It's the DEMOCRATIC PARTY, Damn it! Can we get everyone on board, please?

[NoodleyAppendage]

The Repukes have effectively changed the language when I've counted no less than 5 elected Democratic officials and liberal pundits this Sunday morning referring to themselves as members of the "Democrat Party."

Why can't we be smart enough to use Orwellian rephrasing to change their name?

J

[SidDithers]

1. K&R...nt

Sid

[jonnyblitz]

2. sorry. I never could understand why people go into meltdown

over this. STUPIDEST shit i ever saw. :crazy:

[NoodleyAppendage]

3. Because it makes a difference and if you don't understand, then I can't help you.

Allowing your opponent to define you is a strong and single step towards defeating that enemy.

Read Sun Tsu and Orwell and get back to us.

[whopis01]

79. It makes a difference only if you let it. Some of us choose not to do so. n/t

[SDuderstadt]

82. Yeah...

passive resistance works so well with the GOP, doesn't it...

Oh, wait...it doesn't.

[whopis01]

83. It is not about being passive.

It is about controlling the situation and not just being reactionary to an opponent.

[WinkyDink]

4. Oh, REALLY? Well, aside from the IGNORANT NON-GRAMMAR, it is an INSULTING term used

by our, get this now, OPPONENTS.

Have we shortened THEIR name to a noun form: "Republic"? No.

[NoodleyAppendage]

5. I favor shortening their name to the "Repubic Party"

No one, except for Clarence Thomas, really enjoys pubic hair.

[RC]

7. The rest prefer their Pages shaved?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

57. I've said to the Teabaggers that I will stop calling them "Teabaggers"

when they stop referring to us as the DemoCRAT Party.

The Republicans? I call them the RepugNANT Party. I'll stop when they stop calling me un-American, immoral, and a baby killer.

[Better Today]

8. Actually at least on here, "we" "Have...shortened" it to Repukes (as evidenced by the OP)

Repubs, wingers, and many other shortened and derogatory nicknames.

It's ridiculous to get your panties in a wad over two letters. It is a party of Democrats, and in today's shortened language society, it seems a likely slip up if nothing else. Some on the other side may do it as an intentional slam, but it seems foolish to think that with all factors considered, everyone who uses it is making an intentional slam.

Lastly, even if it is all intentional, it only shows over-reactive weakness, imo, to get torqued over something so insignificant.

[SDuderstadt]

10. No, it's not...

it's an intentional GOP slur designed to deprive us of the goodwill that flows from the word "democratic" and intended to suggest we are actually anti-democratic.

People like you unwittingly aid and abet them.

[Better Today]

25. That's the most ridiculous explanation I've ever read.

I doubt the intelligence of much of the populace, no doubt. However to suggest that Democrat has less democracy in it than Democratic is inane. We are Democrats, so if it's derogatory to remove the "ic", then we've done it to ourselves.

[WinkyDink]

28. It IS the explanation, and your deliberate obtuseness matters not.

[SDuderstadt]

31. Bullshit, dude...

the GOP has employed the strategy to cleverly imply that the phrase "Democratic Party" is a misnomer. Do you think referring to the estate or transfer tax became the "death tax" in the public lexicon by accident?

And, before you claim that anything is ridiculous, maybe you should learn the difference between an adjective and a noun.

[NoodleyAppendage]

50. Sigh. You Sir/Madam are obtusely blind. n/t

J

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

59. How old are you? I ask because there is in fact a history behind the GOP referring

to the party as the DemoCRAT Party. It is definitely used as a slur and has been for many, many years. They do it on purpose and for effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(phrase)

[malaise]

51. He is 100% correct

and they did this deliberately.

[WinkyDink]

27. Well, aren't you just the strongest person!

[Obamanaut]

68. The suffix 'ic', is loosely 'involved with', thus 'democratic' is involved

with democrats, or one who is involved with democrats.

Similarly, there is one who is involved with alcohol, or alcoholic. With that in mind, since there is no such thing as workohol, or chocohol, there can be no workoholics or chocoholics.

With the world, pretty much the whole globe, going to hell in a handbasket, is this *really* a wadding of the panties issue?

'-an', also sorta 'one who', Roman, Minnesotan, Republican - involved with a republic.

In the way back machine, one can find that 'democrat' was an epithet used for one who panders to the masses. Which is part of the reason why the old white haired guys that invented the country called it a republic rather than a democracy.

[Igel]

75. Actually, no.

They're all formed from Greek "democracy," via French.

