Democrats police their word police: Read the list

Birthing person/inseminated person ... Latinx ... subverting norms ... housing insecurity ... a "justice-involved individual," formerly known as an inmate.A blunt memo from Third Way, a center-left think tank run by lifelong Democrats, implores opponents of President Trump to ditch jargon that's off-putting and even "deeply alienating" to many of the mainstream voters the party needs to win back. Why it matters: Third Way warns Democrats to be wary "of words proliferating in elite circles that have closed off open conversations and have made it uncomfortable for many people to engage in hard topics.""Whatever your intentions, when you refer to a pregnant woman as a 'birthing person' or a felon as a 'justice-involved individual,' you are not growing the tent, you're making it smaller. Matt Bennett, a Third Way co-founder, tells Axios. The memo — "Was It Something I Said?" — is addressed "To: All Who Wish to Stop Donald Trump and MAGA.""The aim," Bennett said, "is to help persuade public-facing allies — mostly elected officials and candidates, but also advocates — to use words their high school classmates use ... Just talk like a normal person, for chrissakes."Between the lines: The memo acknowledges that "some will take issue with the inclusion of words or phrases we ask Democrats to avoid when talking to the public. And to reiterate, we have used some of these phrases in our own writings in the past."But Third Way says many of the words are "a red flag for a sizable segment of the American public. It is not because they are bigots, but because they fear cancellation, doxing, or trouble with HR if they make a mistake. Or they simply don't understand what these terms mean and become distrustful of those who use them. So instead, they keep quiet."Here are excerpts from the list, which Third Way divides into six buckets:1. Therapy-Speak, suggesting the speaker is "more empathetic than you, and you are callous to hurting others' feelings":PrivilegeViolence (as in "environmental violence")DialoguingOtheringTriggeringProgressive stackCenteringHolding space2. Seminar Room Language, which suggests the speaker is "smarter and more concerned about important issues than you. Your kitchen table concerns are small":Subverting normsSystems of oppressionCritical theoryCultural appropriationPostmodernismOverton WindowHeuristic3. Organizer Jargon, which makes it sound like the party is " beholden to groups, not individuals":Radical transparencySmall "d" democracyBarriers to participationStakeholdersFood insecurityHousing insecurity4. Gender/Orientation Correctness, suggesting to listeners that their "views on traditional genders and gender roles are at best quaint":Birthing person/inseminated personPregnant peopleChest feedingHeteronormativePatriarchy5. The Shifting Language of Racial Constructs, signaling you could be "called out as racist if you do not use the latest and correct terminology":LatinxIntersectionalityMinoritized communities6. Explaining Away Crime, making it sound like the "criminal is the victim. The victim is an afterthought":Justice-involvedCarcerationInvoluntary confinementWhat's next: Bennett told us Third Way "will be pushing this out to anyone who will listen — on social media, podcasts, etc., and in briefings we do for our allies."The bottom line: The memo says Democrats need "a bigger army" to triumph over Republicans, and communicating "in authentic ways that welcome rather than drive voters away is a good start."Go deeper: Read the memo.

Comments

World news

National Post

Parents blocked from teaching their kids to swim in public pools in Vancouver

about 1 hour ago

National Post

Carney says Canada will drop most retaliatory tariffs on U.S.

about 1 hour ago

Independent

Trump team plans to review all 55 million foreigners in US with valid visa for ‘safety threats’ and or ‘supporting terrorists’

about 1 hour ago

Ukraine unveils devastating new ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile that can strike deep inside Russia

Independent

Utah therapist convinced ‘vulnerable’ patient to strip down and do handstands in front of him under ‘guise of’ counseling, authorities say

about 1 hour ago

Unlicensed Florida dentist arrested after customers complain about botched veneer surgery

Independent

Noem’s demand for sign-off on $100,000-plus Homeland Security expenses is delaying operations ‘critical to protecting national security’: report

about 3 hours ago

Reform in secret talks with civil servants to prepare Farage for power

The i Paper

Comments

Similar News

JD Vance lauds Trump’s ‘genius’ as he tells Democrats to ‘stop sounding like crazy people’

House Democrats launch investigation into Paramount merger and ‘bribe’ to Trump

The Democrats have realised how to beat Trump – and he hates it

10 House Democrats ask NCAA about plans to protect women as ways to pay college athletes increase

Texas Democrats plot to stall redistricting effort until Epstein files released

California Republicans push Democrats on transparency, timeline for redistricting

Texas Democrats tear ‘permission slips’ imposed by Republican house speaker

Texas Democrat sleeps in House chamber in protest of GOP police escort

Democrat warns US progressives against moving toward the center: ‘It lost me the election’

Behind the Curtain: Democrats channel combative MAGA energy

Texas Democrat remains locked in House chamber after refusing GOP law enforcement escort

Democrats return to Texas as California kicks off push to pass new electoral map

Trump claims Democrats are calling him to say it’s finally safe to go to dinner in DC as restaurant bookings plunge

Democrats are getting crushed in fundraising, with only $15M in the chest compared to Republicans’ $80M

Texas Democrats return to state as GOP presses on with redistricting

Texas Democrats say they will return after bid to stop redistricting plan

Donald Trump says DC is a ‘horror show’. How should Democrats respond?

