Lineage of a slur: Do you belong to the "Democrat" party?

[wyldwolf]

Mike Crowley's September 8 posting on The Plank calls attention to the Republican habit of calling the Democratic Party the "Democrat Party" ... or warning about a "Democrat Congress" or, even worse yet, a "Democrat president." But this tick was a custom that went into disuse for nearly 50 years. It's origins, however, are interesting and were toxic. It was Senator Joe McCarthy who, with his twisted mouth often oozing the charming brew of beer and saliva, would snarl out the words "Democrat Party," as if they referred to vermin. Perhaps it is an indication of Republican panic that they have descended to using McCarthy's cheap tactics to discredit the opposition. And have I not heard Bill O'Reilly doing exactly the same thing?

http://www.tnr.com/blog/spine?pid=37258

[blondeatlast]

1. Very little these lowlifes do is by accident.

I suspected this "Democrat" Party thing wasn't either.

If anyone tries to say I'm a member of the "Democrat" party, I will happily and politely--and firmly--correct their horrible grammar.

Imagine using a noun for an adjective--idiots!

After all, I'm en ex-English teacher.

Nice find and it merits further discussion.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. It's 'Democratic Party", you idiot.

that's what I say to them.

[blondeatlast]

4. Like I mention--mock their poor grammar.

Give them a li'l grammar lesson:

"I belong to the Democratic (adjective) Party, therefore I am a Democrat (noun). Simple grade school grammaar." Try not to let them see you roll your eyes. Or maybe not...

[acmejack]

6. I like it.

That will really piss them off. :rofl: We all know they have absolutely no sense of humor!

[calimary]

11. I go a different direction. If they start with me, I IMMEDIATELY invoke

their "republic party" status. Followed by "I'll say your name properly when you say mine properly. It's DEMOCRATIC party." And I wouldn't stop with the "republic party" reference UNTIL and/or UNLESS I got satisfaction.

My husband had an even more in-yer-face response: "I'm not asking you what your party's name is. I'm TELLING you."

Taste of their own medicine. See how they like it.

[skids]

15. Hrm... there's an idea for a Flash artist...

A belittling SchoolHouse-Rock-style "educational" video for Republicans, to help them get rid of their poor (Rovian induced) grammar.

(And oh yeah it was the evil nemisis of Letter Man whatever his name was, that stole the "ic")

[Sugarcoated]

17. Beautiful answer.

I knew that it was improper grammar, but I'm terrible at English

But I've been noticing this alot lately and I want to smack sense into anyone, Democrat or supposed neutral pundit, to correct it. But especially our Democratic representitives.

And Thom Hartmann has been pointing this out for awhile now, btw.

[hootinholler]

53. I just call them republics

Easier to remember.

-Hoot

[moose65]

3. Drives me up the wall!

Every time I hear it, I just cringe. And they ALL do it, all the Pubs, in lock-step. But the worst thing is that some Democrats have started doing it too.... since they've heard it so much I guess they think it's correct. And how bout this: I received a bumper sticker from the DNC that says:
"Had enough? Vote Democrat in '06". I'm not sure if that's grammatically correct, but something about it just sounds WRONG to me!

[zanne]

5. "Democrat" Party and "nucular weapons"...

It's just another example of something that's imitated because it's said often enough.

[qnr]

13. Yeah, but if you are voting for a Democratic candidate, aren't you voting

for a Democrat? Just seems that it possibly could be right, but I don't know much about grammar.

[Tigress DEM]

36. Democrat is a fine word. It's just that it is a Noun, not an Adjective.

The way of the "slur" is that by saying it improperly they are disrespecting DEMS as uneducated people who would name their party with poor gramatic structure.

Comes to us from the "southern style" of disrespect that was foisted upon the slaves. The slave owners wouldn't allow them to be taught the fundamentals of reading or writing, then mocked them for their mis-pronounciations.

I am a Democrat(N). The party I belong to is Democratic (adj) because it is based on the prinicpals of Democracy - another noun that represents the overall ideals of the American way of life.

Rethugs want to claim they are bringing "Democracy" to Iraq, but while they dirty that word with their lies, they still know that Democratic ideals and American ideals are things that all Americans relate to in a positive way. So they are trying to disassociate Democrats from Democracy with their silly speech pattern. Thing is, it is a subliminal kind of thing in some ways.

It would be like saying I am an America citizen instead of an American citizen. If I don't at least lift an eyebrow and correct the speaker, it seems as if I am uneducated.

