Will the November election bring about a decline in the

May 18, 2022, 8:36 AM

Democrat labeling strategy?

In Biden's recent speeches he appears to have embraced a version of Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" lexicon - "ultra-MAGA" - in labeling a whole swath of people in the USA as reprobates. Additionally, it seems the Democrats just inferred about half the country (well... at least the GOP half) are racists and/or support racism.

To some degree the "GOP is racist" is an old overused Democratic trope. When was the last time a Republican nominee for President wasn't at some point labeled a "racist" by the left? Every Republican candidate since Nixon has had that nasty label applied to them by the left - and not just by the leftist fringe. Did the majority of Democrats actually believe all these GOP Presidential candidates were racists or were their operatives and strategists deliberately using the emotionally charged term simply to drive a wedge in an appeal to minority voters? I believe the latter.

Biden and the woke elements of the Democratic Party are no strangers to this labeling strategy. Everyday it seems elements of their Party (and the left in general) lash out with an emotional response to questions and views by labeling people and opposing views with the most reprehensible terms to avoid an honest conversation or intellectual discussion. They simply apply the labeled term to the person/viewpoint (e.g. racist, homophobe etc...) to shut down all further discussion. In many cases, these labels aren't random occurrences but appear to be a talking points coordinated, systematic application that is a deliberative strategy among the left.

20 or more years ago, I believe the labeling strategy was just seen as normal part of the political game. Something to be brought out on occasion by both political party's to drive a wedge or provide cover for a particular issue (usually when the position was weak). It was not something to be trotted out over almost every political issue of the day or to defame people with legitimate differences of opinion.

However, in the last 13 years it really appears to me that left has turned this labeling strategy into something way beyond the occasional political crutch and into a deliberative common use strategy that is ultimately unhealthy for a Constitutional Republic. The left has increasingly embraced and relied on the labeling strategy to "win" their position instead of debating issues to prove their points, change minds, or allow/acknowledge legitimate differences of opinion. It seems they want to appeal to raw emotion rather than rational thought. They don't want to debate or discuss - they just want people to shut up and accept their opinions.

In today's world, the left routinely uses the labeling strategy to avoid defending their positions that in many cases are weakly formed, hyperbolic fabrications or are largely based on knee jerk emotional fantasy. In my opinion, the socialist factions in the Democratic Party have infected the greater Party with the widespread use of the labeling strategy because it satisfies the worst tendencies of the far leftist ideologies - scratch a far leftist and dictatorial tyranny pours out their wound. They want to avoid rational discussions because it requires facts, engagement and work to convince people and change minds. Instead, they don't want to have conversations - they just want to rely on emotion to dictate the supremacy of their opinions by labeling anyone who dares question their version of the world as a reprobate (i.e. racist, homophobe, Trumper, ultra- MAGA, deplorable, "denier", etc...).

To the leftist mind this labeling strategy:

1. Satiates a superiority complex. After all - why would anyone even bother having a rational discussion with someone they label/consider a "racist" etc... as these people are unworthy human beings to the left? It excuses the left from having to address potential or actual flaws in their views.

2. Justifies their desire for censorship and silencing of speech that questions or opposes their views. After all - if the left can label something as "hate speech" or "disinformation" why would they ever allow it to be spoken or printed?

In truth, the labeling strategy is an intellectually lazy tactic that will eventually atrophy the users ability to invoke rational thought in defense of their positions. Simply calling the opposing person/view a label name (i.e. racist, homophobic etc...) and stopping engagement does nothing to bolster, expand, or test their own arguments.

Here's the rub with the extreme overuse of this labeling strategy - it devalues real instances of the label being used and eventually relegates the labeled word into a "ho hum here we go again eye roll". When the left labels and associates 50% (or more) of the country as "racist" rational people know this is not true and the word "racist" loses it's value. The danger is that real instances of racism become lumped into the left's daily "racist noise" to where people no longer react or take note. It is the whole "boy that cried wolf" syndrome - if everybody and everything is at some point deemed "racist" then real racism loses it's meaning.

At some point one would think the more rational members of the Democratic Party would force a retreat from the Party's overuse of the labeling strategy and return to rational discussion with those they disagree. I still think the majority of people have to eventually be convinced by the rational thought and facts of an argument in order to freely embrace a position - simply calling opposing voices and their views a bad name is not enough.

I'm wondering if the Democrats get shellacked in November if that will encourage them to re-look this labeling strategy - hope springs eternal... But I guess until that happens we can expect the left's labeling strategy that aims to separate people into baskets of deplorables to continue.

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Will the November election bring about a decline in the

Re: Will the November election bring about a decline in the

Re: Will the November election bring about a decline in the

Re: Will the November election bring about a decline in the

Re: Will the November election bring about a decline in the

well put, I've thought this for years,

One 'minor' detail... Biden has trouble even reading his

Re: One 'minor' detail... Biden has trouble even reading his

And Valerie J ran him***

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