Questions tagged [rhetoric]
For questions about the messaging of political entities, such as politicians, candidates, parties, and interest groups.
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How can I respond to Whataboutism?
While this uses examples that could be seen as supporting one side or the other, it is intended as a politically neutral question, to the extent that that is possible
This has come up more and more ...
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Why do primaries contestants (usually) announce that they are "suspending" their campaign when they exit it?
It seems to be just another political euphemism, in line with politicians not being terribly willing to admit when they are wrong, but is there anything more than that to their use of "suspend" when ...
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Why is "Whataboutism" often criticized?
Whataboutism or Whataboutary is the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue.
Examples:
The USA to Russia: ...
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Why is it considered racist to say "White Lives Matter"?
Given the recent political upheaval and mass protests/riots with scores of people chanting "Black Lives Matter" on the streets, why is it considered white supremacist and racist to say "...
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Why do populists and dictators sometimes lie so ridiculously that it's obvious it's untrue?
Why do populists and dictators sometimes lie so ridiculously that it's entirely obvious it's untrue? What purpose do such blatant lies serve if no one takes them seriously? Examples of extremely ...
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What is the significance of Sec. Pompeo's labeling of China's treatment of the Uighurs as "genocide"?
A couple of recent headlines:
Pompeo labels China's treatment of Uighurs 'genocide' - The Hill
US accuses China of 'genocide' of Uyghurs in Xinjiang - CNN
It seems reasonable to expect that this ...
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What is Trump's position on the whistle blower allegations? What does he mean by "witch hunt"?
Last night, on a major US TV network there was a Trump ad about the "Witch Hunt" and ongoing impeachment proceedings.
It was unclear from the ad, if Trump's position is that he didn't take the ...
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How did the US administration usually refer to COVID-19 before the Chinese foreign ministry started claiming the virus is of US origin?
It's been recently reported that Trump's administration (Trump himself, but also Pompeo) has been referring to COVID-19 as "China virus" or "Wuhan coronavirus" etc., emphasizing the Chinese origin of ...
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How do those who claim it envision that Ukraine would destroy Russia as a country?
I have seen the declarations like "For Russia this conflict is about preservation not only of its elites, but the country itself". It looks that there are people who think that Russia can be ...
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Methodology of Deny, Obfuscate, Admit but deny significance; generally accepted term, notable implementations?
A recent comment below the question What is Trump's position on the whistle blower allegations? What does he mean by “witch hunt”? includes the following (I've reformatted for easier reading):
The ...
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Have there been cases in New Zealand in which the consequences for unparliamentary speech have been more than a (forced) apology?
In an exchange in New Zealand's Parliament from 2017, the following record has been kept:
Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Grumpy old prick.
Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I know there is a ...
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How common is it for the UK Government to publish official rebuttals of media claims?
Today, the Cabinet Office published a press release entitled Response to FT article and Twitter thread by Peter Foster. It begins:
An article in FT Weekend on 18 April 2020, ‘Muddled thinking ...
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Has New Zealand announced any investigation or punishment/censure for MP Swarbick for her saying "OK, boomer"?
Have any authorities in New Zealand, e.g. some Parliamentary discipline/ethics committee or even the justice authorities launched any investigation or punishment attempt against MP Chlöe Swarbrick who ...