[qnr]

44. Oh, I agree, I generally hate it. I was talking strictly about that

particular bumper sticker, that you would should vote for (a) Democrat

[Sparkly]

46. What's the bumpersticker?

I'm not familiar.

[qnr]

47. "Vote Democrat" - I take it as "Vote (for a) Democrat" n/t

[Sparkly]

48. Yes -- Like "Vote Kerry" or "Vote Yes on Prop. X" etc...

I wouldn't worry too much about that one.

[moose65]

65. Someone on here explained it this way:

Calling us the "Democrat Party" is an underhanded way to insult us... when used as an adjective, it becomes a slur. It's the same thing as saying a "Jewish doctor" versus a "Jew doctor." The first one is correct, the second is a slur.

[qnr]

12. I've seen that on cars, bothered me too. Like you, I don't know if it is

grammatically correct though.

[cybildisobedience]

20. I was going to note that too

What would make Democrats buy into this and start repeating the slur to describe themselves?
Stockholm syndrome?

[Cornerstone]

49. Yes Moose how true!

"But the worst thing is that some Democrats have started doing it too.... since they've heard it so much I guess they think it's correct."

Yes, how right you are. Unfortunately, being a frustrated 'democrat' whose left horrified by so many of the evils that the Repukes have pulled off, I let this reality slip by me and just sort of, rolled with it. :dunce:

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. They do it because they know it irritates the left.

I used the term once in one of my first posts to DU and two members in particular excoriated me to no end. They refused to accept my explanation that I did not mean anything deragatory by using it. To them there was no such thing as an innocent mistake.

But the extreme RW scum that uses it now does so because it strikes a nerve and they know it.

It's like calling a woman the C word.

[nicknameless]

8. So when they're not emulating the brownshirts,

they're emulating Joe McCarthy.

What a predictable idol for the rethugs.

[chemp]

9. I just ask them how long they have been a member of the WHIG party.

The Republican party is going to fall apart just like their predecessor very soon.

[niceypoo]

10. Whenever a republican says "Democrat party" fire back with...

..."Republic party"

[struggle4progress]

54. I prefer to call em Publicans. They have no respect for the republic.

Correct 'em. "Democratic Party." And the next time they "slip", call em Publicans.

[TankLV]

55. I use REPUKE party. Much more graphic...

[EST]

61. I usually try to explain to them by using the example of

their own party. It may be spelled "republican" but it's pronounced "asshole!"

[jean]

14. see "The IC factor" by Henrik Hertzberg - The New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060807ta_talk_hertzberg

THE “IC” FACTOR
Issue of 2006-08-07
Posted 2006-07-31

::snip::

There’s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. “Democrat Party” is a slur, or intended to be—a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but “Democrat Party” is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams “rat.” At a slightly higher level of sophistication, it’s an attempt to deny the enemy the positive connotations of its chosen appellation. During the Cold War, many people bridled at obvious misnomers like “German Democratic Republic,” and perhaps there are some members of the Republican Party (which, come to think of it, has been drifting toward monarchism of late) who genuinely regard the Democratic Party as undemocratic. Perhaps there are some who hope to induce it to go out of existence by refusing to call it by its name, à la terming Israel “the Zionist entity.” And no doubt there are plenty of others who say “Democrat Party” just to needle the other side while signalling solidarity with their own—the partisan equivalent of flashing a gang sign.

::snip::

In the conservative media, the phenomenon feeds more voraciously the closer you get to the mucky, sludgy bottom. “Democrat Party” is standard jargon on right-wing talk radio and common on winger Web sites like NewsMax.com, which blue-pencils Associated Press dispatches to de-“ic” references to the Party of F.D.R. and J.F.K. (The resulting impression that “Democrat Party” is O.K. with the A.P. is as phony as a North Korean travel brochure.) The respectable conservative journals of opinion sprinkle the phrase around their Web sites but go light on it in their print editions. William F. Buckley, Jr., the Miss Manners cum Dr. Johnson of modern conservatism, dealt with the question in a 2000 column in National Review, the magazine he had founded forty-five years before. “I have an aversion to ‘Democrat’ as an adjective,” Buckley began.

