John Ridley's "Pocket Guide To Speaking Palin-guage"

by: Paul Rosenberg

Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 21:57

Author (Three Kings!), journalist, and social commentator John Ridley has a couple of must-read diaries up at Huffington Post, “Your Pocket Guide to Speaking Palin-guage”–(Vol. 1) and Vol.2 — the People’s Edition. Here’s a sample:

Up in the Twin Cities area folks are speaking a new language. Or, should I say Palinguage. It sounds sorta familiar because it’s Latin based. But different from the plain English we’re used to speaking, in Palinguage recognizable words take on new meanings. Won’t you take a moment to learn some Plainguage so you can talk like a hypocritical conservative?
REPEAT THE FOLLOWING:
If you’re a minority and you’re selected for a job over more qualified candidates you’re a “token hire.” If you’re a conservative and you’re selected for a job over more qualified candidates you’re a “game changer.”
….
Black teen pregnancies? A “crisis” in black America. White teen pregnancies? A “blessed event.”
If you grow up in Hawaii you’re “exotic.” Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you’re the quintessential “American story.”
….
If you get 18 million people to vote for you in a national presidential primary, you’re a “phoney.” Get 100,000+ people to vote you governor of the 47th most populous state in the Union, you’re “well loved.”
SoyAA says: If you are biracial and born in a state not connected to the lower 48, America needs darn near 2 years and 3 major speeches to “get to know you.” If you’re white and from a state not connected to the lower 48, America needs 36 minutes and 38 seconds worth of an acceptance speech to know you’re “one of us.”
….
If you spend 18 months building a campaign around the theme of “Change,” it’s just “empty rhetoric.” If one week before your party’s national convention you SUDDENLY make your candidacy about “Change,” that’s “red meat.”
….
Got some Palinguage? They’re keeping tabs here.

And/Or in the comment thread…

Paul Rosenberg :: John Ridley’s “Pocket Guide To Speaking Palin-guage”

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John Ridley's "Pocket Guide To Speaking Palin-guage" | 3 comments

how about (0.00 / 0)

Obama: “not an aisle-bridger”

Palin: “not an isle-bridger”

by: wes @ Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 22:34:32 PM CDT

Anti-game change (0.00 / 0)

She is billed as a reformer but what reforms does she propose to do? Pork-barrel spending is a micro-issue that she doesn’t have much credibility with. What else have Republicans tried to reformed lately beside steroids in baseball?

She is a working mom but what will she do for working moms? I haven’t heard talk much about day-care, education, or health care. These are the important issues for working moms.

Republicans have changed the game alright. They are changing it from a political fight to a fight about who has a more admirable history. Look at McCain’s service. It’s now about who is more cute and folksy. Look at how cute and confident Palin is, how wonderful her story is,and how handsome her family is.

The Obama/Biden campaign is doing a good job at criticizing the void that is the McCain campaign. It hard to attack what’s in it because everything in it is cute and cuddly. You attack what it lacks.

Meanwhile, how long does Palin plan campaign without being interviewed. How do you get a job without it. I guess in Republicanland everything is arraigned and nothing is won except on fantasy playing field.

John McCain would love to send your kids to war.

by: kazumatan @ Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 05:20:59 AM CDT

Having surrogates question the patriotism of the opponent's wife is (4.00 / 1)

perfectly okay and having the chattering classes gabble about how she has to ‘prove her patriotism’ is par for the course; revelations that the spouse of the VP pick was a registered member of a secessionist group advocating their homestate should leave the very Union his wife will be VP of if elected…those kind of vetting questions are SILLY and must stop.

And nary a word was heard from the chattering classes whenever the camera panned the ‘first dude’ in the arena hall concerning those details.

Working the refs works, it seems

by: Susan H @ Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 07:50:05 AM CDT