Saw a silly campaign sign the other day. (Driving, though, and unable to take a pic. Those that would take the pic anyway are going to kill someone, so please stop that. Just sayin'.)
Obama
Lacks
Honor
Vote for Romney and Ryan
What's more, this was a hand-inked sign (hand dreeped*, more like). What a powerful message, do you say
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021619256 (I could get a direct link so I hope this one works)
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And yes, I haven't seen the veiled threat references in an election more obtuse in perhaps my lifetime. Hey, they always raise questionable concerns. That they can't outright drop the N bomb without discrediting the message has really twisted their knickers hard into the short curlies.
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A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Texas. An attorney working a criminal trial noted that there were no "Canadians" on the jury, which was supposedly good. They guy he told this to had no idea what he meant; it turned out "Canadians" is a code word for blacks.
One cannot say someone is black, but one can say someone is Canadian. Misdirection. Empty focal point.
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Absolutely! But it is socially-defined based on a history of honorable, or non-disgraceful, behavior. It's like a "good credit score:" both are based on a history of upright known conduct, not an observation of a positive trait that exists beyond said histories.
There's an old joke. Mom and kid are driving one day. Mom asks her kid if there are any cars coming. He says no. She goes, and hits the on-coming bus. He was right: there were no cars coming.
That's what makes these words so insidious. They do have meaning, but the meaning is in the negative; one cannot define a negative state except specifically with regards to the negative state intended to the speaker. One can behave honorably to one's family and friends, but have a completely hidden life of vice and wanton abandon (like Deacon Brody, the real-life Edinburgh inspiration for Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde). Ask if there are any cars in someone's life and they will answer no, for they do not see the bus.
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That's how you (or I) might define it, but to some, Black people (or women, or children, or people with net financial assets under $10,000 (or $100,000, or $1M...)) are intrinsically without honor in their context.
I would say that the sign has meaning: it's a group-membership signifier, because it declares something which only a member of a particular fragment of society would consider true (and which they might in fact consider tautological).
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Mental gymnastics. All 'cause they can't drop the N Bomb.
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