From the President, a Two-Letter Jab at the Democrats

January 23, 2007, 10:03 pm
From the President, a Two-Letter Jab at the Democrats

(snip)

In the prepared text of the speech, sent out by the White House some 40 minutes before Bush ascended the House rostrum, the president was to say, “Some in this Chamber are new to the House and Senate – and I congratulate the Democratic majority.” When Bush delivered the line, however, he paid tribute to the “Democrat majority.” Dropping the “ic” from the word “Democratic” may seem insignificant, but it was almost certainly a deliberate move by Bush, who has used the phrase “the Democrat Party” for months as a way of needling his opponents.

Republicans have periodically referred to their opponents as belonging to the “Democrat Party” for many decades, and the phrase was a particular favorite of former Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy. A recent Washington Post column filled in the backstory: according to the Columbia Guide to Standard American English, McCarthy “sought by repeatedly calling it the Democrat party to deny it any possible benefit of the suggestion that it might also be democratic.”

The phrase lay largely dormant for years, however, until President Bush resuscitated it during last fall’s midterm election season and made it a mainstay of his public remarks about the opposition party. It has since been widely adopted by many Republican lawmakers, conservative political activists, and conservative commentators and pundits at media outlets like Fox News.

For all of Bush’s talk tonight about crossing party lines to work with the new Democratic Congress, it is the missing two letters that may offer the clearest indication of whether partisan tensions are really like to fade in the waning years of Bush’s presidency.

– Yochi J. Dreazen

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/01/23/from-the-president-a-two-letter-jab-at-the-democrats/ (subscription)

So it dates back to Joe McCarthy?

Those little f*cks.

Arrogant, fool-hardy, and they NEVER-EVER "play nice" until they're 'caught' or surrounded....and then it's only an ACT, never sincere.

Peace (with a pitchfork),
M_Y_H

Talk about petty! Dear Leader never fails to amaze me when it comes to reaching new morally depraved lows. :(

conciliatory or working together, or REALLY sincere about complimenting Pelosi or saluting the Democratic majority. He just tipped his hand with that. Didn't mean a WORD of those allegedly "nice" and "muted" things he said.

get their own downfall! If you PLAY you PAY!

After I had heard on DU that Nancy had used the Republics word, (I was waiting for a video, but never got the chance to see it), I did have the opportunity to hear Reid use it on C-SPAN. I now use it here, (I see others use it too) and in public.