Why Republicans should watch their language - By Frank Luntz

[garthranzz]

14. It's rhetoric

What I find reprehensible is not the use of rhetoric per se, but the perversion of it to mask the truth or an agenda. Too many examples from Luntz. But here's one: don't call for smaller government, call for more efficient government. That's code - dog whistle talk. Size is relative: what defines "big government"? And why is size necessarily bad? So government can be "big" - provide a safety net and social programs - and still be efficient. Big defense spending is not big, according to Luntz, but it is efficient - because we need to spend a lot of money on defense (tautology).

We need to be teaching rhetoric in schools, so people can spot the frauds before they steal elections, wreck the economy and drag us into illegal wars for private and corporate greed.