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Tag: Language

Toxic word spills are poisoning democracy

January 28, 2017 Renee Shur Democracy, Language/Words, Trump Leave a comment

Just one week into the Trump presidency, the newly inaugurated president and his circle of sycophants are working overtime to convince us that words

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Trump’s tweets: a taxonomy of trouble

January 20, 2017 Bill Kesler Ideas, Language/Words, Media, Trump Leave a comment

We have done such a poor job of processing Donald Trump’s tweets. Our reaction has always been to immediately parse the literal content. Fact-check

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George Carlin

Reflections on George Carlin, in the era of Donald Trump

December 12, 2016 James Wilson Language/Words, Trump Leave a comment

Before capitulating to misanthropy, George Carlin delighted many of us by eviscerating the meritocracy’s treacherous rhetoric. Towards the end of his life, he tragically

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Make the pie higher: nostalgia for W in a Trump era

December 9, 2016 Bill Kesler Language/Words, Politics Leave a comment

Recent references to Donald Trump’s bizarre ramblings in interview transcripts (Trump’s NYT transcript: Read it, and weep for our country) make one yearn for

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New political code words: an unofficial glossary

October 14, 2016 Gloria Shur Bilchik 2016 Election, Language/Words Leave a comment

Politicians have been using code words for many years [Remember “states rights,” one of the all-time classic code words, meaning institutionalized segregation and racism?]

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Please don’t call them suffragettes

April 2, 2014 Gloria Shur Bilchik Activism, History, Women One comment

When the conversation gets around to women’s history, and the subject is women’s struggle to win the right to vote, you’ll often hear the

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12 phrases progressives need to ditch, and what to say instead

July 8, 2013 Gloria Shur Bilchik Corporations, Democrats, Employment, Environment, Ideas, Language/Words Leave a comment

Sadly, the 40-year campaign by conservatives to take over the political dialogue (and the political system itself) has been a success. Right-wing messaging is

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What’s the word of the year for 2011?

December 15, 2011 Gloria Shur Bilchik Humor, Ideas, Language/Words, Politics Leave a comment

Newspapers, linguists, politicos, magazines and blogs are always looking for end-of-year hooks for stories. One perennial favorite is to choose—unilaterally, or via a poll

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In case you missed it

  • The Pandemic’s Greatest Hits: Musical Blasts from the Past
  • Neera Tanden’s Behavior Actually is That Bad
  • My COVID-19 Vaccination: How it worked in New York State
  • Ann Wagner: a hypocrite in her own words
  • The Incoming Biden Team: A Review
  • Time to Act: But what are the crucial goals?

A new book by Arthur Lieber. Political Introverts: How Empathetic Voters Can Help Save American Politics.  Buy it here.

Gloria Shur Bilchik’s new book, Election Insiders: Behind the scenes with the people who make your vote count. Kindle edition now available at Amazon.

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