Reply #25: Have you ever heard of dog whistle politics? [View All]

[gejohnston]

A recent example is Neil Bortz's stunt. What I and Ed Schultz heard was a racist inciting violence marked by the word "yo". He got a call from a guy in rural Utah that did not hear the whistle and did not understand why Ed would be opposed to legitimate self defense, because the caller heard Bortz saying that Atlanta became a scene from Mad Max. How did that happen? If you are from Vernal, Utah or Lyman, Wyoming, you know nothing about hip hop. Your understanding of African Americans are Bill Cosby and the first family. My knowledge was expanded by being in a unit where I was only one of two white guys. The other white guy was the only Republican.

It works unintentionally too. You said what you thought you meant. To a working class or a rural person, regardless of race or party, hears something different. I heard an an closed minded urban elites making value judgments. The Republicans figured that out a long time ago. That is where "God, Guns, and Gays" show up. The liberals are open minded and tolerant of to people other than me. With guns, both sides are run by Republicans, be it Ted Nugent or Paul Helmke, and they play both sides against the middle.