|
 schmeanel rated 20 months ago - absolutely fascinating
From the page: "Luntz is most noted for crafting messages for the Republican Party using words and phrases that evoke strong emotional responses and which create a positive impression in most listeners towards the Republican Party and its policies. Instead of speaking of...
|
|
3 Reviews
-
-
 taksmaster rated 10 months ago- F_ck you Frank!
- schmeanel rated 20 months ago
- absolutely fascinating
From the page: "Luntz is most noted for crafting messages for the Republican Party using words and phrases that evoke strong emotional responses and which create a positive impression in most listeners towards the Republican Party and its policies. Instead of speaking of the "estate tax," one speaks of the "death tax."
Berkeley linguist George Lakoff has written at length and given speeches regarding the Republican use of language to sway the debate, and numerous liberal bloggers have used Lakoff's studies as a jumping-off point to compare Luntz's work to the Newspeak found in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. This comparison was brought out in an especially humorous manner in an interview by Samantha Bee of the Daily Show. Soon after commenting in voiceover that "Luntz has made a brilliant career spraying perfume on dog turds," she offers him a chance to tweak various words and phrases. "Drilling For Oil" becomes "Responsible Exploration For Energy." "Logging" becomes "Healthy Forests." "Manipulation" becomes "Explanation and Education." When offered the chance to redefine "Orwellian," Luntz, flummoxed, is unable to provide an answer. In a January 9, 2007, interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, however, Luntz redefines the term in a positive sense, saying that if one reads Orwell's Essay On Language (presumably referring to Politics and the English Language), "To be 'Orwellian' is to speak with absolute clarity, to be succinct, to explain what the event is, to talk about what triggers something happening and to do so without any pejorative whatsoever."
However, within a few minutes he contradicts himself when discussing "energy exploration" (oil drilling). His research on the matter involved showing people a picture of current oil drilling and asking if in the picture it "looks like exploration or drilling." He said that 90% of the people he spoke to said it looked like exploring. "Therefore I'd argue that it is a more appropriate way to communicate." He went on to say "if the public says after looking at the pictures, that doesn't look like my definition of drilling, it looks like my definition of exploring, then don't you think we should be calling it what people see it to be. rather than adding a political aspect to it all." Terry Gross responded: "Should we be calling it what it actually is, as opposed to what somebody thinks it might be? The difference between exploration and actually getting out the oil -- they're two different things, aren't they?"
On C-SPAN's "Afterwords" program on January 29, 2007, Luntz again attempted to illustrate the value of his "deep sea energy exploration" euphemism saying, "'Drilling' suggests that oil is pouring into the ocean. In Katrina, not a single drop of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico from the rigs themselves. That's why deep sea exploration is a more appropriate term."
In fact both mainstream press and the US Department of Interior found numerous instances of spillage from offshore rigs. "As of August 8, 2006, MMS has identified 124 spills of petroleum products totaling 17,652 bbl (barrels) that were lost from platforms, rigs, and pipelines on the Federal OCS (Offshore Continental Shelf) as a result of damages from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Using the USCG size classifications for offshore spills, 110 of the spills or 89% were MINOR in size (less than 238 bbl), and 14 or 11% were MEDIUM in size (238 to 2,380 bbl).""
- willyisfuzzy rated 21 months ago
- From the page: ""Drilling For Oil" becomes "Responsible Exploration For Energy." "Logging" becomes "Healthy Forests." "Manipulation" becomes "Explanation and Education.""
Frank - please, for Humanity! Use your power for good! You must pull away from the Dark Side!
|
