Politicians’ taunting words really do hurt us

By Deborah D. Thornton

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“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” – Old folk saying

When uttered in the field behind my parents' home, this phrase was often accompanied by a “Na, na, na-na-na!” raspberry sound and sticking out one's tongue at an annoying cousin. Generally it followed a taunt that someone was too little or too chicken to do “X.”

We were fairly rough and tumble; though no one was ever really mean. We knew our limits and did not often exceed them.

However, in the rough and tumble world of partisan politics today, there are few limits and fewer who recognize them.

For example, in September Teamster's President Jimmy Hoffa said to a union rally: “Let's take these (sob's) out and give America back to America where we belong.”

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who has a reputation for inflammatory rhetoric, most recently said, “As far as I'm concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell.”

Admittedly, Republicans have also behaved badly, as in South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst of “You lie!” during President Barack Obama's health care address to Congress in 2009. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin earned a moment of infamy when she issued what turned out to be the fourth most notable quotation of 2010, according to Yale University librarian Fred Shapiro, when she tweeted, “Don't retreat. - Instead reload!”

Shapiro issues an annual list of “Most Notable Quotations.” Unfortunately, in his opinion, the quotes become “perhaps stronger, harsher, more unconventional every year.” When our politicians, whether Democrat or Republican, make ill-considered inflammatory statements they do their cause harm.

The book “Words That Work,” by Frank Luntz, discusses how to choose effective words, whether speaking or writing. Luntz's 10 rules of successful communication include using small words and short sentences, being sincere and credible, being consistent, and offering a new idea or definition of an old idea. These rules are fairly straightforward, yet are not always practiced.

A rule applying specifically to politicians is that of speaking “aspirationally,” or speaking to the hopes, fears and dreams of your audience and triggering an emotional response or feeling. President Obama was especially successful at applying this rule in the 2008 election campaign. Hoffa certainly triggered an emotional response on Labor Day.

Rule 9 recommends asking a question to involve your listener or reader in the discussion. The most famous use of this technique was then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan's question to Americans during the final debate with President Jimmy Carter in 1980: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” The final rule, and the one Luntz considers most important, is to provide context and explain the relevance of “why” something is important.

The language our elected representatives use in debating critical national issues is important. It is important that they stop and think before they speak. Further, it is important that we, the voters, hold them to a higher standard.

Whether Democrat or Republican, liberal, conservative, or Tea Party, schoolyard taunts are not effective. The voters are tired of them. We want honest debate about the issues - not meanness and inflammatory bullying.

Sticks and stones may be required to break our bones, but words can hurt us, as a people and as a country.

Deborah D. Thornton is research analyst at the Public Interest Institute in Mount Pleasant. The views expressed in this column are those of the author. Comments: DThornton9@aol.com