Posted on August 27, 2025
Third Way, Way Off
Dem policies, not words, are their
biggest problem
by
Daniel Clark
It may be
refreshing to see a liberal think tank like Third Way call out the Democrats
for the arrogant and condescending manner in which they speak, but its critique
misses the point, because the problems with that party run far deeper than the
words it uses.
Take the group's admonition against
the use of words and phrases it categorizes as "Therapy-Speak." Among these are "triggering,"
"microaggression" and "safe space."
Third Way cautions that, "These words say 'I'm more empathetic than you,
and you are callous to hurting other's feelings.'" What is left out is that liberals really
think this, regardless of what words they choose to convey the thought. Those who employ this terminology really do
excuse their own lack of self-control, whether or not they describe themselves
as having been "triggered." They accuse
others of all sorts of trivial speech and thought crimes, regardless of whether
they call them "microaggressions," and they believe they need to have physical
areas of protection from opposing points of view, even if they never utter the
phrase "safe spaces." Yes, that
terminology is off-putting to non-liberals, but only because the same is true
of the underlying concepts.
The
section under the heading "Organizer Jargon," condemns phrases that say, "we
are beholden to groups, not individuals.
People have no agency." That
should be a motto on the podium at the Democratic National Convention, so
succinctly does it crystalize that party's point of view.
When Third
Way criticizes the use of the term "the unhoused" instead of "the homeless," it
fails to substantively distinguish between the two, or else it would understand
why the people it's trying to counsel would use the language they do. Implicit in the trendy term "unhoused" is the
assumption that providing shelter is the responsibility of somebody other than
oneself.
Third Way
suggests that Democrats stick to the term "immigrant" as opposed to "person who
immigrated," but how often have you ever heard the latter of these options
anyway? The real problem is that either
one of them is a lie. Wordiness aside,
"person who immigrated" would not be problematic if it were used in reference
to a legitimate immigrant. Instead,
liberals use the term "immigrant" or "migrant" as a deliberate means of
concealing the subject's illegal status.
What they're saying is that our immigration laws do not matter, and
should not be enforced. The lexicon with
which they deliver that message is of secondary importance at best.
Granted,
Democrats have subjected themselves to a lot of ridicule by using terms like
"birthing person" and "pregnant people," but what would Third Way have them say
instead, without betraying their party's dedication to the proposition that
gender is a social construct? The second
they say "pregnant women," they'll be confronted by some pregnant woman who
insists she's a man. Until they're
willing to tell her she's wrong, they have to avail themselves of
gender-evasive terminology. Furthermore,
their quasi-religious devotion to abortion forbids them from referring to an
"expectant mother" or a woman who is "with child."
The section entitled "The Shifting
Language of Racial Constructs" complains that, "You will be called out as
racist if you do not use the latest and correct terminology," without
recognizing that this is exactly the desired outcome. You'd better use the currently preferred
racial nomenclature, or you must, consciously or not, be a bigot! So much of the Democrats' power comes from
their wielding this threat that it's simply not in their interest to give it
up.
Under
"Explaining Away Crime," the report denounces terms like "justice-involved" and
"incarcerated people," because "This says: 'The criminal is the victim. The victim is an afterthought.'" Once again, Third Way has stumbled upon an
unofficial slogan of its own party.
Since 2020, Democrats across the country have been refusing to prosecute
whole categories of criminal activity, and repealing cash bail and mandatory
minimum sentences, all the while continuing their efforts to disarm the
law-abiding. Unless Third Way is going
to demand a dramatic reversal in policy, chiding the politicians over the way
they talk about it amounts to a demand that they misrepresent themselves.
If Third
Way wants to advise its party on how not to alienate the American mainstream,
the lesson should not be to stop using particular words and phrases. It should be to stop treating people as
demographic statistics instead of free individuals, stop tearing apart the
family unit, and stop enabling both foreign and domestic criminals. In other words, don't be such a bunch of
Democrats.
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