A Weasel Behind Every Bush

Word Games

If you're like me you've noted that the world, and especially the mainstream news media, has gone full tilt boogy on the use of re-phrasing. Illegal aliens are now “undocumented migrants,” much as we might call a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist.” Everywhere you look it's “gender affirming care” instead of “destruction of bodily functions.” Presumably a firing squad is end of life care.

Then there are weasel words. From wikipedia:

Weasel words are words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. A common form of weasel wording is through vague attribution, where a statement is dressed with authority, yet has no substantial basis. Phrases such as those above present the appearance of support for statements but can deny the reader the opportunity to assess the source of the viewpoint. They may disguise a biased view. Claims about what people say, think, feel, or believe, and what has been shown, demonstrated, or proved should be clearly attributed.[c]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word

As they say, weasel words are okay to use if later supporting evidence is given.

As an example of weasel wording, somehow a policy is called “controversial” if it's not to the liking of the political bias of the news organization. (Some will see this as an attribute of CNN, and others of FOX.) Many observers will wonder why on Earth the talking head called it controversial, thereby making said talking head seem a bit off.

Gaslighting is repeating an untruth so often that one begins to doubt oneself for knowing that the untruth is untrue. My few thoughts on gaslighting:

Recently we have the curious case of an illegal alien MS-13 gang member being deported to his homeland of El Salvador, whereupon, although not charged with a crime in the US, he was imprisoned for crimes in his home country. The political Left has used a barrage of constant re-phrasing, calling him a “Maryland man” for instance. Technically true but highly misleading, no doubt it's seen as useful politically.

One is given to suspect that these abominations of language are imposed from the top, that reporters and news readers are actually given words and phrases that they should use, and others that they shouldn't, so maybe we shouldn't be too hard on them since they are under coercion for fear of their jobs.

All of this sort of falls under the heading of propaganda:

The five rules of propaganda.

The rule of simplification - reducing all data to a simple confrontation between 'Good and Bad', 'Friend and Foe'.

1. The rule of disfiguration - discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies.

   The rule of transfusion - manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends.

   The rule of unanimity - presenting one's viewpoint as if it were unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: draining the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure , and by 'psychological contagion'.

   The rule of orchestration - endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.

Edward Bernays was a founder of the “science” of propaganda, though one wonders how much of his thinking was really new. The five rules of propaganda were supposedly known and used in the Middle Ages, and one might imagine well before that.

From the somewhat propagandistic Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

Edward Louis Bernays (/bɜːrˈneɪz/ bur-NAYZ; German: [bɛʁˈnaɪs]; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations".[3] While credited with advancing the profession of public relations, his techniques have been criticized for manipulating public opinion, often in ways that undermined individual autonomy and democratic values.

He had a few things to say on the subject. From azquotes”

https://www.azquotes.com/

:

"If we understand the mechanisms and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing it. In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind." ~ Edward Bernays

"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it." ~ Edward Bernays

"The only difference between 'propaganda' and 'education,' really, is in the point of view. The advocacy of what we believe in is education. The advocacy of what we don't believe in is propaganda." ~ Edward Bernays

"Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government." ~ Edward Bernays

Stay Brave, Stay Un-gaslighted, Stay Free