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It is time to talk about adjectives [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-29
A lot of ink, or in the modern sense bytes, has been spilt trying to explain why Kamala Harris lost. Aside from the price of eggs, or the power of racism and sexism or the fact that the white majority decided the next president, I’d like to introduce another reason that really is a motivating factor: adjectives.
The open Southern border. Better yet, the wide open Southern border.
Not undocumented entrants to the U.S., but illegal immigrants.
Criminal immigrants.
Dangerous and murderous immigrants.
Out of control inflation
Out of control crime
Extremist leftists
Marxist leftists
Deranged Marxist leftists
Shifty Schiff
Lil Marko
Crazed Pelosi
Weakened America
Deep State bureaucrats
Radical feminists
If I were to hold up an apple and say, “I would like to tell you about this apple.” you would listen to what I have to say about the apple. If, however, I told you, “I would like to tell you about this poisonous apple.” You would want to know how poisonous it is.
Adjectives are designed to frame the object or topic before the topic is discussed. By using adjectives one can frame any topic or object to control the debate. It shifts the discussion from the topic, idea, policy, or person, to the point of view someone describes toward them. If you start with out of control inflation, instead of just the level of inflation, or criminal immigrant invaders instead of people crossing without documentation, it is difficult to discuss the reality because we are not talking about reality. We are talking about non existent threats because of adjectives; a world where inflation may not be out of control or people entering without permission may not be people released from prisons or insane asylums.
When the media talks about issues, the noun may be true — people do enter the country without legal permission, crime does occur — but the adjective may be a lie. To say there are undocumented immigrants living in our county is a true fact. To say there are filthy vermin blood diluting violent criminals released from prisons and insane asylums then you are saying adjectives; ones that can have horrendous consequences, even though they may be lies. If the media is allowing their guests to repeat these adjectives without question, then they go from discussing the immigrant presence in America to discussing the immigrant problem in a way that pushes for a cruel solution.
Our media fails not just for failing to investigate and report truth, it also fails when it does not question the adjectives people use. That is even easier than investigating. All it requires is the interviewer to ask the adjective user for evidence. I did not see a lot of that in this past election. I saw one political party wielding adjectives like the sword of Excalibur. The other did not seem to understand what adjectives were. The media was not offering any help on this.
I end this screed with one final quote from Mark Twain, which I will introduce without the use of adjectives to describe him, but just his words.
“When you catch an adjective, kill it.”
[END]
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