Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Political Code Words

Conservative Code Words

States Rights: noun (from the 1960's and 70's) the right of conservatives to oppose civil rights, desegregation, and social and economic equality.

Enhanced Interrogation: verb to torture: 1 a: anguish of body or mind : agony b: something that causes agony or pain 2: the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure 3: a means of producing probable false information by violating the Constitution, the Geneva Convention, and the United Nations' Declaration on Human Rights, and the victim.

Our Freedom: noun deregulation of business and financial markets, corporate welfare, no-bid government contracts to military contractors and war profiteers. Also~ freedom from taxes (but only for the corporations and the wealthiest 2% of the population).

Activist Judges: noun any jurist who uses reason, legal precedent and the Constitution to interpret the law, who therefore probably won't be as vehemently and passionately opposed to abortion or equal rights for homosexuals as the Republican party and religious fundamentalists would prefer.

Patriotic: adjective describing anyone who wears a lapel pin or puts a ribbon magnet or sticker on their car.

Blame America First/America Haters: noun 1: anyone who wants America to be responsible for it's policies or who wants accountability in government 2: anyone who wishes to enforce the rule of law or to abide by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Fair and Balanced: adjective skewed in favor of the Republican party and religious fundamentalists to the point of essentially being a tool for propaganda.

Taxes: interjection Boo!

9/11: interjection Boo! Be scared!

Muslim: interjection Boo! Are you scared yet?

Gay: interjection Boo! You're all gonna catch their "gayness," they'll turn you all GAY!!!

Illegal immigrant interjection Boo! Here come Mexicans!

Socialist interjection Boo! BOO! BOOOO! Be scared! BE REALLY, REALLY SCARED!

Fair and Balanced: adjective skewed in favor of the Republican party and religious fundamentalists to the point of essentially being a tool for propaganda.


Liberal Code Words

Empathy: noun the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner ; also : the capacity for this.

Nuance: noun 1 : a subtle distinction or variation 2 : a subtle quality 3 : sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value) 4: an explanation that may be more complicated than a sound bite and that reflects the fact that an issue is complicated, multifaceted and reveals a sensitivity to the fact that the issue may provoke a variety of divergent opinions and may require a variety of approaches which may need to be careful and reasonable.

Change:
verb to give a different position, course, or direction to a: to replace with another b: to make a shift from one to another c: to undergo a modification of intransitive verb 1: to become different 2: to undergo transformation, transition, or substitution- as in to change from the failed direction the country was in or the failed policies of the previous leadership. 3: what most Americans voted for last November, duh!


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome...especia;;y liked the right wing code word for gay...... Re-posting on my facebook site, I've got a few people who might enjoy this. Xela

Anonymous said...

Other suggestions for conservative terms:

Liberal Media: 1 : Anyone but Fox News. 2 : A news organization that tries to provide multiple perspectives and a balance view. 3 : A news organization for which "fair and balanced" is not rhetoric, but a practice.

Articulate: 1 : A valid and compelling arguement by a liberal that we want to discount. 2 : An argument taht was too complicated to understand. 3 : Anyone who can speak with greater clarity than George Bush.