:: Spinspeak Letter ::

Exposing Deliberate Pollution of the English Language: Spinspeak Rots the Mind.

:: Thursday, March 27, 2008 ::

Hillary the C. Follows John the K. down Derring-dotalk Slippery Slope

Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton’s current “mistake” in her report of bravely landing in Bosnia under enemy fire that has proven to have been non-existent is an outstanding spinspeak case history on why derring-dotalk is such a slippery slope.

She might have learned from the derring-dotalk difficulties of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), whose own 2004 presidential campaign prominently featured so many colorful Viet Nam war stories including his imaginative Christmas boat trip to Cambodia.

Clinton’s actual "mistake" was not having the National Archives or some other government agency redact all newsfilm showing her accepting flowers at the landing ceremony rather than dodging bullets. Kerry adroitly had his own jungle film taken afterward, but forgot to burn the records and shoot all witnesses.

Spinspeak Rule 1 for successful derring-dotalk: Make it up out of whole cloth. Rule 2: No cameras. Rule 3: Be the only survivor.

:: James Baar 3/27/2008 02:58:00 PM [+] ::
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“Estimate Language” from the NIE Spooks: A Spyspin Dictionary

The new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) may not have made a major contribution to public faith in the reliability of America’s spy network but it has made a major contribution to the National Spinspeak Vocabulary (NSV).

The NIE report, recognizing the dumbing down of the voters, helpfully provided a special NIE dictionary of what it called “estimate language.” This special spyspin language is designed to “convey” to the unwashed “the probability” that anything in the report was true; also, “the level of confidence” the spooks have in their “judgment” of “the probability.”

Here is a synopsis of the new spyspin:

probably, likely, very likely, almost certainly = hopetalk for “there is a greater than even” chance that we know what we are talking about even considering our earlier opinion which was the opposite.

unlikely, remote = CYA-talk for less than a 50-50 chance something will happen but who knows, right?

we cannot dismiss, rule out, discount – hyperCYA-talk for we don’t think the worst will happen but consider yourself warned.

might, may = plastertalk for we really don’t know because someone decapitated our agent while he was on the phone.

high confidence = hopetalk for our information is “high quality” but you never know, do you?

moderate confidence = CYA-talk for our information is “credibly sourced and plausible” but you have to hedge your bets when dealing with these ragheads.

low confidence = hyperCYA-talk for you it’s OK for you to believe this garbage a little bit but we’re supposed to be professionals.

:: James Baar 12/06/2007 03:22:00 PM [+] ::
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The Politics of “Politics of”

Spinmeisters are proving that there is no subject or event that can not be immediately trivialized, demonized or exalted into nothingness with the fuzzball phrase “politics of.”

Latest example: When Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was challenged for engaging in doublespeak by some of her competitors for the Democratic presidential nomination, she claimed that she was a victim of the “Politics of Pile-on.”

As every grade school good sport knows, “pile-on” is unfair. Add the phrase “politics of” and you have institutionalized it far beyond the school playground into an evil practice that can not be condoned, conveniently obscuring whatever caused the alleged pile-on in the first place.

Google now carries 97 pages of links to some kind of “politics of.”

There is, merely to skim the surface, the Politics of Hope, the Politics of Fear, the Politics of Culture, the Politics of Truth, the Politics of Slime, the Politics of Eavesdropping, the Politics of Meat and Dairy, the Politics of Narcissism, the Politics of Obedience, the Politics of Torture and the Politics of Arrogance.

Possibly the deep well of hogwash in the phrase has been best plumbed by Mothering Magazine which has explored the long, colorful history of the “the Politics of Diapers.”

