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KS Shooting Suspect Frazier Glenn Miller's 2010 Interview: He's a Fan of Ron Paul

75
Charles4/14/2014 12:43:55 pm PDT

re: #70 Ian G.

Can someone explain the “Democrat Party” weirdness that always comes along with this kind of deranged right-wing gibberish? Is there something wrong with saying “Democratic Party” that I’m not getting among right-wing true believers?

I’m guessing the answer is going to be something unbelievably childish and stupid.

Democrat Party (Epithet)

“Democrat Party” is a political epithet used in the United States for the Democratic Party. The term has been used in negative or hostile fashion by conservative commentators and members of the Republican Party in party platforms, partisan speeches and press releases since 1940.[1]

Multiple reasons are suggested for the use of the term. A 1984 New York Times article suggested Republicans began to use the term when Democrats used their own party name to imply “they are the only true adherents of democracy.”[2] Republicans “feared that ‘Democratic’ suggested Democrats [had] a monopoly on or are somehow the anointed custodians of the concept of democracy.”[3] New Yorker commentator Hendrik Hertzberg wrote, “There’s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. ‘Democrat Party’ is a slur, or intended to be—a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but ‘Democrat Party’ is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams ‘rat.’”[4] Political analyst Charlie Cook attributed modern use of the term to force of habit rather than a deliberate epithet by Republicans.[5] Ruth Marcus stated that Republicans likely only continue to employ the term because Democrats dislike it.[6] Marcus stated that disagreements over use of the term are “trivial”,[6] and Hertzberg calls use of the term “a minor irritation” and also “the partisan equivalent of flashing a gang sign.”