Shifting the Center: How the Left Works to Transform Radicalism Into “Moderation”

David Horowitz's NewsReal Blog ^ | April 7, 2011 | Jeff Jefferson

[Walter Scott Hudson]

Last Tuesday, Senator Charles Schumer of New York inadvertently gave the public a political backstage tour. Before a conference call with members of the press, Schumer was briefing fellow Democrats on specific talking points concerning the current budget negotiations. What he did not know was that some of the reporters were already patched into the call, and the discussion was caught on tape.

“The only way we can avoid a shut down is for Boehner to come up with a reasonable compromise and not just listen to what the Tea Party wants because the Tea Party wants to stick to HR1 with its draconian, extreme -I always use the word extreme, that is what the caucus instructed me to do the other week- extreme cuts and all these riders, and Boehner’s in a box, but if he supports the Tea Party, there’s going to inevitably [be] a shut down. What we are trying to do here . . .”

At that point, the call was muted. When the official conference began, Schumer’s colleagues, Benjamin L. Cardin, Richard Blumenthal, Thomas R. Carper, and Barbara Boxer, all advanced the Tea Party-as-extremist position. Later, Senator Schumer’s spokesman, Brian Fallon, released this statement:

“There’s nothing wrong with reporters overhearing him calling the House Republicans extreme, because that’s what it is. He had just given a speech on the Senate floor saying the same thing. The sooner Speaker Boehner abandons the Tea Party’s extreme demands, the sooner there can be a bipartisan deal on the budget.”

The fact that political parties issue talking points of this sort is not a surprise. What is revealing about the Schumer gaff is that it exposes the use of a subtle technique that the Left has been employing for many years...

[Bernard Marx]

Political Correctness is cultural Marxism. Its goal is to control language for ideological ends. If you can change what something is called, you change what that thing is. So, by getting people to use a certain word to describe a thing, you alter the essence of the thing itself.

Likewise, if you can eliminate words from the language, you limit the opportunities for dissent against the position you wish to argue. Control of language is the goal of those who would define reality not only for themselves, but for everyone else as well.