A quick look …. at a new irritating tactic, after-the-jump:
But first: Top Comments appears nightly, as a round-up of the best comments on Daily Kos. Surely ... you come across comments daily that are perceptive, apropos and .. well, perhaps even humorous. But they are more meaningful if they're well-known ... which is where you come in (especially in diaries/stories receiving little attention).------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send your nominations to TopComments at gmail dot com by 9:30 PM Eastern Time nightly, or by our KosMail message board. Please indicate (a) why you liked the comment, and (b) your Dkos user name (to properly credit you) as well as a link to the comment itself.
Eleven years ago in this space, I echoed the annoyance of NPR weekend host Scott Simon, who lamented the weak-tea expression “I’m just saying!” I always felt it allows a person to either express an offensive thought, or make an outrageous accusation … and if by chance it turned out to be accurate: “Hey, give me full credit!” But if it did not materialize … “Hey, I was just saying; don’t excoriate me!”
You can read my original essay (after brushing-off the cobwebs) at this link.
Now …... a new pet peeve
A new phrase seems to have overtaken “I’m just saying” …… and it’s more of a tactic.
Now, “Just asking questions” seems to be the mantra …. the GQP has embraced it wholesale … and not just against Democrats. Here are some examples; feel free to add your own.
After the January 6th riot, an essayist at Fast Company noted that accompanying “just asking questions” is a deceit; used when something has not gone their way:
For a great many prominent Republicans, however, pretending not to know things is an all-too-familiar messaging tactic, one that is typically followed by volcanic fury about the very thing they are pretending not to know.
The always-entertaining Tim Miller of The Bulwark (back in May, 2021) wrote a comprehensive account of one of the linchpins of 45’s famed KrakenPot Legal-Team, entitled Lin Wood is Just Asking Questions— and was aimed at progressives swing voters mainstream media the judiciary … no, the GOP party leadership of South Carolina, which he wanted to take over.
Over the past decade or two, the state parties have weakened across the country. In some places, the completely hollowed-out infrastructure might make it ripe for a takeover from someone like Wood.
But that ain’t the case in South Carolina, with its vibrant and vicious political class and outsized role in the presidential nominating calendar. Here, the chair’s race is a time-honored inside game, with victory determined by 870 party regulars who are chosen through a precinct and county committee process juiced by party pros.
Lin Wood wasn’t just haranguing GOP leadership on the election (and ambushing committee chair Drew McKissick) … no, he was foreshadowing what lib-ruls like us are facing now:
Charleston Post and Courier reporter Jamie Lovegrove said that Wood spent the preponderence of their interview pivoting the conversation back to the issue of child sex trafficking. He has identified an actual thoroughfare for the traffickers—I-73, which is a proposed extension that hasn’t been built yet. Wood suggested that leaders in the state were pushing the highway extension as part of the plot.
Old news, yes (and Wood garnered only 28% of the vote at the state convention) …. but do have a read at that article.
In more recent time, we’ve seen Tucker (Swanson heir) Carlson have to do back-flips from his prior support of the Vladinator … among the ‘questions’ was, “What Putin Ever Did to You?”
But the most comprehensive look at this tactic was written (in December, 2020) by Nick Harper of the Minnesota Reformer entitled, No, you’re not ‘just asking questions.’ You’re spreading disinformation— some examples:
A lot of people are weaponizing this notion of “just asking questions.” Framing it this way allows the person to make a wild accusation in question format, rather than phrasing it as a statement. Often either the questioner knows the truth and denies it for political reasons, or they are willfully ignorant. Conspiracy theorists and malicious actors who spread disinformation intentionally — such as propagandists or foreign adversaries — often favor this tactic.
Doing so allows them to shift the burden of truth, then implicitly reject the truth, and finally legitimize the disinformation — all while maintaining an air of respectability.
He goes on:
A person “just asking questions” will set the stage by plausibly claiming he or she can be persuaded if you would merely answer the question.
Next, a person “just asking questions” will implicitly reject the truth. Asking questions is good if you genuinely want the truth; but many people “just asking questions” simply won’t accept the answer. They don’t want to accept the evidence, yet also do not want to admit that they reject it. So instead, they “ask the question.”
Once again, have a look at that essay…. and offer your own examples in the comments.
Before the top comments, two items:
And to close on a high-note: Rosemary Clooney’s rendition of a James Taylor song:
(Nothing from the field this evening for Top Comments)
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the front-page story about your-friend-and-mine, Ammon Bundy— who blew-off community service for trespassing at the Idaho state Capitol (and received ten days jail time, as a result) — one comment by brain nutrition and then another made by Gonzodon.
Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful (and now eternal) *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment featuring that photo.
TOP PHOTOSApril 6th, 2022
|
And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
15) [image] by Captain Frogbert +9017) Thanks Greg. OK Abortion ban by Denise Oliver Velez +8921) Add Gilly suits by BOHICA +8622) A thought just struck me: … by MarcKyle64 +8324) Hugs to you both! … by cfk +8126) This is terrible news. … by scooba +79