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Political cards

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IT'S ALL OBAMAAAAAAAA''Political cards''' are tactics used by [[liberals]] in politics, the media, and other adversarial settings in order to appeal to emotion or even prejudice rather than reason. The term is a metaphor for what happens in the card game of [[bridge]], where one card can be played to "trump" (defeat) all other cards. Political cards are thus a form of [[thought-terminating cliché]]. In contrast with most card games, however, a political card can be played at any time, no matter how irrational or irrelevant to the topic. Many liberal articles and commentaries consist of little more than playing one or more political cards.  A card is "played" when one side relies on a particular issue in order to gain an often-unjustified upper hand in the debate or controversy. Liberals have had a difficult time playing a [[political card]] against the [[Tea Party Movement]], due to its amorphous nature. {| class="wikitable sortable"|-SSS FAULLT!Political cardWHAAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHH!MeaningBOOOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOOO!Example!Advantage!Disadvantage|-|sexist card|allegations men are ignorant slobs and women need a protected status as a voting bloc within the [[Democratic Party]].|[[Lawrence Summers]] was driven from his presidency of [[Harvard]] for merely mentioning the possibility that women may not have as much aptitude for math as men.|safe haven for angry liberals and [[feminists]]|implies women are helpless unless they receive special treatment from the government|-|[[race card]]|Bringing race into a debate by suggesting that criticism is racially motivated or that one's opponent is racist|Used to silence criticism of Obama from 2008 onwards|prove you're not a racist is like saying, "when did you stop beating your wife?"|the boy who cried wolf.|-| Mediscare card| Scare grandpa and grandma into thinking their government benefits will be cut off ("throw grandma from the cliff")| Used in a recent special congressional election for a [[Democrat]] in a [[Republican]]-leaning district in [[New York]] in 2011.| fear sells| Democrats raided Medicare to fund Obamacare for younger voters.[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pearl-korn/while-obamacare-addresses_b_4121993.html]|-|Third rail card|Proposals to reform [[Social Security]] result in political suicide.|Under President Obama, Social Security for the first time in its history, has a negative cash flow and has been paying out more in benefits than the cash it demands from younger workers.<ref>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/15/6273181-obama-agenda-social-security-still-the-third-rail</ref>|Slander your opponent for proposing solutions.|Political and economic stagnation.|-|hate speech card|Anything that highlights or is critical of the historical record of liberal governance.|The [[Obama administration]] has used the [[FCC]] to harass and intimidate what it considers its media critics. <ref>http://spectator.org/archives/2009/10/20/fcc-church-conspiracy-to-silen/print#</ref>|programmed response for liberal failures.|mimics liberal talking points|-|[[Xenophobia]] card|Bringing country of origin into a debate by suggesting that criticism is motivated by a fear of foreigners (eg. Australians)|Polite and responsible criticism of President Obama is deemed xenophobic.<ref>See:[[JournoList]]</ref>|At first seems to be an effective way to pose the opponent as racist.|Ultimately fails when both debaters are of the same country or when the person making the original claim is from the country of the claim.|-|anti-gay card|Calling opponents of the [[homosexual agenda]] intolerant instead of focusing on the immorality of homosexuality.|Used against [[Rick Santorum]] leading up to his defeat for reelection in 2006|assumes the posture of [[civil rights]] advocacy.|African-Americans oppose the promotion of gay rights in greater numbers than the general population of the United States as a whole.<ref>http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2008/10/30/proposition_8</ref>|-|intolerant card|demonstrating inconsistencies in liberal ideology.|the most despicable forms of liberal intolerance traditionally have been reserved for, and manifested in, the vile abuses heaped upon Black conservatives, Black Republicans, and Black Tea Party activists.|in a democracy, the voice of opposition can always be labeled intolerant|boomerang|-|Kennedy card|Used to support socialized medicine|cite Ted Kennedy’s “dream”, the “the cause of my life”, “Senator Kennedy eloquently captured how our long-term care system is failing the American people when he said, too often, they have to give up the American Dream" <ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/26/dems-invoke-the-kennedy-card-to-defend-obamacare-in-wake-of-failing-class-act/ Dems invoke the ‘Kennedy Card’ to defend Obamacare in wake of failing CLASS Act, Daily Caller, October 26, 2011]</ref>|emotional appeal for passing legislation|Only 26% of the population can relate to liberalism, the Kennedy card has zero effect on legislation.