Speaking Their Language
There are quite a few people interested in social change who are reluctant to choose the words they use based on which words elicit what response. To some, they only associate this kind of word choice...
View Article"Republican" or "conservative"?
In headlines for petitions, articles and elsewhere I keep hearing progressives say "Republicans did this..." or "Make Republicans do this..."When I write about regressive policies being proposed or...
View ArticleWhat does CT really mean? (Besides Connecticut)
We'll start with what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean:"I dislike the diarist, diary, and/or ideas presented in the diary." "I disagree with the diary and its thesis and/or evidence." "I want to...
View ArticleEffective Communication and Rhetoric: A Musical Example
In the 1970s the conflict over British rule in Northern Ireland was heated in sentiment and violent in many encounters. There were many songs written in support of Irish independence. In the...
View ArticleSigh. Pew Poll Claiming "Majority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable" is...
For the record, part of me actually wanted this latest Pew poll, which claims that 56% of Americans "say the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of...
View ArticleDear Democrats and Republicans, Stop Invoking "Common Sense" to Argue Your Case
In past diaries, I have ranted about the increasing vacuousness of terms like "middle-class," "balance," and "common sense" in political discourse. This past weekend, Obama's weekly address reminded...
View ArticleOn Being "Pragmatic"
The word "pragmatic" is starting to pop up more and more frequently again. It is generally never defined, but is very often used in interesting ways. Hence, this is a look at the meaning of...
View ArticleAre "Some People" Disrupting DailyKos Discussions?
It's a metaphor. I'll explain. I'll make this brief. Because I keep having to write this. Mr. Pensador's diary yesterday raises a charge which has been here since this site's inception, certainly as...
View ArticleApologies and Non-Apologies: The Rules
OK folks, it is time to set down some rules about apologies. Almost every week some prominent person, politician, or official is in the news for something they said, or did, which was offensive to the...
View ArticleR T F D
We are very fond of describing this place as a "Reality Based Community". There are those who decry this description, alleging variously that people live in an alternate reality or that reality is,...
View Article“Hate the sin, love the sinner” is a crock
To some people, that will be an obvious observation; and to others, a hideous lie. Still, it shows up so often that it needs saying. The concept of hating the sin but loving the sinner is a duplicitous...
View ArticleBetter Know a Fallacy: Argument by (false) Analogy
I wrote another diary -- all about how it's very human to be anti-Rationalist and how there is one form of anti-Rationalism that is actually healthful -- but that was so boring that even I decided that...
View ArticleFun piece on war rhetoric in TruthOut
I am of course referring to William Rivers Pitt's must-read piece in Truthout, "It's Not War, So Stop Saying That." Pitt has some incisive things to say about the defense of the forthcoming war...
View ArticleWhy Do We Tolerate Oppressive Conditions?
This diary began as a comment responding to a comment in Ray Pensador's most recent diary on how propaganda controls people and ballooned into a diary of its own. While I do not at all discount the...
View ArticleStudies on Metaphorical Associations Affecting Choices
Those who want to understand how human mental processes subconsciously affect our actions - and to think about how this can impact political perspectives - may want to read this article at the...
View ArticleIs and Ought - Amateur Philosophy Hour and Gay Rights
I've hated philosophy since high school. My favorite subjects in high school were History and Mathematics. Those were the two subjects I felt you could truly "know" something about the real world. I...
View ArticleJust make a cogent argument
ad infinitum I guess I don't spend enough time around here to understand what all the hullabaloo is with there being an apparent schism between the left and the center (? I'm sort of guessing that...
View ArticleWhat's in a Name? Study shows we need to call it 'Global Warming' to convey...
Republicans are more effective in using emotionally evocative language than Democrats usually have been. They've taken the lessons consultants like Frank Luntz has taught them to heart. Democrats and...
View ArticleExcuse me. Words matter.
Israeli soldier kidnapped? Israeli soldier feared kidnapped as IDF names 2 others killed By YAAKOV LAPPIN LAST UPDATED: 08/01/2014 17:34 inShare2 Sec.-Lt. Hadar Goldin named as presumably abducted...
View ArticleSome tips on (DailyKos.com) Internet persuasion
After discussing topics with those of contrary opinion here, I often come away with the distinct feeling that "I know the other person is wrong, but I really don't want to continue discussing the topic...
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