Democrats are still trying to figure out how they can better connect with the people of this country. After losing ground in the last election, to Trump's simplistic way of speaking and the questionable intellect of the manosphere. But now is not the time to be snobs. [00:00:16] People already think that the Democrats are a bunch of nerds with all their big words and their big ideas. Can the Dems rebrand now to be a little bit less dorky? Well, I mean, that's the problem, though. It's a rebrand, right? And so. But it's okay. [00:00:32] It's okay. It's better than nothing. So this story has put me in the uncomfortable position of having to agree with Third Way. I think this is the first time I've ever agreed with them. They're kind of the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. But unfortunately on the language stuff. Well, again, like the right wing that I quote unquote agree with, [00:00:48] I'm not going to their position. They came to our position. The left has been antiwar and anti-corruption from day one. So when some on the right come to that position. Great. Happy to have you here. Been here for a long time. Right. Same thing with Third Way. You guys have seen me say 100 times here? You got to speak like you're human. [00:01:06] Stop with all the gobbledygook and the S.A.T. Words. And so now, finally, the corporate Democrats, ironically, have come to that position. So let's tell you the full story, and then we'll discuss. Does all of it make sense, or is there some parts that that that don't. Okay, so a new memo has been released telling the Democrats [00:01:24] which words they should stop using. If they want people to listen to anything that they have to say. The list was put together by Third Way, as Jake said, and they are a left center think tank. So what are the words that they're advising to stop using? You can probably already guess some of them. [00:01:40] They span six categories, from therapy speak to explaining away crime and put in sharp relief a party that authors say makes Democrats sound like the extreme, divisive, elitist and obfuscatory enforcers of wokeness. [00:01:56] In the document titled Was It Something I said? Third way argues that to please the few we have alienated the many, especially on culture issues where our language sounds superior, haughty and arrogant, according to the memo. Among the blacklisted terms are privilege, violence as in environmental violence, [00:02:17] dialoging triggering other, microaggression, othering and microaggression, holding space, body shaming, subverting norms, systems of oppression, cultural appropriation, the Overton Window, existential threat to the climate and democracy in the economy, [00:02:34] radical transparency. Stakeholders. The unhoused. Food insecurity. Housing insecurity. Person who immigrated birthing persons, cisgender deadnaming, heteronormative patriarchy, LGBTQ plus Bipoc allyship, incarcerated people, involuntary confinement. [00:02:54] So that's the list. Lanae Erickson, Third Way senior vice president, emphasized that this effort is not about censorship. It's about speaking in a way that doesn't prioritize jargon or immediately alienate people who might otherwise be willing to listen to your message. [00:03:10] So, Erickson said the Democratic Party brand is toxic across the country at this point, with way too many people enough that there's no way for us to win a governing majority without changing that. Part of the problem was that we were using words that literally no normal people [00:03:27] used, that we were sticking to messages that were so overly scripted that they basically sounded like nothing. We need to reflect on the ways that our bubble and our fear of being criticized by anyone on the left has led to a problem with both our policy and our language. [00:03:44] So is anyone already doing this well? Well, according to Erickson, she suggested that Democrats should take their cues from these three former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. [00:04:00] Senator Gallego seems to be on the right track with this, as he is rumored to be looking at a 2028 presidential run. And by the right track, he really does seem to be on the right leaning track. That is, as he is shifting further. Right. And he has done since being elected as Arizona senator, which sounds like a [00:04:19] like a familiar path for Arizona senators. So, we reported on this, show a few different times about how Democrats are integrating more curse words into their everyday speech and how they're embracing the podcast scene, etc.. So for me, the question is, does simplifying the words and the message [00:04:38] the way to actually claw back Democratic voters that may have been lost? Because one could argue that this is not the reason why Dems lost so much support going into the last election in the first place. In fact, Democratic voters were they were pretty explicit as to the reasons [00:04:55] why they didn't want to support the Democrats anymore in the 2024 election. And I will personally admit that the jargon is exhausting and hard to keep up with. I feel like it's like a bit of a game for people who are chronically online. Even though you know they may, I believe that they have good intentions and I call [00:05:12] it a game because it's like they want to see who is the most current or up to date. And if it's not you, then they just can't wait to let you know about it. It's like half the time we're just arguing with each other over semantics, and I do my best to keep up with everything just because genuinely like my intention, is never to alienate someone or offend