"Democratic" is the adjective formed from "democracy" and "democrat" is the nominal form used for a person who, well, apparently in English it was originally derogatory while in French it was formed from other -crat(e) words like "aristocrat". So it would mean somebody who rules on behalf of the people or supports rule by the demos, the people.

The US was called a republic because it was a republic. Democracy is something that only a member of a the majority likes, and only for as long as s/he's in the majority; democracy was considered not a great way of doing things. By and large, many DUers don't like democracy, either, esp. when they're not in the majority. (On the other hand "democracy" now has such a wide range of meanings that a "republic" is now a form of "democracy.")

"Republic", the "public thing", to "republican" is straightforward. We have a republican form of government. Making the adjective refer to somebody who supports the Republic takes a bit of semantic derring-do and derivational etymology won't cut it--it appears backformed from "Republican Party," taking the adjective as a noun. Could be wrong on that.

Not a big issue. English has a few native endings and a lot of borrowed ones. Still, we've always been good at compounding, and many things that look like they're being modified by nouns are probably best analyzed as compound words. Like "apple pie" or "computer programming" or even "DU moderator." (Seriously: Who wants to be a "democratically undergroundic moderator"?)

On the other hand, I liked the op-ed piece recently on racial epithets that was in the NYT. ( http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/speech-and-harm/?scp=1&sq=slur&st=cse ) I think that the writer is seriously wrong: It's not semantic content, to be sure, but neither are slurs like obscenities. It's not just a question of "civility" and social norms: "Fuck" may shock some people trained to be shocked by it, but the outrage is different in nature not just in degree. The answer lies in the interpretation, the imputation of motives and possibly fear or learned responses, but that makes it a bit hard for a linguist to sort out. For many dems, "Democrat Party" has risen to the status of a scare word, something that impugns Democrat's dignity and is taken as an insult, seen as an epithet. For many users it's like "niggardly"--something offensive not because of what it means but because, really, we suspect nefarious, evil purposes, and the suspicion constitutes sufficient proof. Speaker intent no longer matters because listener attribution of intent is paramount.

[Obamanaut]

76. Good answer. Thanks. nt

[Igel]

73. Except that the noun *is* "Republican."

If you want to shorten "Republican Party" to "Republic Party," then the parallel process on "Democratic Party" would be "Democracy Party."

BTW, "Democracy Party" doesn't sound bad to me. Neither does "Republic Party," to be honest. At 51, I've noticed I've started using more compounds than adjectives in the past few years. I recently caught myself using "Turkey" as a qualifier: "Turkey ambassador". There are good reasons for this that have nothing--however difficult it may be to believe--to do with politics.

I figure that grammatical change in progress isn't really a partisan issue. I'm sorry: I guess that should be "partisanic issue," but I'm not really sure what the obligatorily adjectival form of "partisan" is. Can't be the same as the noun, I guess. "Partisanal"? Off to the grammar books with me. Then again, I'm often off to the grammar books.

Oops. Grammatical books? Grammarian books? Grammaric books? Grammaresque books? Grammarious books? Grammarous books? Grammarite books? Grammarful books? Er.

(BTW, "noun" in "noun form" is formally a noun. The word that doesn't display "ignorant non-grammar" would be "nominal," and "nominal form" is just fine and dandy in standard English. This is one of those wonderful kinds of posts on the order of "You really shouldn't show your lack of education by mispelling words" or "Spell-check can fix you're typos" or even, "Watch your subject-verb agreement, there's mistakes in that post that need to be fixed.")

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[October]

17. Well, it's really not so petty...

And I realized this when I heard that the GOP types trying to insist that our nation is a REPUBLIC not a DEMOCRACY.

They are clearly trying to separate our party from the fine word, "democratic." That is how petty they are, yes -- but ignoring their pettiness in the past has allowed them to define us and control the language. They've corrupted many words already -- liberal, progressive, democrat, leftist, socialist, etc.

[SDuderstadt]

23. I love the way the GOP tries to deny that...

a democratic republic is a form of democracy. It's a democracy, all right, it's just not a direct democracy. To argue otherwise is like arguing that indirect lighting is not lighting.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

61. I've noticed that Beck and O'Reilly started this shit about how this country is not a

"democracy," it is a "republic." They are right in the sense that in a "representative democracy," we elect people to represent us, which is the very definition of a republic. However, notice the use of the words and the inflection. They are Republicans who assert that this country is a "republic." The meaning is not lost on me.

