Matt Yglesias has an interesting series of posts on his site about just what the big deal is when Republicans call the Democratic party the ‘Democrat party’.
As it happens, a few months back I got an email from a TPM Reader who I think was a linguist. And he explained that there is something about the concatenation of syllables, the sound or structure of the phrase ‘Democrat party’ that actually sounds somehow inherently grating or awkward on the ears. When I got the note I think I was busy with something else. And I never really got a chance to work through and understand just what the guy was saying. I think I’ll probably try to dig it up.
But that is a secondary point. The whole issue of ‘Democrat’ party — other than as an example of Republican infantilism — is an issue of respect or rather intentional and repeated expression of disrespect as a means of asserting dominance.
There’s a certain conservative columnist named James X. who shall remain unnamed. At some point a few years back I had cause to exchange an email with him. And I called him ‘Jim’. I don’t think I gave it a second thought. I’m Josh or Joshua — doesn’t matter to me. But a short time later I got a half questioning, half barely repressed anger email from the guy asking whether I was intentionally disrespecting him by addressing him as ‘Jim’, the dimunitive form of the name. Now, as I say, it was accidental. I apologized and explained that it was totally unintentional. And if he preferred to be called James I would certainly do so. As it happens, in the intervening years, my lack of respect for him has grown apace. But I’d still always call him James and not Jim. And this is the point. You address people the way they choose to be addressed. You address them by what they consider to be their name. In the ordinary course of life, when people do otherwise, we rightly recognize that they’re trying to pick a fight or demean the person in question.
It is, as Matt points out, another illustration of the ‘bitch-slap theory of politics‘. You assert dominance over someone by mangling their name and continuing to do so even after the correct pronunciation or style is pointed out. It’s right off the schoolyard and it’s no surprise that it’s a stock and trade of this president.