|-|"Responsible" Republican card|Used to imply a few Republicans, mostly [[RINO]]s, are "responsible."|"During the health care battle, President Obama was unable to find a single Responsible Republican." <ref>http://www.slate.com/id/2251101/</ref>|Who killed Responsible Republicans? [[Bill Kristol]], of course. <ref>Ibid.</ref>|In 1990 President [[George H.W. Bush]] was hailed as a Responsible Republican for breaking his "read my lips" pledge.|-|extreme card|in typical [[MSM]] [[newspeak]], anything right of center or not liberal.|Bill and [[Hillary Clinton]] persistently referred to the Republican [[Newt Gingrich|Contract with America]] as extreme; [[President Clinton]] ultimately signed 7 of 10 Contract items in to law.|Prior to the [[9/11 attacks]], was used interchangeably with "[[terrorist]]" by mainstream media sources.|Polls show "mainstream" journalists are not mainstream at all, rather more liberal than the mainstream American public.<ref>[http://www.mrc.org/specialreports/2004/pdf/liberal_media.pdf The Liberal Media, ''Every Poll Shows Journalists Are More Liberal than the American Public — And the Public Knows It''], Rich Noyes, Director of Research, Media Research Center, June 30, 2004.</ref>|-|greedy card|Portraying [[capitalist]]ic ideas or actions as greedy|Attacking oil companies for their profits, even though oil companies create jobs and pay into the federal Treasury, and profits make up a reasonable portion of total revenue.|Most people care about money and fairness.|there is no alternative to capitalism.|-|millionaires and billionaires card|[[class warfare]]|[[President Obama]] said on June 29, 2011, "I'm proposing we get rid of tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires." <ref>The ''[[Washington Post]]'' Fact Checker column said, "in the context of a $4 trillion goal, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-missing-facts-in-president-obamas-news-conference/2011/06/29/AGpQMPrH_blog.html it is essentially meaningless]. The item is so small the White House could not even provide an estimate of the revenue that would be raised, but other estimates suggest it would amount to $3 billion over 10 years."</ref>|appeals to voters motivated by [[envy]]|politicians that use it are dependent on campaign contributions from millionaires and billionaires.|-|conspiracy theory card|the one making the charge cannot explain facts.|Hillary Clinton charged that her husband's behavior was the result of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".|provides plausible reasons for the simple minded.|contradictory evidence leads to more conspiracy theories.|-|[[homophobia]] card|Accusing the opponent of having an irrational fear or hatred of [[homosexuals]].|Opposition to the radical redefinition of marriage as expressed in California's [[Proposition 8]] was deemed homophobia.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605233.html</ref>|Old stand-by in the arsenal of liberal slander attacks.|Attempts to ostracize and criminalize an emotional disorder. Many if not most homophobes are gay.|-|[[Islamophobia]] card|Accusing the opponent of having an irrational fear or hatred of Muslims|Don't question behavior because an individual happens to be Muslim|Scare people from speaking out or investigating|Look foolish making excuses for a religion publicly committed to the downfall of the West.|-| trickle down card| anti-free market agitprop| [[Nobel Laureate]] [[Paul Krugman]] claims GOP zombies will eat Obama's brain for extending the Bush tax cuts. <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2010/12/20/paul-krugman-says-gop-zombies-are-going-eat-obamas-brain Paul Krugman Says GOP 'Zombies' Are Going to Eat Obama's Brain], ''Newsbusters.</ref>| apparently there is a ready market for hyperbole and fear among leftists.| Ignores the fact the Reagan reforms gave birth to the longest, most extended era of peacetime prosperity in U.S. history.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574344230339019304.html</ref>|-|global warming denier card|opposition to using [[junk science]] to promote political [[activism]].|[[Global warming]] activists have likened climate change to Nazi atrocities. <ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-roberts/global-warming-and-the-ho_b_74210.html</ref>|equates moderates with ignorant fascists.|belittles and denigrates victims of the [[Nazi]] [[holocaust]].<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/02/on_comparing_global_warming_de.html</ref>|-| anti-environment card| A claim that tries to portray the opponent badly by placing them as someone who "hates the environment".| "The GOP wants babies to be fed poison from the environment" <ref>http://www.uncoverage.net/2011/03/new-tv-ad-for-epa-republicans-poison-babies/</ref><br>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSTnoeNNbzQ Watch the Video]| The simple-minded will swallow any line of garbage.