And, if this country is not a democracy as they suggest, then why the hell did they keep telling us that we're in Iraq "to spread democracy?"

Why the hell after WWII did we pursue a "containment" strategy to rid the world of communism and "spread democracy?"

They are a bunch of liars and hypocrites, and I hope that we all understand what they are doing.

The Righties are masters at the use of language.

[Gaedel]

37. To be technical

It is a "representative republic".

The closest we come to a "direct democracy" is in the town hall meetings in very small towns and in the ballot initiatives which we love to hate on DU.

[SDuderstadt]

40. A "representative republic" is also known as a...

"democratic republic", which is a form of democracy.

It's silly to claim that democracies can only be direct.

[Gaedel]

42. Democracy

Democracy is also a generic term for just about any form of government which is not a dictatorship or absolute monarchy.

Most countries that call themselves "democratic republics" as a part of their official name are anything but.

[SDuderstadt]

45. Do you deny that we are a "democratic republic"?

Simple question.

[Gaedel]

56. sheesh

We are a democracy which has the form of a representative republic by the nature of our Constitution.


"and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.

[SDuderstadt]

60. We are also properly referred to as a "democratic republic"

dude.

I understand that we are a republic very well. I also understand that we are not a direct democracy.

You, on the other hand, seem to have great difficulty acknowledging that we are an indirect democracy. Why is that?

[Gaedel]

77. Didn't I just say.........

That we fell under the broad umbrella of the world's "democracies" without incorporating it into the technical description of our government?

Are you that obtuse, do you just want to argue, or is the lack of the word "democratic" causing you partisan vapors?

[SDuderstadt]

78. Yeah...

I had to pull it out of you. Why is that?

[Catherina]

26. +1. Distractionary tacticts for idiots. n/t

[OHdem10]

6. Are these legislators speaking in Code. Hey, wink wink, I am

really a Republican at heart.

[malaise]

9. I agree 100%

If you allow others to redefine you, you have lost basic self respect.
Call them out - email them and embarrass them.

[TheKentuckian]

11. Yup, its called calling someone out of their name.

Our elected and party representatives do not call Republicans out of their name up and down the aisle.

I think they should though. Call em the TeaPubliKlans each and every time and make it stick, I sez.

[malaise]

21. Agreed

More than that - every time of them says in the House or Senate , they should stop the proceedings and demand that the insult be placed on record.
I think we should start a campaign and bombard anyone who does it with phone calls and email.

Time for this shit to stop and I don't care whether they are RETHUGS, Teapubliklans or M$Greedia hacks.

[SDuderstadt]

35. I could not agree more...

Malaise! It's time to stop the GOP dead in their tracks on this.

[SDuderstadt]

12. Who are the five?

I want to e-mail them in protest. Whenever I am conversing with anyone who refers to us as the "Democrat Party", I immediately stop the conversation and inform them it will not resume until they refer to us by our proper name. We need to protect the Democratic brand.

[BeFree]

14. I am a Democratic?

This is a democratic republic.

And we hold to democratic values.

But what would someone say if I tell them I am a democratic?

[eleny]

16. They were calling it the "Democrat Party"

[BeFree]

18. Left off the 'Tic' part?

Gawd I hate it when they call us the democraTIC party.

Where will it end?

[eleny]

33. Yeah, that's the context

[bdamomma]

86. oh they are just being jerks as always.

[eleny]

15. I heard Rep. Shuler, a blue dog, say it this morning

[malaise]

22. Fill his mail box with the party history

and the correct title.
sp.

[eleny]

36. He's such a putz - you have to enter your zip code before you can email to him

But I can call his office tomorrow.

[handmade34]

41. use zips in his district

Asheville 28803
Brevard 28712
Waynesville 28786
Hendersonville 28792


I always send an address and zip within the Reps district when I want to send a message... it works

[eleny]

44. Thanks!

[SmileyRose]

19. Heh.

"Demoncraps" "Dimwitcraps" "Demorats" or "Dimrats"

For me it depends on intent. If someone is just using "Democrat" "Dems" "Dem" or even "D" and is just using shorthand to get a point across what's the whoopdidoo IMHO. (or do I really need to type out "in my humble opinion" for the letter police?)

I don't care if they say "Democrat Party" any more than I care if someone says "fuck" on the TeeVee.

[SDuderstadt]

20. You are aiding and abetting their clever...

messaging. You are evidence of how that strategy is slowly, but surely, working.

[SmileyRose]

24. Yeah right.

Because it's all about me.

