There’s a lot of talk in the air… but then, isn’t there always? It’s not new that everyone and his halfwit Uncle Herman are jabbering to beat the band. But what are they saying? Does it mean anything? Does it even make sense? I’ve been on a decades-long crusade against verbal offal – …
Category: rhetoric
Mar 19 2025
Creeping “National Security” Syndrome
Americans must keep an eye on this practice: United States District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia ordered the Trump administration to turn around two planes the White House says were carrying members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang to El Salvador. Homan strongly defended Trump’s decision to use …
Jan 15 2025
A Word And A Defeasible Tactic
Certain words, as all my Gentle Readers already know, have been anathematized: driven out of the common lexicon by censorious P.C. evangelists. I’ve written about this before. But those actions have evoked reactions in many cases. One of them is the contemporary practice of condemning the individual’s privilege of discerning better from worse, or …
Dec 02 2024
“Rebranding” And Other Weasel-Words
This got my attention a couple of days ago: Former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat, has said that his party needs to “rebrand” in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s big win. […] “What does it mean to be a Democrat?” Ryan asked. “People want to trust us. They don’t want to …
Oct 09 2024
What You Promote Is What You Get
The many demands – from the Left, of course – that President Trump “tone down his rhetoric” are America’s #1 source of ironic guffaws: I am sure it is carefully calculated to not meet the legal standard of incitement, but it is crystal clear that the establishment wants Donald Trump to be the …
Oct 03 2024
“What Do You Mean By That?”
That is the question every aspirant to public office ought to face every time he opens his mouth before a microphone. Yet it almost never happens. When some naïve citizen tries to press the question home, bodyguards appear out of the shadows and hustle him off to a locale less threatening to their client. …
Sep 26 2024
Motives And Meanness
Some years ago, the wife of a friend argued vehemently that government charity – yes, she used that phrase – is superior to private charity because “private givers have bad motives.” I asked her to elaborate, and she mumbled about “image polishing” and “tax deductions.” She felt those (imputed) motives invalidate private charity ab …
Aug 02 2024
An Exceptionally Valuable Phrase
We have Dave Blount to thank for this one: There are three possible explanations for the Trump assassination attempt, which Big Tech and the media have attempted to delete from our memory: (1) thanks at least in part to DEI, the Secret Service has achieved levels of incompetence heretofore unimagined; (2) the Deep …
Aug 02 2024
PolSpeak 2024-08-02
It’s been obvious for a long time that politicians – i.e., persons who aspire to high elective office – must master a way of speaking that evades all possibility of actually saying anything, especially when the facts are against the politician at issue. It’s integral to the politician’s central skill: taking credit for good …
Jul 22 2024
The Evil That Dare Not Speak Its Name
The following is from my pick for the best thriller ever written in English: When we landed we went directly to the office where Randall Wolfe was waiting for us. He was a very large, tall man with dark hair and a beard and wore old-fashioned thick black-rimmed glasses. He seemed pleased to …
Jul 15 2024
Further Thoughts On The Assassination Attempt And Its Sequels
It could not have been otherwise: the news coverage yesterday, whether “mainstream” or “alternative,” was all about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. So was the commentary, of course; how could commentators talk about anything else? And now, in the aftermath of this “hinge event,” there will be other consequences and developments that will …
Jul 06 2024
Questions Not Asked Frequently Enough
I just stumbled over this at Mike Miles’s place, and it got me thinking about such questions generally: Yes, why? The majority of Muslim immigrants to the United States and other First World countries are from places where Islam is dominant – in most cases, it’s the law. Other religions are either discouraged, …
Apr 15 2024
If You Have 8.5 Minutes…
…please watch this video: Pastor Doug Wilson is the Christian nationalist they warned you about. pic.twitter.com/E92V7OMLTS — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 15, 2024 Pastor Doug Wilson articulates an almost satisfactory vision of “Christian nationalism.” The adverb is the most important word in that sentence. For what questions will be asked of his vision …
Mar 20 2024
Argument, Rhetoric, And Ethics
[The following comprises two pieces that first appeared at the old Palace Of Reason in early 2004. They’re relevant to our current national discourse…such as it is. Sorry, the embedded links no longer work. Something to bear in mind as you read: a judge in Hawaii recently ruled that “the spirit of aloha” …
Jan 27 2024
Even Judges Do PolSpeak
The following is a transcript of this interview by Senator John Kennedy (R, LA) of Judge Robin Meriwether, a judicial nominee to the Court of Federal Claims: Senator John Kennedy: Judge Meriwether you’ve been nominated to the Court of Federal Claims is that right? Robin Meriwether: Yes Senator SJK: How many motions have you …
Jul 14 2023
Context
Every time I open the local rag, I’m treated to some insinuation that the earth and all its inhabitants are going to die from global cooling climate warming change. Many people today actually believe that. Let me add some context, compliments of Borepatch. The plain truth is that the earth has been far warmer on …
Apr 18 2023
Weasel Wordings
“A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it.” — Frank Herbert When I see certain rhetorical formulations, I’m immediately alert to sententiousness that wishes to go unrecognized. One of those formulas is “no reasonable person.” What follows …
Mar 03 2023
The Weapon
Eric Frank Russell, one of the most talented writers of his day, left as his legacy to the developing field of science fiction a magnificent novella titled “And Then There Were None.” (Yes, I’ve commended it here before this.) This novella is so powerful, and so memorable, that it was awarded a place in …
Jan 09 2023
SKUNC >> RINO
This news item “Adam Kinzinger, House Republican Who Served on Jan. 6 Committee, Lands Job at CNN After Retiring” reminded me why I could never abide the easier to recognize but poor choice for a pejorative that is Republican In Name Only. For one thing, a RINO is still a republican, just not a constitutional …
Jan 08 2023
On The Reason Progs Favor Border Invaders
“…as the wetback problem was never about humanitarian concerns but about the accumulation of power via the fraudulent votes of the invaders….” — AoS coblogger CBD The reason I’m calling attention to this is I am hoping to prevent others from also carelessly parroting what I consider a red-herring. Heck, some of those migrants are …
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