Reply #17: Also called "dog whistle" politics [View All]

[gratuitous]

The hearing of dogs is configured differently from humans, and they can hear noise at far higher pitches than we can. It's why you can blow a dog whistle in a neighborhood and set off every canine for blocks around, but their owners don't hear a thing.

Similarly, when Bush or other neotheocons talk about "crusades" or "third awakenings," they may be confusing to us, but to the right audience, with the ears tuned to the proper pitch, it comes through loud and clear: We believe what you believe, and we're on the path to bring it about. It's why so many inocuous-sounding policy proposals get shuffled through the legislative machine, only to drop the mask and reveal themselves once they're enacted. "Who knew this was going to happen when they passed this law?" you'll sometimes hear. Oh, assuredly, there were operatives and elves in Santa's workshop, carefully massaging the language and shepherding through the bill to final approval.

It's also why sometimes little-noticed bits of legislative legerdemain get some people so exercised; they know what sort of mischief is being contemplated, and try to stop it before it starts.