That wasn’t a whistle (and everyone knows it wasn’t the dog)

[kpete]

..........here the analogy with an actual dog whistle doesn’t work. A dog whistle sends a clear signal to one group — the “dogs” who alone are capable of hearing it — but to everyone else it makes no noise and goes unnoticed. Bush’s dog-whistling to evangelical voters included signals that only they would pick up on, but those little snippets of churchy-talk didn’t change the meaning of what he was otherwise saying. His little allusions gave his words additional resonance for evangelical listeners, but apart from that little pat on the head, they weren’t being told anything different from what the rest of the electorate heard.

But the so-called dog-whistling to white racists doesn’t work like that. This kind of coded language is nothing like a dog whistle, because everyone can hear it and everyone can understand it. Everyone knows exactly what it means. When former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo appealed to segregationist white voters with talk of “law and order” and getting “tough” on crime, everybody knew he was talking about keeping black people subordinate and marginalized. When President Ronald Reagan spoke of “states’ rights” or railed against “welfare queens” and “strapping young bucks” buying “T-bone steaks” with food stamps, no one was left scratching their heads trying to puzzle out what he meant by that.

These aren’t dog whistles. They’re dog farts. Which is to say they’re attempts to blame a fart on the dog when everyone knows it was you who just broke wind.

more:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2016/03/10/that-wasnt-a-whistle-and-everyone-knows-it-wasnt-the-dog/

[Kalidurga]

1. The comments are worth reading as well particularly the one on The Screwtape Letters.