"Democratic" -- NOT "Democrat"

[LSparkle]

Years ago Newt, Luntz and company decided to try and drive the adjective "Democratic" from our collective vocabulary, in favor of just "Democrat." I've noticed that commentators (even liberal ones) have been roped into using the word "Democrat" to describe our party, our proposals, our members of Congress, our candidates, ad nauseum. We need to dust off "Democratic" and start using it -- OFTEN.

No more "Democrat members" of Congress -- it's "the Democratic Senator from Illinois" or "the Democratic Congresswoman from California." We have a "Democratic plan for Iraq" and a "Democratic proposal for immigration reform." We've started to resuscitate "liberal" and we need to do the same with "Democratic."

[KyuzoGator]

1. The easiest way to turn around the demonization of "liberal"...

...is by following it with, "you mean liberal like Jesus Christ?"

[Neil Lisst]

2. bob dole & the pub dinosaurs have used it long before then

I remember him using it all the time in the 1970s.

THE DEMOCRAT PARTY ... yada yada yada

it was 1976, when we were running Carter and they were running Ford

[July]

33. Now it is used by the entire party, though. nt

[I Have A Dream]

3. I agree. n/t

[brentspeak]

4. I like that idea

How would the Republicans feel if it was said "the Republic Senator from Pennsylvania, Rich Sanitorium"?

[Timbuk3]

17. Expose Luntz at the same time

Saying "Republic Senator" is probably a good idea, if you can use it in a way that drives home the point that "God's Own Party" has been manipulating the language for years.

As in: "He's not Democrat Senator Feingold, asshole. He's DemocratIC Senator Feingold! We're not so desperate that we have to call the Greedy Oil Party 'the Republic Party', now are we???"

[MADem]

25. But pronounce it "re-pube-lick" and only in response to their use of

DEMOCRAT...and without comment!

[Speck Tater]

5. I find it curious...

That this is the same as the grammatical difference between "Jewish banker" and "Jew banker". It is meant to be derogatory, and is part of the plan to demonize liberals. We should not let them get away with it. Of course I don't know what we can really do about it except complain. And then they see us as "whiners".

[Tigress DEM]

21. Complaining is whining, but SARCASM tears flesh.

Add it to a list of:

Ways to tell if someone in the Republican party is un-salvageably stupid:

1) Gets nouns and adjectives confused
- calls a Democratic Senator a Democrat Senator

2) Is unable to define a word without referring solely to it's derivatives
- sovereign is like a nation that has sovereignty

3) Shoots someone in the face and makes them apologize.

4) Spies on peace-loving, God-fearing Quakers under the guise of national security while at the same time appointing to the head of Homeland Security a man who will not only have sex with a 14 year old girl if he can get away with it, but will show her any file she wants to see because the pRes can just declassify it later....


AND to make this even more effective... add that anyone in the Republican party who actually is honestly respectful toward their Democratic counterparts and uses common sense is probably more welcome at the discussion table than Dino's who take money from the RNC, but smile and say words like Democracy, but don't mean them.


Not Whining. That is for losers. WE haven't LOST for two election cycles. They were stolen.

THEREFORE, WE THE PEOPLE are Justifiably ENRAGED about ANY offense given by people who are worse thieves and liars than this world has seen in a long time. WE simply have the strength of OUR Democratic Principals and a belief in the AMERICAN way of life that keeps us going down the honest and weary path of retrieving our country through due process in an attempt to prevent civil war, revolution or anarchy from replacing rule of law.



imho

[spooky3]

36. excellent analogy--that really makes the point clear

[Lancer]

6. Oh God, this misuse of the word drives me up an effing wall!

If "Republican" wasn't an adjective and a noun, it would be fun to watch their heads spin at having to remember when to use which. "Republic Senator John McCain." Has a nice ring to it. MORONS.

[Mabus]

8. My husband goes ballistic

Although, after six years, he realizes that I'm not responsible for it. It drives him up the wall and I don't like it either. He corrects more people than I do.

[Bok_Tukalo]

7. When having conversations online with individuals

who use "Democrat" as an adjective, I always use the (sic) when quoting them.

[Raksha]

9. That's a good idea, using the (sic) when quoting them.

I may also point out that using the noun form instead of the adjective form is EXACTLY like saying "Jew banker" instead of "Jewish banker." That was a good point also.