Labels: political spin, politics of

:: James Baar 11/03/2007 11:42:00 AM [+] ::
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So It Goes: the Pol Spinspeak Factory Grinds On

Random spin from the presidential hustings:

shared responsibility = chameleonspeak for big government coercion: the government takes responsibility for giving you a service that it defines; you take responsibility for gratefully accepting whatever is in the package and paying for it in taxes.

choice = once plain English now converted to Trojan-horse talk for you get to choose as long as you to what I tell you to do but feel good about it because you have “choice.” Of course, if you don’t do what I tell you to do, you don’t deserve a choice.

thoughtful = chocolatesaucetalk for describing anyone of the opposite party who is suddenly providing you with aid and comfort.

carbon footprint = diabolictalk (unless mitigated with the adjective "low" for what those who refuse to buy into the global warning doomsday scenario are doing to the world.

center = Chinese-lunchtalk for a moving point somewhere between not quite the extreme far left and not quite the extreme far right depending on the speaker and the auditor. The word is essentially employed as a self-awarded Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. (see below: move to center)

move to center = phony badgetalk for where a pol runs to bamboozle the general electorate after bamboozling a hard liberal left or hard conservative right into winning a nomination.

Labels: political spin

:: James Baar 9/24/2007 10:15:00 AM [+] ::
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Deluxespin Delivers

A new book, “Deluxe” by Dana Thomas, makes a major contribution to the study of spinspeak by exploring the highly commercial art of deluxespin.

Thomas catalogues brilliantly the transmogrification of personally handcrafted true luxury products sold at very high prices to mass produced faux luxury products sold at even higher prices.

At one time, the needlecrafts workers of the ateliers of France and Italy produced haute couture designed by Chanel, Valentino. Balenciaga and Yves St.. Laurent. Generations of leathercraft workers produced luggage designed Louis Vuitton. Generations of jewelry makers and goldsmiths turned out limited masterpieces for Cartier, Tiffany, Bulgari. And Fabergé.

In recent years, unauthorized, illegal, discredited, knockoffs of these famous brands have been manufactured in the sweatshops of North Africa and China and peddled at bargain prices on the streets of Paris, Milan and New York.

Meantime, Thomas writes, the famous deluxe brands have faced rising labor costs. Handsomely fat margins have been grossly squeezed. Accordingly, they too have taken up outsourcing to China and North Africa and other centers of cheap labor. The also have discovered ways to reduce costs through mass production, corner cutting and cheese paring..

Voila! Through the magic of deluxespin we have to meet the demand of a rich clientele, particularly a nouveau riche clientele, hungry for the luxury brand products of old, carloads of official, approved, brand-name knockoffs priced to prove that they are more deluxe than ever.

The question for students of deluxespin and the marketing arts: How thin can the deluxe in a deluxe product be sliced before the only thing deluxe that remains like the Cheshire cat’s smile in “Alice in Wonderland” is the brand?

:: James Baar 8/20/2007 04:52:00 PM [+] ::
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Spinspeak Air Cleanser Award to Hillary Clinton

Historians generally agree only President Richard Nixon, Commie fighter extraordinaire, could have opened up US relations with Red China.

Spinspeak experts in the future may be saying that only Sen. Hillary Clinton, darling of feminist activists, could possibly have dragged the hated word “girl” into the righteous haven of political correctness.

In her lifelong bid for the presidency, Ms. Clinton has told a rally of cheering union supporters “I’m your girl!” as opposed to “I’m your woman!” or “I’m your candidate person!”

Her current arch rival, Sen. Obama, did not immediately try countering her move by shouting “I’m your boy!” but the campaign in still young.

:: James Baar 8/09/2007 11:12:00 AM [+] ::
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Pet Funeral Biz Gives Major Boost to Spinspeak Phylum Compassiontalk

A Rhode Island dog and cat crematorium called Paws at Rest, doing business under the motto “We share your tears,” offers “home burial,” “marine burial,” and permanent display of “arbor emblems” bearing the name of the beloved one in a “memorial tree.”

The Shop at Paws at Rest offers biodegradable urns for the environmentally concerned and for the more affluent a “solid bronze doghouse.” For cats permanently “at rest,” The Shop offers “etched kitty urns” and an urn that looks like a ball of pink yarn.

Meantime, in England, a pet crematorium called Pets to Rest, pffers, apparently for those nostalgic for The Empire, bamboo coffins. They come in three sizes with prices ranging from 47 to 58 pounds including the VAT tax. Pets to Rest is located in northwest England not far from High Hesket in the Eden Valley.

:: James Baar 8/07/2007 03:17:00 PM [+] ::
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