::snip::

The job of politicians, however, is different, and among those of the Republican persuasion “Democrat Party” is now nearly universal. This is partly the work of Newt Gingrich, the nominal author of the notorious 1990 memo “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control,” and his Contract with America pollster, Frank Luntz, the Johnny Appleseed of such linguistic innovations as “death tax” for estate tax and “personal accounts” for Social Security privatization. Luntz, who road-tested the adjectival use of “Democrat” with a focus group in 2001, has concluded that the only people who really dislike it are highly partisan adherents of the—how you say?—Democratic Party. “Those two letters actually do matter,” Luntz said the other day. He added that he recently finished writing a book—it’s entitled “Words That Work”—and has been diligently going through the galley proofs taking out the hundreds of “ic”s that his copy editor, one of those partisan Dems, had stuck in.

In days gone by, the anti-“ic” tic tended to be reined in at the Presidential level. Ronald Reagan never used it in polite company, and George Bush père was too well brought up to use the truncated version of the out party’s name more than sparingly. Not so Bush fils—and not just in e-mails sent to the Party faithful, which he obviously never reads, let alone writes. “It’s time for the leadership in the Democrat Party to start laying out ideas,” he said a few weeks ago, using his own personal mouth. “The Democrat Party showed its true colors during the tax debate,” he said a few months before that. “Nobody from the Democrat Party has actually stood up and called for actually getting rid of the terrorist surveillance program,” he said a week before that. What he meant is anybody’s guess, but his bad manners were impossible to miss. Hard as it is to believe from this distance in time, George W. Bush came to office promising to “change the tone.” That he has certainly done. But, as with so much else, it hasn’t worked out quite the way he promised.

— Hendrik Hertzberg

[lynne]

16. Maybe it's an age or regional thing -

- as my parents (one now 75, one would be 81) were Democrats and that is the term they used "The Democrat Party".

Just a thought. For me, I think we've got bigger fish to fry than getting all riled up over an "ic".

[Sugarcoated]

18. No, I disagree

You have to correct them everytime. We can't let them fucking change the language, change the name of our party right out from under us! The word 'Democratic' is a beautiful word and it's ours.

[MODemocrat]

19. I belong to the Democratic Party, which happens to be Democrat

There's no democracy in the right wing of the Republican Party. They're just being stupid as usual.

:silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :boring: :boring: :boring: They need to find something better to do.

[gulliver]

21. It can be used to clobber/burn Republicans

I think the response to "Democrat Party" should not be:

1. Get mad. That's what they want.
2. Insist on the speaker correcting it. That's what they want.


I think the winning rhetorical response to it is:

1. Fine. "Democrat Party." Whatever. You can call us anything you want. Come join the Democrat Party. We're OK folks.

[calimary]

24. WRONG. You hand them an unearned win when you do that.

DO NOT let them define you, redefine you, frame you, OR name you. If you do, if you try to ignore it (assuming they'll just somehow "get religion," realize they've done wrong and reform), you are kidding yourself. DO NOT let them name you. That's "ownership society" taken to the level of THEIR highest dreams. As in - they own you because THEY'VE named you. It's not their name, nor is it their name to change.

I think we have to take exactly the combative, back-in-YER-face-asshole, strategy. When they try to do it to us, WE need to do it BACK to them. IN SPADES. Taste of their own medicine. See how they like it. "I'll say your name properly when you say mine properly." I'd use "republic" party until my face turned blue. EVERY mention. Straight down their throats and up their asses. See how they like it. Turn the tables. At this point, that's the ONLY way to go to get anywhere with these people. Conceding the point, however good-natured and "oh, go ahead, it doesn't bother me!" is WRONG. You might as well hand them a "kick me" sign and a piece of gaffer's tape with which to stick it on your back. I'd rather punch 'em in the nose with it.

[Tigress DEM]

31. How about, "Learnin' an' speakin' not your forte, eh?"

"I woudda estimated you had at least a fourth grade education before you got Democrat and Democratic Party confused."

And "republic party" is too good a term for them.

After all, a "REPUBLIC" is:

1. a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.

((THIS administration hosed that one up.))

2. any body of persons viewed as a commonwealth.

((THIS administration is stealing the commonwealth and giving it to the rich.))

3. a state in which the head of government is not a monarch or other hereditary head of state.

((*ush THINKS he's king and they pull out Bill Clinton as the whipping boy every time.))

4. (initial capital letter) any of the five periods of republican government in France. Compare First Republic, Second Republic, Third Republic, Fourth Republic, Fifth Republic.

((If THIS were France the guillotine's would be ringing right about now.))

5. (initial capital letter, italics) a philosophical dialogue (4th century b.c.) by Plato dealing with the composition and structure of the ideal state.

((WAAY to pre-9/11 for their tiny minds.))

