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I do not envy linguists/ #LingAnth right now. Just watching the blinding shift in rhetoric going on through social media alone is enough to give me whiplash. Of the worst of it, I'm getting tired of those who use 'plausible deniability' to pretend that a coup isn't a coup...
...because Trump himself didn't explicitly say "I want you to walk up to the Capitol building and take Congress hostage. Also shoot some of them. Do it right now." https://www.vox.com/22220746/trump-speech-incite-capitol-riot
In other words, they use only the literal content of his words to say that "he didn't **explicitly tell** them to riot." https://abc7news.com/trump-violence-news-supporters-us-capitol-riots/9528818/
Which is true. But also beside the point. Racists, white supremacists, and Neo-Nazis are perfectly well aware that they can't say the "quiet part out loud." (at least, not publicly) But, problem is, the "quiet part" is the actual message. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/trump-tells-capitol-rioters-to-go-home-now-but-still-calls-the-election-stolen.html
That's what "dog whistle" means. It means that those involved in the context know what they are being told without being told specifically. It comes through turns of phrase, entextualization, references to past events, ideology, etc. They know how to interpret the message.
This method, ultimately, is designed to protect seditious and/or violent leaders. If they never actually *said* the thing, they can't face consequences for the thing. Even if they know how their audience is going to read them.
Which is all a very long way of me saying that Trump knows who his supporters are and what they want. He knows how to play to his own crowd. So does the rest of the GOP. They pretend that words don't have meaning, that people 'won't actually think that,' or...
...that they have no responsibility for fomenting violence because they didn't, you know, **tell** people to get violent. Not using those words, anyway.
Except, of course, that they did and know that they did.
It's Loophole Insurrection. https://abc7chicago.com/donald-trump-supporters-rioters-storm-capitol-proud-boys/9441494/
Except, of course, that they did and know that they did.
It's Loophole Insurrection. https://abc7chicago.com/donald-trump-supporters-rioters-storm-capitol-proud-boys/9441494/
Furthermore, the Loophole Insurrection crowd appears to be the same group who are trying to claim that "we" are all responsible for this. Among my Conservative family members, this is the going explanation.
In the ensuing threads, they then try to make the case that the GOP only bears some of the blame for the insurrection at the Capitol. The rest of blame, naturally, goes to BLM, the Democratic Party, "liberals," and "socialists."
But they are banking with the same word play. Trump didn't **say** he wanted people to riot, therefore he's innocent and so is all of Republicanism.
In short, the leverage context when it suits them, deny it when it doesn't. https://twitter.com/Manigarm/status/1325912429998596097
In short, the leverage context when it suits them, deny it when it doesn't. https://twitter.com/Manigarm/status/1325912429998596097
So don't hand them the benefit of the doubt here. Don't act like they are just ignorant or 'don't know what they're doing.'
They absolutely DO know. What they want is to gaslight you into thinking you are also equally to blame and therefore shouldn't hold them accountable.
They absolutely DO know. What they want is to gaslight you into thinking you are also equally to blame and therefore shouldn't hold them accountable.
Anyway, if you're wondering how it's going, we're on to the "tone policing" part of today's argument.
Oh, hey. Here it is again. https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1349417247266267140