However, the only thing that would get them to lose that meme completely would be when/if the high-profile Democrats on talk shows go on strike. They need to make an issue of it EVERY SINGLE TIME! When their Publican adversary refers to "the Democrat senator from Massachusetts," absolutely refuse to respond until he corrects himself--and be sure to tell everyone why! If the Democrats stop allowing them to get away with it EVEN ONCE, it would stop.

[Tigress DEM]

15. Nah, we just got our DEMS to open their mouths and not back down.

I suggest the turn around is fair game... They call a Democratic Senator a Democrat Senator... then the reply is.... "My reTHUGlican counterpart... I mean rePUGly .. um rePugnant.... oh - I am so sorry it really is hard to keep all these descriptors straight. WHat was the question?"

[July]

34. I would love to see that. I hope they'd say it's childish, too. nt

[Iris]

10. ok, so in a nutshell

Democrat = noun = member of the Democratic Party

Democratic = adjective



Yes?

[Tigress DEM]

11. QUIZ - response to... We don't live in a Democracy, it's a Republic is....

... and how is THAT working out for you?

... they why are we EXporting Democracy to Iraq?

... oh so in a REpublic, it isn't the votes that counts, but those who count the votes. got it.

[Tigress DEM]

12. Democracy - it's when the grownups are in charge...

...not the grownups that molest children.

...not the grownups that take bribes and call other people liars for telling the truth.

...not the grownups who drive 3 oil companies and an entire nation bankrupt.

...not grownups who expect everyone but them to clean up the mess they make.


THE REAL Grownups. People who live in the REAL world and want to preserve it's chance for Peace and Prosperity for their children and other people's children because REAL grownups know that is the correct thing to do. Neither right nor left, simply the honest and DEMOCRATIC thing to do.

[nicknameless]

13. I think it's an effort to separate Democrats from the word "democratic".

Democracy/democratic are words these thugs are likely to use as window dressing for their nefarious anti-democracy plans.
And they don't want to associate the Democratic party with anything democratic, that they might be touting.
They're doing all they can to destroy any trace of democracy in this country, but they know that the sheeple lap up their lies.

They want to continue to use the adjective "democratic" without having the word conjure any association with the Democratic party.

[Tigress DEM]

16. You win the bonus round --- and a nickname! JoeDEM or JoeDEMa.

Because you have shown a clear and clever aspect to the average Joe or Joette voter -- the ability to see, smell and call Bushit what it is.

Congratulations!

[nicknameless]

19. Woohoo, thanks!

:bounce: :toast:


Yep. Language is powerful. If the thugs are saying something incorrectly, on a regular basis, they're doing it for a reason.

[Tigress DEM]

22. Welcome!

[spooky3]

37. to them it also may sound like "bureaucrat"

which we all know is a bad thing, unless you work for Homeland Security, etc.

:sarcasm:

[TexasThoughtCriminal]

14. Why do they think it will drive us crazy?

It does drive me crazy, but I'm anal about grammar. "Its" for "It's" drives me crazy too!:crazy:
Same for "your" and "you're".

If they mean it as an insult, I don't get it. And Luntz is supposed to be the language guy.

[Tigress DEM]

18. Because DEMs know how to use all them BIG words, like Soverign.

Without, of course, using a derrivative of the word to describe it.*


With all these things these asylum inmates do to take over the ward and force their keepers to release them with post haste, there is a method to the madness. It is a form of using sheer volume of repetition to convince John Q Public that day really is night, Rethugs really do promote Democracy at home and abroad and if 3 Dems and 67 Rethugs are found guilty of late reporting of their expenditures, it's really an issue of the DEMs being "just as corrupt" as Rethugs.

It's like how when an article comes out about problems the parties have and there are 3 Dems and 67 Rethugs, the 3 Dems are named, party identified and pictured on the lead page of the story, whereas the Rethugs are named, not party identified and most likely not pictured - unless they are the 1 Rethug who didn't, with clear caption stating such.

It's driving US crazy because it is a form of brainwashing and it is so subtle that we can wind up not seeing it for what it is and wonder, "What's the big deal?"

Democrats are the party of Democracy. period. rethugs aren't just being clueless about it, they are being insulting because they deny us the intergrity of acknowledging our very purpose.

The slaves of old and John Q Employee of today put THEIR labor into the market and were/are the reason the rich plantation owners and the top 1% had/have buckets of money to "lord over" anyone in the first place. Yet it was the slaves of old and the peasants of the middle ages and ANYONE the rich can convince to surrender their attachment to Democratic principals - even in letting stupid people speak as stupid people do (out of their asshats usually).

