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Rhetoric Watch

Here are themes and metaphors we expect to dominate extreme right statements after the election of Barack Obama.

Democrats Stole the Election

  • On Hannity.com, a loaded question poll asking “With ACORN fraud, military ballots missing, and people voting more than once do you believe that Obama would have won this election without all those situations?” (Results on 11/7/2008: 49% No, 51% Yes.)
  • On Nov. 4 at Newt.org, Gingrich uses the pattern of opposition “us versus them to exhort his audience “If you’re still not convinced of the need to go out and vote, consider this:  Amid reports of homeless people being able to list park benches as addresses in order to cast ballots, there are reports that many of our men and women serving overseas are having problems casting absentee ballots. Go to the polls today for those who fight but can’t vote.” Notice that the first article does not cite that any homeless people actually have voted using park benches as addresses, and that the second and third articles describe workarounds to the problem of soldiers overseas not being able to vote. Gingrich also misrepresents via omission the content of the second article, ignoring quotes from a Navy commander: “Navy Cmdr. John Lazzaro, a Fort Myers resident serving as garrison commander in Qalat, Afghanistan, said voting at his base is a hit, and he’s heard no complaints. The Apache helicopter base does not have a fax machine, Lazzaro said…. ‘For anybody who doesn’t know how to do it or waited too long, there’s just no excuse, Lazzaro said, who abruptly ended the interview because of mortar fire.”
  • Citing a Fox News article about potential voter fraud in Minnesota, Ann Coulter claims that “Minnesota is the Florida of 2000.” Does this mean that she admits Florida of 2000 was also the Florida of 2000? Coulter links to an even more dubious argument from OpenMarket.org alleging voter fraud in Minnesota and Virginia, without any actual facts (but using the guilt by association technique of the McCain ads).
  • Another “Minnesota is Florida” claim from RedState.

Obama / the Democrats Will Take Away Your Rights

  • Ann Coulter, using her typical scare tactics and unsupported generalizations, claims that Barack Obama’s “civilian national security force” would lead to “a lot more Waco raids, Elian Gonzalez snatchings.” (audio clip and story, from Media Matters)
  • Rush Limbaugh, in criticizing criticism by  CNN of his criticism of Obama’s choice of Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff as typical of “right wing rage,” uses hasty generalization to extend his claim to all media responses to debate: “Any dissent is called hate, is called rage.  This is how they attempt to discredit it.” (Full transcript of Rush Limbaugh show)
  • Talk show fans anticipate that Obama will attempt to use the Faireness Doctrine and the appointment of Henry Rivera as FCC Chair to shut down right wing broadcasting. (Stories: On to the Next Battle, Meet Talk’s Executioner, from The Radio Equalizer blog) Hasty generalization from The Radio Equalizer’s post: “Don’t be fooled: the only reason for this crusade is to wipe out every trace of political dissent.”
  • Prepare for a barrage of Star Wars / Darth Vader metaphors, like Michelle Malkin’s “Overlord Obama is ready to rule”.
  • More madcap movie memes: Sarah Palin is Sarah Connor from “The Terminator” (Dems are the Terminator) according to Ann  Coulter.

Obama Will Take Away Your Rights Because He’s a Socialist (Communist, Nazi, Muslim etc.)

  • Georgia Congressman Paul Broun characterizes Obama’s proposed national security force to tactics  from the communist Soviet Union or Hitler’s Germany (without naming any communist or Nazi  programs that use such tactics: “I’m just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism.” (story from the Atlanta Constitution). Could Broun use any more hedge words and still call this allegation a fact?
  • Increasingly, extremists are associating the Bush administration’s program promoting Shariah Finance Compliance with Obama’s imputed socialist / communist ideals, in spite of the fact that the three systems are mutually intolerant. Zakat (the Islamic system of helping the poor) “fits very well with Barack Obama’s plans for America, doesn’t it? Whether he means for his economic policy to be Sharia-compliant or not, the temptation would be there for him to make agreements with Muslim countries, to do what he has already states he intends to do, and to call it Islamic Finance.” (Sharia Finance - Infidels Financing Their Own Murder)

Obama / the Democrats Are Responsible for Problems with the Economy