| purview of [[extremist]]s|-| over-sensitive card| failure to behave in a realistic manner and being afraid to upset people|| Plays on others' fear of seeming weak.||-|uneducated card|Because a person is stupid, they are unqualified to be president.|Reading from a prop, Dan Quayle once misspelled "potato", and [[liberals]] destroyed him by playing this card.|A momentary lapse is seized upon to make a person look like an idiot.|Works well until a liberal candidate utters a statement like the United States is made up of 57 states.|-|fundamentalist card|seeks to link Islamic fundamentalism with Christian fundamentalism.|[[Richard Dawkins]] screed, ''[[The God Delusion]]''.|puts [[Billy Graham]] and [[bin Laden]] in the same boat.|A majority of Americans are neither atheist nor [[secular humanist]]s. |-|[[Dominionist]] card|implies [[evangelical]] [[Christian]]s want to impose an [[Iran]]ian style [[theocracy]] on the United States.|Used by [[misogynist]]s to attack [[Michelle Bachmann]]. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/KeepLeft/michele-bachmann-john-quincy-adams_n_885868_94606213.html]|appeals to the fears of [[atheist]]s and religious bigots.|based on social [[pseudoscience]], [[propaganda]], and journalistic hacks.|-|free speech card|cry "free speech," "free speech" for everything offensive to Christianity, while censoring the truth and limiting political speech| [[Supreme Court]] ruled exotic dancing protected free expression but disallowed a high school football team's pregame prayer under the same grounds.|Legally it is technically correct|Just because something is "free speech" does not mean it is not wrong|-| creationist card||| Creationism is an emotive issue for many people on either side of the debate, so this can be a clever way to side-track sensible argument.||-| birther card| claims those asking unanswered questions are conspiracy kooks| ''Truthers vs. Birthers: Not All Conspiracy Theories Are Created Equal'' <ref>[http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/truthers-vs-birthers-not-all-conspiracy-theories-are-created-equal/?singlepage=true ''Truthers vs. Birthers: Not All Conspiracy Theories Are Created Equal; Birthers aren't remotely as crazy — and dangerous — as Truthers'']. September 23, 2009 by Arthur Chrenkoff. Pajama's Media.</ref>| hides the question of [[natural born citizen]]| exposes the original meaning of [[natural born citizen]].|-| abortion card| a defense of feminism| Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] implied that Justice Bork would turn back Roe V. Wade forcing women to have back-alley abortions.| fear Republican laws and personal responsibility| you can't run from your conscience and consequence of actions can lead to a lifetime of suffering|-| liberal mocking card| mocking a conservative opponent rather than dealing with substantive issues| ''The Daily Show''| often pleases supporters| makes person look petty|-|snark card|Using snarky (sometimes even offensive) humor to attack the opponent.|Rachael Maddow, Jon Stewart, etc.|Often a [[laugh track|cue]] for other liberals to "join in" the laughter|Nobody else is laughing (or they are laughing at the snark attempt-er).|-|Jesus card|Claiming "What would Jesus do" to try to paint the opponent as not a true Christian (a common liberal tactic when cornered on a religious issue, such as [[homosexuality]])|As noted above, liberals often use this to defend homosexuality <ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-shore/what-would-jesus-do-if-in_b_480013.html</ref> by claiming that Jesus never specifically mentioned it.|Certain Bible passages can easily be [[quote mine]]d.|A true Christian can easily find the flaws in such an argument by pointing our how it is taken out of context.|-|gun nut card|slurs anyone who wants to take away defensive weapons|The shooting of Rep. [[Gabrielle Giffords]] was blamed on [[Sarah Palin]]; opponents of Constitutional Rights immediately clamored for bigger and more government oppression.<ref>http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-01-09/news/27086902_1_gun-ban-sarah-palin-gun-incident</ref>|Appeals to pro-gun-control people's negative stereotypes of gun enthusiasts.|angers those with guns|-|[[Liberal redefinition]] card| changing the definition of a word to suit one's purposes | "[[General Welfare Clause|Promote the General Welfare]]" became "living on the [[Welfare|dole]]".| An insidious way to reframe debate that can be effective if one's opponents are not vigilant or use imprecise thinking.|[[Moral relativism]].|-| misuse of statistics card| Liberals often use certain "trends" to support their claims.| Citing the Clinton surplus vs the Bush deficit| At first makes the user look like they have done their research| Often taken out of context (for example the Clinton surplus was largely due to a Republican congress and the end of the Cold War, while the Bush deficit was caused greatly by two wars and need for Homeland Security.