Slaves were called many denigrating names, never Miss or Mister So and So simply to remind them of their position as inferiors. Employees are not people who work for the company, but "temps" or "consultants" who can be bought and swapped at will because obviously their value is interchangeable.

It is the people who suffer when WE let THEM define ANY of the rules. Because if they have only one broken rule to exploit, they will run with it to the ends of the Earth and use it to call any fair game the Dems play as "foul" because their stupid broken rule says so.


Other examples, "We're at war." "I'm the prES, so I can do whatever I say I can."




* IE: A soverign nation may have soverignity, but to actually be clear on a definition one must state that a soverign nation has the right to determine it's own rule of law.

[MADem]

26. Remember the Rove "RAT" commercials?

Where the word DEMOCRAT faded away, leaving only RAT?

It's code to their base.

[gristy]

20. Someone by the name of Craig Crawford was interviewed on Countdown

on Wednesday and referred to the "Democrat Party". I googled the dickhead and found an email addr for his org pretty quickly. Here's what I sent. I really like the apt comparison to "Jew Banker", though. I think I'll use that in the future.

[e-mail]

Sir,

Regarding Craig Crawford's interview on Countdown tonight, please encourage Mr. Crawford to use proper english - "The Democratic Party". Democrat is a noun, not an adjective.

I fear that the frequent incorrect usage of Democrat as an adjective is really going to start to register with the voting population - that the Republicans really are idiots!

Regards,

xxxx

[checks-n-balances]

31. Nothing wrong with Craig Crawford, or Randi Rhodes either, for that matter

I've noticed they both, erroneously, use the word "Democrat" but I give them the benefit of the doubt. Assuming you already know who Randi is, keep watching Countdown, because Crawford is what I would call a regular consultant/spokesperson on the show, and he's NOT there to promote rightwing/rethug ideas. Listen to him long enough & you'll notice that he asks good questions, and KO seems to respect him greatly.

I think emailing is a good idea, but he would have been just as receptive had you emailed him directly at MSNBC. By the way, the whole Democrat/Democratic thing is a real pet peeve of mine too, but since I'm a fan of RR and CC (and KO), I was just sayin'...

[incapsulated]

23. It's been driving me crazy for over 10 years

This started during the Clinton admin, the repukes using it relentlessly and of course the lapdog media went right along, changing the english language to accommodate rethug talking points.

Then again, it's a dead giveaway that the person talking is a republican asshole.

I agree, we started to reclaim "liberal" lets go "Democratic"!

[Stand and Fight]

24. Thank you for saying this...

I'm kicking this thread on the idea that you present alone. I get so sick and tired of hearing "Democrat" in place of "Democratic". I live in Oklahoma, and, God help me, even the Democrats here tend to refer to our party as the (cringe) "Democrat" party. Not only is is the incorrect way to refer to our party, it also smacks of horrible grammar.

Kicked AND Recommended.

ON EDIT: Another thing... Here we are, the oldest political party in the country, and we're allowing the Republicans to define how we refer to ourselves? Bump that!

[Jim Lane]

27. It's partly based on polling

From a 2004 column about conservatives' manipulation of language for political goals:

Here’s another example you may not noticed, but it’s been cropping up more and more: use of the phrase “the Democrat Party” by Republicans in speeches and in advertising. Although we’ve long called the party of FDR and JFK “the Democratic Party,” right-wing pollsters have found that the shorter, less-euphonious “Democrat Party” is more of a turnoff to listeners. So in the clinical lockstep that the new Republican media machine operates, you’ll now hear more usage of the jarring “Democrat Party.”

"War Of Words", by Brian Morton in the City Paper (Baltimore)
http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=9338

[muse]

28. My almost ex-congressman Tom DeLay LOVES using Democrat

Just another reason to despise him. He has championed the use of that word.

What is the proper emoticon for muse screaming her head off right now?!!!!!!

I'll be at the opening of the Nick Lampson/Fort Bend Democratic Headquarters today. I will have my camera ready in case any nasty DeLay protesters show up and cause trouble again! It appears we have not quite yet run DeLay out of TX-22.

[skids]

29. And as a counteroffensive... Republicine, not Republican. n/t

[ProfessorPlum]

30. This is a huge pet peeve with me, too. Thanks for highlighting it

My proposed counteroffensive is "GOP". Pronounced to rhyme with "cop".

The gop president sure has bankrupted this country.

The gop senator has his head up his ass.

Etc.

[DuaneBidoux]

32. What if we started calling it the "Republic party"

[July]

35. Or "Publican."

Doesn't that have negative connotations (from the Bible)?