[gulliver]

57. I dunno. I think my way is meaner.

It's a subtle distinction, and I am only making it in this particular case. "Democrat Party" is something they do all the time, a very stupid thing to do rhetorically. Because our people know that some of the dumber, more slam-deserving Republicans are prone to use this hackneyed verbal tweak, we can be prepared. Republicans who use "Democrat Party" are sitting ducks.

IMO, it is poor verbal technique to overtly show offense to "Democrat Party," because it is such a subtle slur. An objective listener probably would not notice the slur at all. If they think you are irate over it, they may think you are overreacting. It's not what you feel that matters. It's what the audience feels. The whole point is to win and win big.

If you let the slur pass with no response, you will feel victimized and a little bit angry. And that will affect the rest of your rhetoric in a negative way. That, in turn, will make you lose the audience. The audience will only become willing to join you in anger rarely, and getting them there is the height of good rhetoric. If the audience does not join you in your anger, then you can't show anger. If they feel your opponent deserves to be smacked, then and only then can you smack your opponent. At that point, there is no limit to the destruction you can cause your opponent. But first you have to get the audience to want that.

Your job is to make the audience feel your opponent deserves to be smacked. To do that, you have to make your opponent look small or deliver a more overt slur/insult to you than a mere "Democrat Party." Again, the reason they use "Democrat Party" is because it is a good way to make you angry without arousing a feeling in the audience that you have much of a right to be angry.

If you attack the slur strongly, you can score points, but it is difficult. Too angry, and you lose on composure points. If you use humor, the Republican dipshit will laugh with you (and subtly at you if they are any good). That is why I think direct confrontation is second best.

The best way is to use the rudeness of the adversary to intentionally magnify your own appearance of magnanimity and bigness while simultaneously calling attention to and magnifying the Republican's appearance of rudeness and pettiness. Again, you have to coax these impressions from the audience, not with what you say alone but also with how you say it. What you say should presume that the Republican is an asshole and wordlessly influence the audience to make the same presumption. If you say it out loud, they may not agree. If you presume it they likely won't disagree. Same as agreeing.

I'm not a pacifist. Don't get me wrong.

[calimary]

58. What is the most appealing in your subject line is the word "meaner."

Sorry to say this about myself, but these people have brought out the worst in me, and I don't mind shoving it back in their faces once they've done so.

I think the time is LONG past when we owe them civilized behavior or response. They've proven that they haven't earned that courtesy or consideration. These are the folks who think nothing about hitting below the belt. Ever. They'll call an adolescent girl the "White House dog" because she doesn't yet look like she belongs on the cover of "Teen Vogue." And she's not even a combatant. FUCK 'em. Around our house, what we told our kids when they were very young was - "if you act like a jerk, you're gonna be treated like a jerk." They learned. They came around. I regard these schmucks as poorly-raised, crappily brought up, spoiled, selfish, stingey, greedy, vindictive, petty jerks. So I will treat them accordingly. They deserve no respect or courtesy from me until they've earned it. FUCK 'em.

And gulliver, you go ahead and be just as mean as you damned well feel like. They've MORE than got it coming, IMO. No more nice. NONE. When they start playing nice, I'll be happy to respond in kind. Until and unless that happens, you can FORGET it. All bets are off, and so are the gloves.

[gulliver]

59. I'm with ya on that "gloves off" stuff, calimary.

It's like The Magistrate is always saying, "Let's get those Republican bastards!"

[AtomicKitten]

22. I simply refer to them as Republics of the Republic Party

eom

[Jai4WKC08]

23. Or we could call them Publicans

That should be enough to piss off evangelicals who know their New Testament.

[Bake]

27. Publican works better than Republic

At least to my ears. In the NT, it was always "publicans and sinners" with whom Jesus hung out. There's nothing wrong with the word "Republic," and I want something that is a little bit more of a slam to a Puke (or Repuke, either of which is really my term of choice).

The Publican Party. That'll really irritate them. I like it.

Bake

[TheCowsCameHome]

29. I like Repubes, as in pubic area.

[Tigress DEM]

37. Or RePukes - like baby birds getting their daily regurge.

[klook]

30. Excellent choice

And it's even more hilarious because "publican" means "tax collector."

[kanrok]

33. Or Republican'ts

[struggle4progress]

56. Republi-cant must be their official language.

[Tigress DEM]

40. Yup

[ACK]

25. They are all Repukes to me

eom.

[Tigress DEM]

32. I prefer Thuglicans

[wicket]

26. K & R

:kick:

[bvar22]

28. "Excuse me!....