|-| cherry picking data card| selectively picking out cases that support one's arguments from a wide variety of material and ignoring all the cases that don't| Obama [[White House]] claims the [[Recovery Summer|stimulus]] "created or saved" 2.4 million jobs.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124451592762396883.html</ref>| Many people struggle with statistics, so poorly-informed observers may assume the user is correct.| dishonest and easy to point out counterexamples|-| never-admit-a-mistake card <ref>[[Thomas Sowell]] writes, (a) goals are redefined after the fact to give the public the illusion of success; (b) bad motives are ascribed to the opposition or society in general; (c) good intentions of the anointed are highlighted; and (d) they attack the accuracy of the data showing failure. Thomas Sowell, [http://nobsblog.blogspot.com/2002/12/vision-of-anointed-by-thomas-sowell.html ''The Vision of the Anointed]'', Chap. 2.</ref> | inability to admit a mistake; lack of [[Essay:Quantifying Openmindedness|openmindness]]| Obama said his [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009|stimulus]] would hold unemployment below 8%; instead it rose to over 9% and straddled the U.S. with the [[debt ceiling]] crisis. <ref>http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2011/07/20/opinion/only-hope-is-undoing-obamas-mess.html Only Hope Is Undoing Obama’s Mess], Kenneth Brown And Micha Gisser, ''Albuquerque Journal'', July 20 2011.</ref>| the quick fix| incrementalism leads to compromise|-| denying [[Biblical scientific foreknowledge]] card| | |||-| [[Anti-Americanism|Anti-American]] card| Denying [[ American exceptionalism|American exceptionalism]]. Trots out false examples of how European countries have better standard of living.| |||-| [[Deceit|deceit]] card| Lies or distorts truth in order to win argument.| Obama's critics are racists.| Can impress ill-informed or credulous observers.| You're only fooling yourself if you believe any of it.|-| [[Poe's law|Poe's]] card| Impersonation of [[Conservatives]] to discredit their positions. Liberals often create straw men during this impersonation. | | Adds to negative stereotypes of real conservatives, especially where people have not met many genuine conservatives.||-| Elite card| claiming that a policy benefits the rich and powerful|| Appeals to people's "Robin Hood" impulse to support underdogs and mistrust the wealthy.| The rich pay all the [[tax]]es.|-| Compassion card| arguing someone must be right because he has more compassion| [[Liberals and uncharitableness|Liberal uncharitableness]] and [[Liberal politicians and uncharitableness]] has been well documented.| Attempts to paint opponents' pragmatism as cold-heartedness.| The calling card of [[limousine liberal]]s.|-| Hypocrite card| claiming some inconsistency in positions| The idea that a pro-lifer must oppose death penalty| Some people actually buy it.| Often the people making the Hypocrite claim exhibit hypocrisy themselves (see [[Liberal hypocrisy]])|-| Guilt by association card| insinuating that someone is bad because he was once in the same room with some extremist| "shaking hands with [[Saddam Hussein]]." <ref>[http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=ie7&q=shaking+hands+with+Saddam+Hussein&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ACAW_enUS425US426 Google Search Results].</ref>| slander at will| look who's calling the kettle back.|-| Google bomb card| sabotaging Google searches| [[Rick Santorum]]| Many people still have trouble with new media and struggle to draw correct conclusions from search results.| None that are currently known.|-|working families card|class warfare|See Democratic Talking Points, [[2008_Democratic_National_Convention#Democratic_National_Convention|2008 Presidential Nominating Convention]], from the ''[[New York Times]]''. [http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/democrats-talking-points-on-the-convention/]|Postures [[Democrat]]s as advocates for people who hold jobs and have children.|Politicians who employ such rhetoric invariably work to pass legislation that destroys jobs and undermines families.|-| nativist card| the idea people born in a given country are xenophobic exclusionary bigots.| Opposition to the Ground Zero mosque.| divides the people against themselves| hard to prove in a [[melting pot]]|-|[[Godwin's Law|Godwin]] card|invoking the name of Hitler.|Liberal [[George_Soros#2004_Presidential_Elections_in_the_United_States|George Soros]] likened the Bush administration to the Nazi regime.|appeals to emotion and extremists, and less educated leftists.|typical [[totalitarian]] tactic.|-|Patriot card|Seeks to paint loyal Americans as racist.| "patriotism is little more than a disguised form of racism"<ref>http://atheism.about.com/od/politicspoliticalissues/a/problempride_2.htm</ref>|Some "Patriot movement" groups call for tighter immigration control.|Democrats can be sensitive to the charge of being unpatriotic.