Foxy!
Watching Fox News is like picking at a scab for me. Its irritatingly compelling.
One thing I love is that their crawl (the scrolling "news" that runs on the bottom of the screen) regularly updates the Terror Alert Level. It is currently at yellow for "Elevated" where it has lived since August 2005. According to the Department of Homeland Security, yYellow means that "All Americans, including those traveling in the transportation systems, should continue to be vigilant, take notice of their surroundings, and report suspicions items or activities to local authorities immediately." That helps.
Fox also promotes the use of "Democrat" in lieu of "Democratic." For example, "The Democrat Senator from NY, Hillary Clinton" or "The Democrat Convention will be held in faggy San Francisco." This odd construction makes it clear that the speaker wants to head off any subconscious inference that the opposition is truly "democratic."
But by far, the most offensive bastardization of language and communication is their use of "homicide bomber." Fox began using this term in the Spring of 2002. This Orwellian dysphemism substitutes "homicide" for "suicide" belongs. So, Timothy McVeigh bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was not a "homicide bombing" despite the fact that he killed 168 people because he thoughlessly didn't commit suicide in the process.
I guess that they think that "suicide bomber" attributes some sort of moral creditably to the murder because he is willing to kill himself in the process. Were Japanese kamikazes "homicide pilots?"
To add insult to linguistic injury, Fox not only uses this language in their own copy, but they substitute homicide for suicide in quotes that they run from the Associated Press. See http://mediamatters.org/items/200502230006.
One thing I love is that their crawl (the scrolling "news" that runs on the bottom of the screen) regularly updates the Terror Alert Level. It is currently at yellow for "Elevated" where it has lived since August 2005. According to the Department of Homeland Security, yYellow means that "All Americans, including those traveling in the transportation systems, should continue to be vigilant, take notice of their surroundings, and report suspicions items or activities to local authorities immediately." That helps.
Fox also promotes the use of "Democrat" in lieu of "Democratic." For example, "The Democrat Senator from NY, Hillary Clinton" or "The Democrat Convention will be held in faggy San Francisco." This odd construction makes it clear that the speaker wants to head off any subconscious inference that the opposition is truly "democratic."
But by far, the most offensive bastardization of language and communication is their use of "homicide bomber." Fox began using this term in the Spring of 2002. This Orwellian dysphemism substitutes "homicide" for "suicide" belongs. So, Timothy McVeigh bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was not a "homicide bombing" despite the fact that he killed 168 people because he thoughlessly didn't commit suicide in the process.
I guess that they think that "suicide bomber" attributes some sort of moral creditably to the murder because he is willing to kill himself in the process. Were Japanese kamikazes "homicide pilots?"
To add insult to linguistic injury, Fox not only uses this language in their own copy, but they substitute homicide for suicide in quotes that they run from the Associated Press. See http://mediamatters.org/items/200502230006.
posted by Howard at 5:26 PM
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