“Yes, We Can” and the Power of Political Slogans
“Hey Joe, instead of saying, No we can’t,” retorted Senator Kamala Harris to Vice-President Joe Biden. “Let’s say, Yes, we can.” With that single line, Harris resurrected an…
“Hey Joe, instead of saying, No we can’t,” retorted Senator Kamala Harris to Vice-President Joe Biden. “Let’s say, Yes, we can.” With that single line, Harris resurrected an…
The controversy over the term “concentration camps” stems from the connotations it carries, setting up analogies that risk hyperbole and overlook the complexities of historical comparison. The governm…
Naming can dignify, disparage or even deny one’s social standing. Days after the horrific attack on the Christchurch mosque in New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke about…
Countering Trump begins by recognizing his role as troller-in-chief. The United States and the world have now spent two years trying to figure out how to deal with…
Trump’s immigration metaphors set a divisive tone from the top. Trump wields demagogic rhetoric like a marketing tool, ramping up prejudicial appeals in the closing days of the…
Silence can be a powerful communicative tool in today’s political landscape. Words take center stage in the verbal sparring of the Twitter age. Against the backdrop of Trumpian…
Allāhu akbar, the Arabic phrase meaning “God is the greatest,” has gained connotations in US public discourse that differ vastly from its meaning among Muslims. Understanding this process…
Collins Dictionary named “fake news” its 2017 word of the year, an easy choice given the word’s “unprecedented usage increase” of 365 percent over the previous year. Collins…
How to Stop the Normalizing of Trump. Remember when everyone feared the “normalization” of a Trump presidency? Well, it’s gotten to the point where the US president can…
Intertextuality and the propagation of disinformation Propaganda typically refers to manipulative techniques and misleading messages used to gain public acquiescence for a political cause, especially …
How Conspiracy-driven theories help the Trump administration reject science. After the unprecedented flooding in Houston due to Hurricane Harvey, Michael Mann, a leading scientific voice on climate ch…
Nothing better epitomizes the content-free showmanship of President Trump’s governing style than the White House Rose Garden ceremony he held in May after the House passed their version…
In her book, The Bully Pulpit, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin examines Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership during his time as president. In successfully working to enact progressive reforms, Goodwin argue…
Last October in the vice-presidential debate between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, moderator Elaine Quijano brought up the “issue of law enforcement and race relations.” Only a few…
President Introduces New Term into Counterterrorism Lexicon President Trump embarked on his first international trip since moving into the White House after a special counsel was appointed to…
How Language Ideologies Underlie the Judicial Confirmation Process One thing Neil Gorsuch has in common with many previous Supreme Court nominees is his insistence that he is an…
Every presidential transition also involves a change in the regime of language. This year the juxtaposition between the outgoing and incoming regimes is especially stark, something President Obama’s…