someone or make someone feel bad. [00:05:32] But I still don't really know why unhoused is better than homeless when they both mean the same thing. Right, everyone? They're both referring to the same group of people. One of those terms has just been around a little bit longer, so it's got a little bit of a stink on it. And I understand to some extent that that's just how language evolves. [00:05:50] But I think the ways that these evolutions are forced upon people can be off putting because it's no longer a natural evolution of that language. But, going back to why the Democrats suffered in the last election, they're cowering to Referring to corporations. They're not standing up to Republicans. They're blocking progressives from office. [00:06:08] They're not standing up to Israel. And the people, the Democratic voters have told the Democrats all of this, but now they're pretending like dropping the jargon is what's going to do it. So, Michael, what do you make of this? Look, I think there's some, there's some wisdom to this, I, you know, going to [00:06:25] what you were just saying about what's the difference between unhoused and homeless? It seems forced, unhoused. It seems invented. It doesn't seem organic. It seems like we have to respect these people in a way that homeless as a word doesn't sound like it does, but it it is no different than saying unhoused. [00:06:43] It's just a different way of saying it. I also think that when you are a place that is writing a memo that says Democrats sound like the extreme, divisive, elitist and obfuscatory obfuscatory enforcers of wokeness, you're losing people again. Like they should have made those words a little less cumbersome, if you ask me. [00:07:04] All of these words are words I've heard except for allyship. So, but I don't, I don't disagree with this in general, but I think the bottom line is you need good candidates, and you have to have candidates who say what they want to do. And do, you know, on those issues that you just mentioned? [00:07:21] Yes. Issues that voters in 2024 said were important? I don't think hearing food insecurity is going to really take anybody away from the Democrats, but they're trying too hard here. I think the toxicity goes as far as the candidates, though, and I think [00:07:37] good candidates who have good intentions and want to make changes in places that are not just about words. It's a better place to be. So, look, I don't, I think that the this [00:07:52] whole idea that, you know, it's changing, changing words might help, but when you have a memo doing it, it's no different, I think, than the memo than the words themselves being forced upon people. So it's a third way gets in its own way. A lot of the time. [00:08:08] And I think the well well intentioned I think this is problematic. Yeah. So interesting. I, I agree with you guys. You guys pick the words that I was going to talk about as well. But I actually think this is one of the better things that Third Way has done. I noticed the irony that that Michael mentioned two Obfuscatory. [00:08:26] - Obfuscatory. - Obfuscatory. As you complain about words and use Obfuscatory. - You just can't you. - Can't do that. It's so blind on top of everything else. So I agree with you guys. Look, the candidates matter more and I don't agree with their candidate proposals. [00:08:42] The three that they mentioned come back to that. And policy and actions matter the most by far. Now, having said that, I think that they're right at their core and they're right about a lot of the words, some of the words I use. And I don't think it's that big a deal. So you're not going to agree on every word like there's nothing wrong [00:08:57] with the word stakeholder. No. You know, that's used in a business context as well. What is allyship? Have you guys heard? Yeah. Yeah, I've heard that a lot because I hang out in a lot of lip circles, right? So at like if you don't. And usually it was one for like 29 of not knowing them. [00:09:14] So I feel okay. But but what. - So what is it. - Got to do better, Mike? - I'm sorry. - Yeah. So, ally ship has sailed. - Oh, okay. - So there you go. - Context clues. - Yeah, yeah. No. So allyship means, how you conduct yourself as an ally of a community. [00:09:32] So if you're an ally of the Muslim community, you're you would be an ally ship. But it usually it's used to put people down. So. Oh, you don't agree with everything that the trans community wants online? That's it. You're practicing poor allyship, I see. [00:09:49] Okay, so that's not exactly how you would say it, but you get it. Okay. So anyways, the main reason is for these words that you shouldn't use these words is because they're annoying and patronizing. Right. So I was going to focus on the same thing unhoused. I drew the line on that. [00:10:04] And you saw it on the show yourself years ago. Okay, I said, this doesn't make any sense. Guys, I'm not going to say it. It's the same word as homeless, and it's patronizing. Oh, you're not homeless anymore. You're the unhoused. How does that help them actually get them a house? [00:10:20] Get them? It doesn't. There's no progress to changing the name. Like when we were saying Negro in America, and then we changed it. There was progress to to a group of people, and there was a respect shown, but homeless and unhoused, you know, changed housing, right? [00:10:37] I mean, like you were about to say change, but. So there has to be like something that gets better rather than becomes more careful. Yeah. And it's just look, the number one problem that humanity has overall is that we it's nearly impossible to see things