Andy Driscoll wrote: > Now, I'd like Mr. Atherton or anyone else to give us all some > definitive examples of deceptive advertising and marketing > through the use of misleading labels by left or progressive > groups as a way of persuading right-leaning people to their side. > > One. Just one example, Mr. Atherton. > > I wager, that if one example can be iterated, a dozen more > can be found to be just the opposite.
Hedging our bets a little eh? I suppose this righteous imbalance is due to the fact that the Left holds the higher moral ground and has God on their side? > In either case, I deplore the mangling of meaning to convey > an opposite impression from the reality underneath, no matter > the political persuasion. Deception and dishonest by anyone > and any group is exactly the means by which clever politics > keep people cynical and out of participating in civic > activity, not the least of which is voting. I also deplore the mangling of meaning to convey an opposite impression. On this we agree, we disagree on who is more likely to distort reality. I believe that unscrupulous people of all political persuasions use this method, whereas you seem to think that its used primarily by conservatives. > So, let's have at it: let's find the outfits that claim to > be one thing, but are actually the opposite of what they > claim. It isn't just rhetoric. Rhetoric is not by definition > deceptive. >From the American Heritage Dictionary: Rhetoric 3. A style of speaking or writing, especially the language of a particular subject: fiery political rhetoric. Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous: His offers of compromise were mere rhetoric. I suppose we could argue whether "pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous" language is deceptive. But let's ignore semantics for a moment and I'll give you my favorite Minneapolis specific example that I believe is deceptive, insincere, and intellectually vacuous. I believe that the Minneapolis Public School District Administration is a left-wing "progressive" organization. On their website, http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/about/referendum_class_size.shtml, they claim that their "Data shows that small class size increases achievement for students of all races." This is a totally bogus, deceptive, insincere, and intellectually vacuous statement and anyone with a decent introductory statistics class knows it. And they know it too. Now you can argue either that their statement is valid (good luck), or that the Minneapolis Public School District Administration is not a left-wing "progressive" organization (likewise good luck). Michael Atherton Prospect Park _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
