Tuesday, May 08, 2007

It has bothered me for some years how the Republicans and right-wing types have been referring to the other party as "the Democrat Party" in a perjorative fashion. Now it bothers me even more. According to Marty Peretz, the practice hasn't been used in half a century, and was a product of Joe McCarthy "who, with his twisted mouth often oozing the charming brew of beer and saliva, would snarl out the words "Democrat Party," as if they referred to vermin."

Boy, that'd make me proud, if I were a Repub.

6 comments:

Sakthi said...

Yes Douglas, i go with your point. Politicians often want identify them as democratic,right-wing and so on.. But if we look up their thoughts deeply they just want the power to lead others..nothing else..So in the way your choice is right..
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Anonymous said...

Gee, you're right. The Democratic party should instead be referred to as the party of Robert Byrd and Nancy Pelosi. That'd make me proud. If I liked changing the rules to silence any opposition and wanted to steal money from the US Treasury. Quick question: How many objects, buildings and public bathrooms in W. Virginia are named after a certain Senator?

Try looking at your use of 'right-wing types' before you resume whining. You might also try to recall the last time you heard the term 'left-winger' being used by anyone, particularly in the media. They must have all magically dissappeared, along with McCarthy's liver, right?

Anonymous said...

I think it actually makes sense. The "ic" suffix at the end implies a description, not a name.

Republicans are called Republicans. "I am a Republican." Democrats are called Democrats. "I am a Democrat".

The Republican party is referred to as such, or when you describe somebody you just say the party name. This goes for Democrats, too - when you are describing who is what - "he's a Democrat".

The suffix "ic", then, makes little sense. That seems to turn the word into and adjective instead of the descriptive noun it's supposed to be.

"Democratic" means "pertaining to or of the nature of democracy or a democracy."

If somebody is "democratic", he beleives in government by democracy or democratic procedure.

This is an adjective, not a noun. By calling Democrats "the Democratic Party" you are implying only that the party is one that believes in Democracy, not that you are naming the party. At the very least, this usage obscures or runs into the real meaning - what if you want to refer to a "democratic party" but not necessarily the party of the Democrats? Or to descibe something as "democratic", but not talking about party?

It's confusing this way.

All in all, "Democrat Party" is more accurate, and makes more sense to avoid confusion with the adjective.

Anonymous said...

Douglas, I'm not sure what your definition of "some" years is, but I'm confident that this is not a practice that has been out of favor for 50 years. Ronald Reagan made it a point during his entire public life to refer to it as the "Democrat" party, a fact that is mentioned in almost all of the dozens of Reagan biographies that are on the shelves. Not to mention it's grammatically correct.

Anonymous said...

anonymous,

I'm not sure I agree. One who participates in democracy is a democrat. By treating it as a pejorative term they are attacking, whether they realise it or not, more than just the party members.

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Anonymous said...

McCarthy was quite correct in his analysis of the termite infestation in our national edifice. We could use more like him.