from another person's perspective. [00:10:53] And so most people don't even try. Most people don't even realize that other people have a different perspective. Exactly right. And so for you, if you're in academia and you're you use words like othering all the time. You find that perfectly normal and you don't know why people are outraged by it. [00:11:11] But that's because you don't hang out in, you know, barbecues in Kansas City where no one, no one, the entire state, no one uses othering. It's like a weirdo word to use. I can't believe you said academia. You could have said education. Yeah, yeah. Fancy pants here with saying academia. [00:11:29] Yeah, like another one. Holding space. Come on, guys. Come on. What is that? What is that? And then, of course, we got into huge fights over birthing person. And to this day, a huge percentage of left wing hosts online say, [00:11:44] hey, no one says it. B everyone should say it. C it's no big deal. Well, which one is it, guys? Which one is it? And the reason that controversy started in the first place is because AOC was on CNN and they were talking about abortion. Abortion, where we have a huge advantage politically [00:12:00] and we need to win in the real world. Otherwise they take away women's rights. And while we've got the majority of the American people on our side, She goes in and says, birthing persons instead of moms. Then the whole conversation gets shifted to this weirdo phrase you use birthing [00:12:16] persons and then we lose the fight. What are you doing? Right. We said that and everybody's like, no, you're terrible. Nobody says AOC just said it. You shouldn't say it. Well, I'm saying you shouldn't say it. So we agree. No, you don't agree. You just say it. - Don't say it, say it. - Like what? [00:12:31] Shut up. Shut up! You're so annoying. And here's another one. LGBTQIA+. I drew the line at Q. I'm okay with drawing it at T okay, but I. A+. No, guys, you don't get it. [00:12:47] Like, because if you're in that community, you think what? So what? LGBT. LGBT, x, y, Z, Q, x2, etc. R2-d2 and you think that's normal. But to a person that's trying to trying to be in allyship with you. Okay. [00:13:03] When you say that, you're like, oh, wait, I don't know. I don't want to offend. Did I leave out a letter? That's a lot of letters. I don't remember them. And then they start to panic, and then they. - They just run. - Yeah. And you're hurting that community by overthinking the way you refer to them. - So it has. - Become. [00:13:18] - That was actually. - Yeah. Go ahead. I was going to say that was actually. Something that was mentioned in the memo. Is that a lot of times, you know, terms will be determined for certain groups of people, but those groups of people, they're like, we don't even think of ourselves that way. We don't identify this way. But I will say about the LGBTQ, I plus one, I remember once they kept [00:13:38] adding letters to it, I was like, okay, you just need a different term. You know, like there's too many letters, you know, there's going to be repeating the whole alphabet. Just find a better term, something more encompassing, if that's what you're after. But all these letters are just getting a little bit cumbersome. And especially whenever, you know, I'm covering a story and you got to go. [00:13:55] It's just like it's a mouthful, you know? - So if. - We're looking to update. Jargon, then I think that one can be updated. That's what I would do. Everybody everybody's on house black, white. Everybody's just the unhoused. And then we're talking about one big community. [00:14:10] Or the over lettered. The over lettered. Yeah. Okay. So by the way, once you get the Q stands for queer. That's really all encompassing. That is very broad category. So so I think we're good there anyways. Last thing is you know like okay now we told you all these annoying things. [00:14:30] Words you shouldn't use. And we're recommending that the person who does it well is Pete Buttigieg. What are you insane Pete Buttigieg? Yeah, he goes into right wing spaces. I respect him for that, I think. I don't like him overall as a candidate, but I like he does that. [00:14:46] We're we're fair show in America. But Buttigieg is the king of Saturday. Word salads. Right. But I don't think what they're saying here and I don't know that they're right, but I think they're saying is that they've taken themselves off [00:15:03] of using words on this list. And yeah, Pete Buttigieg can't help but be smart, but I don't think that he falls into the trap of using all of these words. - And I think. - I've seen him use it. - Have you? - Yeah. And so he might not be the worst. But he's also maybe reformed, like maybe he's, you know, maybe he's saying this is [00:15:22] not the way we need to speak to people. I'm guilty of it, but I and I don't know, but I think that's what they're saying here, though. Yeah. I mean, but he also don't annoy people with words like accusatory. Okay. So it doesn't like it's okay, guys. Yeah, we know what it means. [00:15:38] So what? Who are you trying to impress? Because as a politician, you have to impress the voters. And if you're talking down to them and you seem like you're an elitist prick, they're not going to be impressed. They're just going to hate you. So this is just common sense stuff. [00:15:53] So. Hey, look, I'll take it. It's probably the best work he's ever done. Oh, no, I don't want them giving that quote. Just get better candidates. That's how you. Win. Yeah. Overall. Yes. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true. [00:16:08] But it does keep you updated on our live shows.