.
Here's to the remainder of this too old life to being very short.
SharonAnn
(13,781 posts)Rarely have they done anything that could remotely qualify them as "earning" it.
Example: Joe blow didn't "earn" $35 million. Joe Blow "was paid" $35 million.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)tk2kewl
(18,133 posts)When talking about yourself and The Public
Don't Use: Tax Payer, Consumer, or Customer, you, me, I
Do Use: The Public, Citizens, Neighbors, Community, us, we
eridani
(51,907 posts)Customer and consumer are not the only words being used to change the nature of citizenship. The word taxpayer now regularly holds the place which in a true democracy would be occupied by citizen. Taxpayers bear a dual relationship to government, neither half of which has anything at all to do with democracy. Taxpayers pay tribute to the government and they receive services from it. So does every subject of a totalitarian regime. What taxpayers do not do, and what people who call themselves taxpayers have long since stopped even imagining themselves doing, is governing.
--Daniel Kemmis, former mayor of Missoula, Montana
freshwest
(53,661 posts)slackmaster
(60,567 posts)Your weekly chocolate ration is hereby increased from eight grams to six!
The Philosopher
(895 posts)Give it to someone who needs energy for the factories!
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)And I am an Independent.
elleng
(131,292 posts)'Independent' suggests 'thoughtful,' to me.
arthritisR_US
(7,300 posts)NAO
(3,425 posts)has written on this extensively.
elleng
(131,292 posts)'they,' 'professional Dems,' couldn't/didn't adopt his very wise lessons.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)it was meant to be a Progressive political thinktank. The Archives are still available:
http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/resource-center/rockridge-institute/
Language carries meaning, it's why the media decline is so important, why it's so important that Rachel is calling out the LIARS, why Fux is so dangerous and why we need to be aware of how the r.w. memes work--and how we can better understand WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO SAY
elleng
(131,292 posts)What's WRONG with us???
Science Trumps All
(8 posts)...as that great philosopher, Shrub, observed. Another expression Democrats need to overcome is "right to work." It isn't. Not by any stretch of imagination. It is an anti-union move and needs to be framed as suchcontinuously. Every time a Democrat uses the Republicans words when referring to it, we're just reinforcing the mistaken public impression: "Oh, I like 'rights,' and everybody needs to 'work.'" Call it what it is: Republican assault on organized labor. It's another tactic in the GOP campaign for a two-class society. We have to fight that, tooth-and-nail. Every day.
libodem
(19,288 posts)This is a correct focus for a word war.
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...and importantly, it provides some words and phrases that we should use, as well as noting words and phrases we should avoid using.
K&R
tularetom
(23,664 posts)"Anti choice" or at the very least "pro fetus" are far more descriptive.
It bothers the hell out of me when I hear some Dem on the teevee describing these bloodthirsty, pro war, pro death penalty assholes as "pro life". It's their word and we should not give it any credibility by using it.
tblue37
(65,524 posts)under (pun maybe intended): Teabaggers.
They chose the name, and they felt, oh, so very clever about it, so let them keep it.
MissMarple
(9,656 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I like the list of articles and books.
LuckyLib
(6,821 posts)bvar22
(39,909 posts)That is Republican Framing worthy of Frank Luntz.
Instead, refer to the funding source for Social Security by the proper name, "FICA Contributions". (Federal Insurance Contributions)
You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
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Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)justgamma
(3,667 posts)Lets call them what they are. They are coupons. As in Ryan's Coupon care.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)here in Ohio.
I think they thought I was a republican because I was running in the most republican area of Cuyahoga County and that was why I was given an invitation.
I have always thought that he was the genius behind the throne, turning diarrhea into crème broile in the eyes of the gullible. And the GOP has been on task so long, talking their marching orders from Luntz and his cohorts
.
The Democrats need to play the game as well. They need to get focus groups together and do the exact same thing.
If it wasnt for Luntz, the GOP would have never won the house in 1994.
zeos3
(1,078 posts)NuttyFluffers
(6,811 posts)alas, unlike republican vote-rigging-by-touch machines, that one vote will have to do.
justgamma
(3,667 posts)How about instead of tax cuts for the rich, we say that they are voting to give themselves tax cuts? That's what it amounts to.
eridani
(51,907 posts)Even if it's true. That is irrelevant, since you are just reinforcing our opponents' framing. The crybaby whiners about "socialism" have not the slightest idea what the word even means. What they are really doing is attacking the notion of PUBLIC GOODS. Call them on it. They love the idea of government spending in their own districts--they just want to make sure no one else gets the benefit of investment in public goods. Such investments would no longer be public, of course. Call them what they are--whiny brats who refuse to invest in the future.
I have had good luck telling wingnuts that they will never take my Communist fire department from me if I can help it. Naturally they don't think fire departments are Communist, so I just quote Karl Marx-"From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs." That's exactly how the fire department operates. The more your property is worth, the more property tax you pay. And they don't send a truck out unless you have a fire or some other emergency. Then <crickets>
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... while they're stubborn, we're tenacious and while they engage in conjecture, we offer evidence-based theories. This is probably due to the fact that they're arrogant, while we're confident.
snot
(10,540 posts)The Dems' obtuseness on this point has left me mystified for a long time.
The Wizard
(12,552 posts)We are the center. Republicans are the extreme right and fanatics and reactionaries and radical and Greedy Old Perverts.
myrna minx
(22,772 posts)libtodeath
(2,888 posts)so that words like socialism are not thought to be evil.
Democratic socialism has only one enemy and that is greedy capitalists,everyone else if it was given a fair chance would benefit enormously and our society would be a shining light of inventiveness and creativity.
ProgressiveATL
(50 posts)AlbertCat
(17,505 posts).... to disseminate these terms and their meanings to the public 24/7?