:crazy:

[SDuderstadt]

29. No, it's about your nonchalance about their...

deliberate strategy, dude. Maybe you should learn the difference between an adjective and a noun.

Better yet, why don't you write to Skinner and ask him if he minds if you refer to DU as the "Democrat Underground"

[SmileyRose]

30. ???Dude????

You clearly have me confused with someone else.

[SDuderstadt]

32. Actually, I don't...

read your post # 19, dude. It's not just about "intent". If Democrats start adopting the phrase "Democrat Party", then we are in no position to call the GOP out when they do it.

[Better Today]

64. And being in a position to whine about two letters is something important to you?

Wow, no wonder we can't seem to get anything actually done.

[SDuderstadt]

65. Fucking unbelievable...

It's not just about "two letters", dude.

[Better Today]

66. Let's put it this way, if a Repub got his panties in a wad because I

used the term Repub, I'd laugh my arse off at his pettiness. Since I tend to play as fairly as possible, I have to do the same when the Dem Party members get upset about two letters and try to blow it up into something worthy of outrage.

[SDuderstadt]

69. Well, good for you, dude...

in the meantime, you should educate yourself as to why the GOP development this strategy. You also might want to educate yourself on the difference between a noun and an adjective.

[subterranean]

39. That's what Rush Limpballs calls this site.

[Catherina]

34. Oh Lordy, Lordy. Unrec and hide thread. n/t

[SDuderstadt]

38. Are you okay with the GOP calling us the...

"Democrat" party??

[handmade34]

43. I am a Democrat

and I belong to the Democratic Party... and I abide by Democratic ideas... it is important that we call people out that misuse the words. We must not let someone else define us... even if it is another Democrat (in name only)

and for what it's worth, the other people are Republicans and I call them that

[SDuderstadt]

46. Well said! n/t

[malaise]

49. When they stop saying Democrat Party

I'll stop calling them RETHUGS.

[DeepModem Mom]

47. It's an insult and a put-down of us every time it's used. And we let it happen....

as does the media. I've heard Tweety correct a few Republics from time to time, but that's the only correction I've ever heard from the media, or our own party. Today's Republic Party rides roughshod over all the traditions and norms of our country's politics.

[Tippy]

48. Democrat vs. Democratic....I am a PROUD DEMOCRAT........

Found this time line the word Democrat has been around for a long long time it is part of our history...

Jul 12, 1892 - It is, however, believed to bo no longer a matter of that there is a coterie of prominent Democrats at Washington who are bent upon defeating Mr. Cleveland, if they can, and thus punishing tho people for disregarding wishes ami counsel in nominating him. Just as well known, too, ...
From TREASON TO THE PARTY.; A WORD OF WARNING TO THE DEMO- CRATIC ... - Related web pages
select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res ...


► 1936 Jun 24, 1936 - Philadelphia will probably be remembered in modern history as the place where the new leaders of the Democratic party bade good-by to its old ... Curiously and notably, In all the first day s proceedings, a studied ef- fort succeeded in avoiding the use of the word "Democrat" or the ...
From Old Democratic Heroes Snubbed at Convention - Related web pages
pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/396680191 ...


1956 Feb 19, 1956 - PARTY STRUGGLES EISENHOWER S WORD Ordeal Lies Ahead for One Party or Other, Depending Upon Whether President Runs Again or NotUNIQUE CASE IN US HISTORY By ARTHUR KROCK

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18--It won t be long now beforethe end of the great ordeal that has agonized the politicians of both ...
From PARTY STRUGGLES HINGE ON EISENHOWER'S WORD; Ordeal Lies Ahead for ... - Related web pages
select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res ...


1988 1988 - I gave an example from a story I recently did on Dick Gephardt, Democratic leader of the House: When Gephardt ran for president in 1988, his glossy leaflet said: "Meet Dick Gephardt, Democrat for President." In the biography section of the leaflet, the word ...I gave an example from a story I recently did on Dick Gephardt, Democratic leader of the House: When Gephardt ran for president in 1988, his glossy leaflet said: "Meet Dick Gephardt, Democrat for President." In the biography section of the leaflet, the word "Democrat" or "Democratic" was used eight times. Today, the leaflets that Gephardt distributes in his home district make no mention whatsoever of his political party, nor does the home page of his official re- election ...
Show more
Show less
From Making sense of American politics: A lesson for Jerry Lewis lovers - Related web pages
www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/simon110502.asp

[SDuderstadt]

52. You are a proud Democrat because...

you belong to the DEMOCRATIC party, not the "Democrat" Party.