A dangerous new idea about what Democrats are doing wrong

Trump calls Democratic senator ‘unattractive,’ touts new White House flags, in late-night meltdown ahead of Zelensky meeting

Democrat Senator said Alaska summit was ‘great day’ for Russia: Putin was ‘absolved of his crimes in front of the world’

World news

Parents blocked from teaching their kids to swim in public pools in Vancouver

Carney says Canada will drop most retaliatory tariffs on U.S.

Trump team plans to review all 55 million foreigners in US with valid visa for ‘safety threats’ and or ‘supporting terrorists’

Ukraine unveils devastating new ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile that can strike deep inside Russia

Putin is not ready to meet Zelensky for talks, says Lavrov in blow to Trump

Trump claims friend too scared to walk ten blocks now dining out four nights in a row

Delta flight diverted after passenger goes into labor - ‘It was pretty nuts’

Right-wing pundit urges MAGA to stop calling everything ‘woke’ amid Cracker Barrel backlash

Armed police burst into classroom to arrest student over gun in dramatic footage

Utah therapist convinced ‘vulnerable’ patient to strip down and do handstands in front of him under ‘guise of’ counseling, authorities say

Unlicensed Florida dentist arrested after customers complain about botched veneer surgery

Beaches closed in Spanish holiday spot after dangerous and rare sea slug spotted

Teacher goes viral with classroom song about sexual consent

Watch Spanish army tackle devastating wildfires from the sky in plane cockpit footage

FBI raids home of former Trump official-turned-critic John Bolton

Noem’s demand for sign-off on $100,000-plus Homeland Security expenses is delaying operations ‘critical to protecting national security’: report

Reform in secret talks with civil servants to prepare Farage for power

Trump hands out pizzas to National Guard troops as he claims DC now ‘a different city’

China says it stands with India against ‘bully’ Trump’s trade tariffs

Fears for more victims as new bodies exhumed from doomsday cult graves

Why have Hamas-Israel ceasefire talks stalled as IDF troops push into Gaza City?

Kilmar Abrego Garcia could be released from jail. What happens next?

FBI raids home of Trump adviser-turned-critic John Bolton in ‘national security probe’

OnlyFans owner paid $700 million in dividends ahead of sale of brand

Trump’s education secretary Linda McMahon makes Long Island high school’s mascot a ‘top priority’

Why is 4Chan so controversial? The online message board clashing with Ofcom

All the people targeted by crackdown on child benefit claims

I got divorced at 52 – don’t stay in a miserable marriage for your kids

The Wirral seaside town set to be the next flashpoint in the asylum crisis

The UK is in no position to help Ukraine – and Putin knows it

Famine officially confirmed in Gaza – what happens now

Alexander Dragonetti: I was a UK Diplomat – this is what Zelenksy should do next

Is Trump a socialist?

This cash experiment cut child deaths in half. Here&#8217;s the catch.

How to see Vox articles first on Google

This hidden tax will drain billions from the world’s poorest families

Bolivia Says ‘No MAS’

Europe’s ‘Peace Through Strength’ Hypocrisy

Berlin's newest panda twins, Leni and Lotti, celebrate their 1st birthday

Italian divers water-blast the popular underwater statue of Christ off Portofino to clean it

Australian and Philippine defense chiefs meet as disputes simmer over the South China Sea

Five bodies are exhumed from shallow graves in Kenya near a doomsday cult site

Niger army says it killed a senior Boko Haram leader in a targeted airstrike

Russian attack on western Ukraine hits an American factory during the US-led push for peace

Democrats police their word police: Read the list

FBI raids former National Security Adviser John Bolton's home: Reports

Famine in Gaza confirmed by hunger monitor for first time since war started

Inside the life-saving maternity ward at risk from Trump’s aid cuts

Ghanaian singer Shatta Wale questioned in US luxury car probe

Zelensky accuses Russia of deliberate attack on US-owned factory

Man accused of taking wolf to bar before killing it faces two years in prison

Man arrested over Rufus Du Sol attack which saw woman knocked unconscious

Immigration to U.S. declines for first time in 50 years amid Trump crackdown, study shows

Boeing fighter jet crashes and bursts into flames moments after taking off

Famine in Gaza officially declared by UN-backed group monitoring world hunger

Children are starving in Sudan – it’s time the world took notice

Tour guide dies after collapsing in searing heat while showing group around Rome’s Colosseum

This cash experiment cut child deaths in half. Here’s the catch.