|-|Immigration card|Implies Democrats are sympathetic to a person's immigration status, despite the fact there is no historical record of legislative achievements in this area and Democrats associate being opposed to illegal immigration as being "anti-immigration" as a whole, which is bigoted and completely insulting to people that come to this country legally.|The [[DREAM Act|Obama Dream Act]], a "cynical exercise in political charades", failed to pass the Democratic controlled Senate, 55-41.|Seeks to pit voters against each other along racial and ethnic lines, which Democrats view as a win.|Most immigrants come to America seeking [[conservative values]], such as a [[right to work]], [[religious freedom]], or being free of [[big government]] oppression. Millions have fled intolerant [[atheist regime]]s.|-|Nixon's Southern Strategy card|implies Richard Nixon appealed to racist Democrats after passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].| "probably the biggest lie that's been told to the blacks since Woodrow Wilson segregated the federal government" <ref>[http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8123561/nixons_southern_strategy.html Nixon's Southern Strategy: The Democrat-Lie Keeping Their Control Over the Black Community], Ken Raymond, June 6, 2011. associatedcontent from Yahoo.</ref>|labels Southerners as racist.|ignores the fact that (1) Richard Nixon did not carry the South; a Democrat, [[George Wallace]] received 49 [[electoral votes]] exclusively from the South; and (2) passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was entirely dependent on Republican votes with Democrats in both houses voting against passage.<ref>Final tally in the House among Republicans was 138 to 34; Democrats 152-96; in the Senate 21 Democrats voted against passage while only 6 Republicans opposed. [http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/13/194350.shtml]</ref>|-|neo-confederate card|implies [[Civil War]] buffs want to bring back [[segregation]] and [[slavery]]. |On the 150th anniversary of start of the Civil War, [[MSNBC]]'s liberal hosts never missed an opportunity to associate today's conservative movement with the [[Confederacy]], [[secession]], [[slavery]] and racism.<ref>http://www.mrc.org/cmi/eyeonculture/2011/_MSNBCs_UnCivil_War_on_the_Right.html</ref>|intimidating to conservative [[Bluedog Democrat]]s.|may backfire and evoke [[bipartisanship]].|-|redneck card|implication rural inhabitants are uneducated and possibly racist |Used to smear most conservatives|pejorative aimed at Bluedog Democrats, [[Red State]] dwellers, and others in flyover country.|When motivated, this group forms an important part of a center-right majority.|-| bitter and cling to guns or religion card| Why don't common people vote Democrat?| Used by Obama and [[Howard Dean]].| Attempts to justify Democrat's failure to coffeehouse liberals, and persuade hick voters by belittling them.| Insulting to average voters.|-|[[NASCAR]] card|insinuates NASCAR fans are uneducated and racist|NASCAR fans tend to vote Republican,<ref>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/04/24/109269/-Why-do-NASCAR-Fans-Vote-Republican</ref> more so than fans of most others sports.|Republicans failed to balance the budget by cutting $7.4 million from the [[Pentagon]]'s sponsorship of NASCAR for Army recruiting. <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/sports/autoracing/19nascar.html</ref>|NASCAR has an estimated 75 million fans.|-| insensitive card| failure to behave in a [[politically correct]] manner.| a former Miss California was stripped of her crown for saying she thought marriage was between a man and a woman. <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/04/20/carrie-prejean-says-answer-gay-marriage-question-cost-miss-usa-crown/</ref>| ostracizing others among the unenlightened masses leads to feelings of superiority.| not everyone keeps up to date on the lastest liberal [[tripe]].|-|[[McCarthyism]] card|accuse someone of being like the (false) liberal portrayal of [[Joseph McCarthy]]|''"Racist!" as an Epithet of Repression'' <ref>[http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/racist/ ''“Racist!” as an Epithet of Repression''], Dr. Paul Trout, Montana Professor Journal, Fall 1995.</ref>|baseless smear, such as calling someone a racist. Extremely flexible, and with great glee you can ruin someone's life just for fun.|Requires no morals or conscience.|-| Victim card | Pretending to be a victim of the right wingers.| Liberals looking for alleged conservative bias everywhere. | Rallies base.| Makes them look weak, petty and paranoid.||-|[[Fundamentalism]] card| Make religious and social conservatives appear to be irrational "Bible-thumpers" who follow the Holy Bible nonsensically.| Liberal Hollywood degrading conservative preachers in movies such as ''Jesus Camp'' and ''Religulous''.| Alienates leaders of religious movements from the average person.| Creates straw men out of real conservatives, which ultimately backfires as stereotypes are dispelled. |} ==Notes=={{reflist}} [[Category:political cards]]
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