by Dan Curry
Who is in charge of the language? Not us conservatives, that’s for sure. We are flotsam flowing with the waters formulated by the liberal establishment and culture. We are using their language constructs. No longer.
We are creating a series of short videos, about one minute each, plucking a phrase from those polluted waters and explaining why it is polluted, propagandistic, and not worthy of use in a society that more than ever needs a common language not loaded with political narratives. We are calling the series “Language Watch.”
This is no small matter. As Virgil Walker, theologian and co-host of the Just Thinking podcast, recently noted, “the folks who own the language begin shaping thought in our society.” This has never been more true, as liberal authoritarians are creating a massive labyrinth of people and structures to police speech, weaponizing phony “fact-checks” and phrases such as “disinformation,” “conspiracy theorists,” “without evidence,” and take-your-pick “denier.” We will tackle each one of these phrases in a separate Language Watch video.
The result of all this is a growing censorship regime in America that betrays what our country was founded upon. Those constructing these anti-American censorship structures are trying to wrestle the language to the ground and hog-tie it—along with those who voice views they don’t like. America was founded on the principle that all speech, no matter how objectionable, should flow so we can decide for ourselves which ideas and policies should prevail.
This under-the-radar information warfare is most evident in the political realm, where Democrats often avoid debate on unpopular policies by trying to smear and disqualify their opponents with terms like “election denier,” “conspiracy theorist,” and “racist,” just to name a few. The purpose is to side-step the facts and move on without addressing the substance. This strategy largely works beautifully for liberals, as they get ample cover from their friends in the liberal media and liberal culture.
Conservatives understand this information warfare is stacked against them, but they often avoid directly attacking the loaded phrases. When they do so, they legitimize the weapons of war the Left is using so effectively.
We are hoping our Language Watch series will provide the ammunition to fight back. The purpose of each video is not to debate Republican-Democrat talking points on the underlying policy issue but to explain in simple terms why the phrase constructed by the Left is biased, loaded, and politically charged.
We are rolling out the Language Watch series in mid-March. The first batch will include the following videos: “Gun violence,” “climate change,” “gender-affirming care,” “election denier,” “systemic racism,” “abortion rights,” “book banning,” “carbon pollution,” “diversity,” “social justice,” “voter suppression,” and “your truth.”
We will be aggressive on social media, pointing out when these phrases are being used and showing the person or institution using them why they are biased. We will be vigilant about pointing out when the corporate media uses them. Journalism is supposed to be neutral, not the vanguard of one party. We will be especially hard on conservatives who use the phrases, knowingly or unknowingly, pointing out they are enabling the Left’s language warfare against their own cause.
We hope to get your feedback and suggestions for further videos. We have a backlog of phrases we are tackling; there’s no shortage of them!
Let’s all speak the same language in America without the weaponized phrases. And let the people take it from there.
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Dan Curry is Chief Strategy Officer for Restoration of America and a former investigative reporter.
Image “Gun Violence” by Restoration of America.
