[Ads-l] dog whistle politics

[Peter Reitan]

Dog Whistle:  Anything a "conservative" says that isn't clearly racist, sexist or X-ist, so characterized by "liberals" as to avoid responding to a substantive policy argument, instead tainting the comments with racism, sexism or other X-ism for cheap political advantage among their base for whom (ironically) calling out a conservative "dog whistle" frequently acts as a liberal "dog whistle" in its own right.
________________________________
From: David K. Barnhart<mailto:dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
Sent: ‎12/‎29/‎2017 13:07
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: dog whistle politics

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Subject:      dog whistle politics
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I came across this term a couple of days ago.  And, this is what I had (more
coming as the weekend passes):





dog-whistle politics, {w}  Also written dog whistle politics.  See the
quotations for description.  Compare alt-right and lipstick on a pig.
Nonstandard (used in slang contexts dealing especially with party politics
throughout the English-speaking world; frequency?)



The deputy leader said the Lib Dem's pro-EU stance had helped them recover
from a crushing defeat after five years of coalition government, and achieve
the party's highest ever membership.

Ms Swinson said her party fought against "racist, dog-whistle" politics in
defeating the former Conservative London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith in
a byelection in 2016, and continued to stand against "rabble-rousing,
hate-stoking" populism. "Jo Swinson: Dems are the Chumbawamba' party,"
Scotsman (Nexis), Sept. 16, 2017, p not given



Palmerston North political candidates are divided over proposed measures to
deal with the scourge of methamphetamine, with one describing them as
"dog-whistle politics".

Deputy Prime Minister and Police Minister Paula Bennett announced a raft of
measures against both gangs and methamphetamine, also known as P, as
National continued election campaigning on Sunday. Jono Galuszka,
"Politicians sparring over Nat's meth plan," Manawatu Standard [New Zealand]
(Nexis), Sept. 5, 2017, p 3



President Trump has deplored the violence that occurred in Charlottesville.

To claim that he has a "role in the resurgence of far-right violence" and
indulges in "dog-whistle politics of hate" is not only wild nonsense but
suggests that Mr Amery has succumbed to the fake news and views that
proliferate in sections of the media.

This is indicated by his attempt to denounce what he calls "alternative
facts" which obviously clash with his views. "Distorting facts to serve an
opinion," The Mercury [South Africa] (Nexis), Aug. 28, 2017, p 6



Republicans have also employed so-called "dog whistle" politics: coded
words, policies and imagery that preserve deniability while speaking with
implicit clarity to white racial and cultural fears. From the Willie Horton
ad that helped George H.W. Bush become president to the suggestive white
woman ad that helped sink a black candidate's Senate bid in Tennessee, from
photo ID voter suppression to birther conspiracies, from Newt Gingrich
condemning a "food stamp president" to Paul Ryan's complaining about "a
tailspin of culture in our inner cities," the GOP has seldom missed a chance
to lay out the welcome mat for white supremacists. Leonard Pitts, Jr.,
"Charlottesville didn't spring from nowhere," Spokesman Review [Spokane,
Wash.] (Nexis), Aug. 21, 2017, p 003



[1995] 1997.  Composite (compound): formed, with semantic shifting, from dog
whistle (eOED: 1801), meaning "a whistle for calling a dog, especially such
a whistle with a hig-frequency sound inaudible to people" (WBD), + politics
(OED: 1638), as in message politics.





Happy New Year and Happy Wording,

David Barnhart


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