Earlier today I found myself writing this comment:
Okay... if I were the boss of all you
I would make the following list of forbidden language:
"whining"
"race card"
"sour grapes"
"bitch"
"Republican-lite"
ay, that's just a start. Anyone want to add more?
Now this, as you can see from the above short list, was not (primarily) in defense of a particular candidate. I've just gotten to a point where there is a long list of words and phrases, bandied about in relation to our candidates, that have lost all useful meaning and serve no purpose except to enrage their hearers. They're kneejerk words. Kneejerk use. Kneejerk response. They're driving me crazy.
Like, see, I like Barack Obama. But it's OK if you say things about him that are critical, provided they involve actual thought or you at least put them in your own words. But if you say "whining...empty suit...playing the race card," then I'm outta there and so are 98% of your readers.
I'm not as crazy about Hillary Clinton, but if you say "lying corporate shill...dogwhistle...bitch..." well, you know what'll happen. Either you'll get troll-rated or surrounded by a thousand hugs, depending what thread you happen to be in. But you won't be saying anything new, or convincing anyone new.
Other "hot-button" cliches that folks in this morning's short thread said they never wanted to hear again:
haters
Kool-Aid
Hillbot
Obamaniac
cult
I just took a brief foray through the recommended diaries (+ comments) to remind myself of a few more that really set my teeth on edge and add nothing new to any conversation.
Lies/lying/liars/etc.
dirty (hey, let's keep that a good word!)
hypocrisy
race war
"Rovian," used of Democrats
smear
Kumbaya
RIGHT WING TALKING POINTS
(And, can I tell you guys something? I've never liked "Repugs.")
So, here's my suggestion. Not that we stop fighting or stop criticizing any of the candidates, but that we use some originality in doing so. I can see at least three benefits to this:
- People with negative things to say will be forced to fully think through them instead of resorting to simpleminded codes.
- Readers of negative criticisms may actually be able to absorb their content meaningfully rather than catapulted into kneejerk rage or dismissiveness.
- The site would be a hell of a lot more interesting to read.
But, honestly, if people just stopped using "whining," that one word that makes every human being see red, I'd be a happy woman.
Please list the cliches you'd love to see die. We'll update the diary with those that get mentioned a lot. And then join me in a voluntary moratorium on their use.
If you would like to attack candidates in the thread below, I hope that you will be creative.
That is all.
[READER'S CHOICES]:
Jumped the shark
Speaking truth to power
change/experience/hope
sports analogies
"you people"
echo chamber
Billary