Do you mean the DEMOCRATIC PARTY?
There is no Democrat Party."

Thats how I handle it.


"Every one has a plan...Until you hit them in the mouth." --Mike Tyson

[goclark]

34. That's why I call them RepubliCONS!

Make it stick cause they sure are Con Artist.

[Tigress DEM]

39. If ever a party were destined for stripes..... RepubliCONs are it. nt

[IronLionZion]

35. Never forget why we adopted the donkey as our mascot

because they called jackson a jackass! he proudly adopted it.

[Tigress DEM]

38. Did not know that.

I just thought it was a great symbol of stubborn as a Missouri Mule dedication to being a proud American -- show me that you're doing the job you were elected to or fly out of office like a mule kicked buzzard -- keep those politicos in line with a good solid kick now and again.

I've always loved the donkey... you can claim to own a donkey, but ain't NO ONE makes a donkey do nuthin at a certain point.

[IronLionZion]

51. whoa!, remember that missouri does it backwards

the dems use the statue of liberty and the libertarians use a missouri mule which could easily look like a damn donkey.

I believe some midwestern states, Indiana for sure, still use the rooster for the Dems and eagle for the damn Repubs.

[goclark]

45. I wish we acted like donkies and started KICKING

our RepubliCON friends verbally when they rag on us.

We are like putty in their hands.

[Virginia Dare]

41. Didn't the simian in chief recently use that...

particular little colloquialism? Yes, they are doing it intentionally, none of them ever rose above elementary level social skills.

[Vinca]

42. "Democrat" party is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Every so often a "journalist" will use it and the Republican flag goes up. Just this afternoon I heard Andrea Koppel on CNN use Democrat as an adjective. So much for the liberal media.

[Tigress DEM]

43. Ya' know, though, if that's the worst they can come up with....

that and "Liberal" with a sneer.

It bugs me more when they call us "cowards" for wanting to disengage from Iraq and get back to running our own country properly.

TO ME a COWARD is a man who sends OTHERS to die as a smoke screen because he is too afraid to pursue Osama like he promised.

[robcon]

50. I googled. The term was used in the 1932 campaign

Hoover used it to describe Roosevelt, the first time it was used, apparently, in a presidential race.

See for the history of "democrat party"... http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001565.html

[wyldwolf]

64. Great find! Thank you!

[Kurovski]

52. Ah, whudda Repubelickins know, anyways?

[orleans]

60. THE REPUBLIC PARTY SUCKS BIG TIME! n/t

[Kurovski]

62. The 'PUBLICANS are drunk on power!

They keep the public inebriated on pints, gallons, and steady streams of lies and falsehoods.

[jobycom]

63. I vote for an ideology, not a word. I couldn't care less what the Repubs

call me. Reminds me of a thing here in Texas. The two big state universities are A&M and Texas. Texas is called "UT" by most people, and A&M is called A&M. For some reason I'm not quite sure of, A&M hates the name "UT" (They want to be "THE" University of Texas, so they get upset at calling UT UT, if you can follow the "logic."). So Aggies call it "TU." They sort of grin when they do it, as though it's clever. One of my best friends from high school (in Mississippi, not even in Texas) went to A&M, and when we speak, he loves to call my school "TU." The problem is, I didn't even know it was on purpose. I was too polite to correct him, but for years I just thought he was either uninformed or forgetful. Finally one day I called it "UT" in conversation, and HE corrected ME. "YOu mean 'TU?'" he asked, grinning. It took a while before he finally explained that what I thought was just stupidity all along was, in fact, an insult.

So I was never insulted by the term, because I never understood it. Which proves to me that the only insult in such things is the insult you allow yourself to feel. I have no respect in any way for anyone in the Republican Party. I would call them murderers, traitors, war criminals, fascists, and a lot of other names they wouldn't like, and I would consider all of them true. If the worst thing they can do to me is drop a couple of letters off the party name, then they've done nothing to me. I don't vote for the Party, anyway. I vote for the ideology--the party that agrees with me now just happens to be the Democrats. It's not like a football team where you support it year in and year out just because of the name. It's possible one day the parties will switch, and I'll vote Republican and criticize the Dems. (not likely, but possible).

So their obsession with names and slurs is meaningless to me. It only insults them. I know why I vote.

[Lilith Velkor]

66. Well, I don't belong to the Republic party

But now I know why some Democrats--I'm sorry, Democratics--get all bent out of shape about a syllable.