Sponsors

Keyword: Keywords

Keywords are now required Email Print

That's right folks. Keywords are now required. This should make for ease of content browsing.

Discuss

Tactic: Every Word Matters -- Using 'Keywords' as a Political Tactic Email Print

In 1990, Newt Gingrich published a booklet he called "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control". He mailed his little manifesto to Republican leaders throughout the land and encouraged them to "paint a vivid, brilliant word picture." Gingrich, showing distrust for his fellow Republicans' judgment, saw fit to supply the leaders with two lists of keywords, a positive word list to use in describing themselves and a negative keyword list to describe those evil Democrats.

Gingrich's positive words for Republicans (hold your nose)

"Active, activist, building, candid(ly), care(ing), challenge, change, children, choice/choose, citizen, commitment, common sense, compete, confident, conflict, control, courage, crusade, debate dream, duty, eliminate good time in prison, empower(ment), fair, family, freedom, hard work, help, humane, inventive, initiative, lead, learn, legacy, liberty, light, listen, mobilize, moral, movement, opportunity, passionate, peace, pioneer, precious, premise, preserve, principle(d), pristine, pro-flag, pro-children, pro-environment, prosperity, protect, proud/pride, provide, reform, sights, share, strength, success, tough, truth, unique, vision, we/us/our, workfare"

Particularly entertaining was the inclusion of such words as "Eliminate good time in prison", "peace" and "pro-environment". No. They did not include "Audacity" in their "pro-Republican" word list. Anyway, Newt continues with his choice of words to describe the opposition.

Perhaps what they meant to list were "Eliminate peace and the environment" and "pro-prison"?

Wait... There's more! (31 comments, 507 words in story)