I hope you agree.

[Tippy]

53. Let's say I am a Democrat who belongs to the Democratic Party....

[SDuderstadt]

54. Do you understand why it's important that we...

not allow the GOP to label us the "Democrat Party"?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

55. Democrats themselves never call them out on it, either. I've only heard Matthews, as much as

I dislike the guy, he's the ONLY one in the Corporate Media who *always* corrects righties--each and every time--they refer to us as the DemoCRAT party!

He's the ONLY one!

It seems as though it has been repeated so many times that Democrats themselves have fallen prey to it and don't even know that they have.

[SDuderstadt]

58. We need to make it a much bigger deal before...

the GOP achieves their aim of rendering the words "Democratic Party", "liberals" and "progressives" epithets.

[malaise]

62. And that is why this must be dealt with viciously

Dems have allowed them to get away with this shit for way too long.
We need a sustained campaign of calling them out - blocking up all their mailboxes.

It is the Democratic Party and they will use the correct title or else.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

63. They hate democracy, so it doesn't surprise me one bit that they continue

this shit.

What we need to understand is that when they do it, they do it DELIBERATELY as an insult.

The absolute worse at it is Sarah Palin. Every time I hear her do it, I want to jump through the tee-vee and strangle her ass! That woman is absolutely disgusting!!! :puke::puke:

[Scurrilous]

67. K & R

:thumbsup:

[AspenRose]

70. I heard Thom Hartmann talk about this ages ago on his show.

Said Newt was behind the purposeful changing of language. I thought this was common knowledge and understood by just about every Democrat who keeps up with the M$M and their tactics.

"It was the confluence of information and realization. I worked for more than a decade in the advertising industry and about that long in the psychology industry. I've spent six years doing progressive talk radio in the politics business. I've seen, starting with Newt Gingrich seizing power and bringing in Frank Lutz, that the Republicans got very professional about messaging. The Democrats never did.

One of the reasons that the Democrats never did is because the Democratic Party is small "d" democratic. Chris Matthews makes the joke about how the Republicans want a leader and the Democrats want to have a meeting. It's true. The conservative mindset is one that is more calibrated for hierarchy and top-down control. The Democratic mindset, the liberal mindset, reflects the notions that "we're all in this together," "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link" and "we're a community." It's the old Will Rogers joke, "I don't belong to any organized party. I'm a Democrat."

http://www.alternet.org/media/69710?page=1

They do it because the M$M gives them a platform to do it and piss Democrats off. That a Blue-Dog is using it tells me they may be trying to use it to distinguish themselves as not one of "The Professional Left" by adopting corporatist media language.

[NoodleyAppendage]

72. I figured Newt or someone of that sort was behind it. n/t

J

[lynne]

71. Would love to know who used the term -

- were they all older? Or, from the south?

I ask because my parents - from Virginia - have always been Democrats and referred to it as the
"Democrat Party". My father is now deceased but my mom still uses the term. I'm wondering if its an age or regional thing.

IMO, much ado about nothing given that I was raised by loyal Democrats that used the improper term. I'm much more concerned about their beliefs, ideals and how they vote than if they use the proper language.

[Ishoutandscream2]

74. I seem to remember that sneer coming from Bob Dole

around 1976. He said "Democrat party" with that sarcastic, hateful tone.

[Nye Bevan]

80. If you keep reacting with purple-faced outrage, they will keep doing it.

Just ignore it. Some things are worth getting outraged about. This is not one of them.

[SDuderstadt]

81. Actually, it is...

they don't get to define us...we do. And, I don't (or wouldn't) get "outraged". I simply inform them that the conversation will halt until they cease disrespecting our good name.

If we haven't learned by now that passive resistance does not work with the GOP, we need to.

[Fumesucker]

84. Eventually the Democratic party will be shortened to the RAT party ..

If we continue to allow the Republicans to change the name of our party as they wish.

I even read people on DU writing about the "Democrat" party..

[mstinamotorcity]

85. This is a problem!!!!

We have let Republicans set the tone for everything that is in the Democratic agenda.We have let them define whatever message or policy that is made. When they pass a new piece of legislation,they give it a nickname. The legislation is never called its Legislative Name and it is de-legitimized from the word go. If we are the Democratic Party,we are supposed to do things differently!! So this getting under your skin is well understood. And yes the term was used to make the Democratic Party seem less Democratic. When you know better, you should do better!!!