"dog whistles"

[Joel S. Berson]

At 4/3/2014 03:50 PM, victor steinbok wrote:
>The lines do get blurred. Are conservatives' attacks on Obama over alleged
>teleprompter overuse,

Ronald Reagan made extensive use of the teleprompter for his
pre-written speeches.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/03/29/714249/-The-Teleprompter-President
(which takes quotations about Reagan's use of the teleprompter and
replaces his name with Obama's -- "Of course the most important thing
to realize is that every one of the quotes used here were [sic]
actually written about the "Great Communicator," Ronald Reagan").

>golf,

Eisenhower played golf frequently during his presidency, ordered his
golf balls painted black so he could see them better against snow,
and had a golf "facility" installed at Camp David.  (Personal
recollections; Wikipedia.)

>supposedly excessive vacationing

George W. Bush took 349 vacation days in the first 4 years and 7
months of his presidency.  Ronald Reagan took 180 days in the same
period.  (Barak Obama took 96; Bill Clinton 84.)
http://news.yahoo.com/-obama%E2%80%99s-vacations-and-golfing-by-the-numbers--165241111.html


>merely oblique
>references to make Obama look lazy, or is this a dog whistle to the
>Southern image of blacks as lazy?

Would these be oblique references to make Republicans look lazy, or
dog whistles to the effete elite bicoastal Democrats' image of
Republicans as the idle rich?

Joel

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