Episode 138: Thought-Terminating Enemy Epithets (Part II)

Oligarch. Hardliner. Regime. All common terms seen in Anglo-American media when describing politicians and power structures in official villain states; yet - mysteriously absent when talking about ourselves or our allies.

This Part II of our Citations Needed countdown of the Top 10 "Enemy Epithets," derisive descriptors that are deployed to smear enemies without any symmetrical usage for U.S. officials, policy or imperial partners. Designed to conjure up nasty images of despotism and oppression, often pandering to Orientalized prejudice, these epithets demand people shut off their brains and have the label do the thinking for them.

We are joined again by FAIR's Janine Jackson and Jim Naureckas.

Listen to Part I here.

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Guests

Janine Jackson is Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting’s Program Director, and the Producer and host of FAIR’s syndicated weekly radio show CounterSpin.

Jim Naureckas is the editor of FAIR.org and, since 1990, has edited Extra!, FAIR’s monthly magazine.

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Show Notes

Russia’s oligarchs are different from other billionaires

Z. Byron Wolf | April 6, 2018 | CNN

MSNBC Flips Out After Bernie Adviser Nina Turner Calls Bloomberg an ‘Oligarch’

Justin Baragona | February 3, 2020 | The Daily Beast

A ‘Regime’ Is a Government at Odds With the US Empire

Gregory Shupak | August 20, 2018 | FAIR

‘Modernization’: Media’s Favorite Euphemism for Military Buildup

Adam Johnson | March 12, 218 | FAIR

The China Challenge: How Beijing’s military build-up is ending U.S. supremacy in Asia

David Lague and Benjamin Kang Lim | 2019 | Reuters

China expands its amphibious forces in challenge to U.S. supremacy beyond Asia

David Lague | July 20, 2020 | Reuters

China is ramping up nuclear and missile forces to rival U.S., Pentagon says

Paul Sonne | September 1, 2020 | The Washington Post

China building offensive, aggressive military, top US Pacific commander says 

Brad Lendon | March 10, 2021 | CNN

In Russia, a Military Buildup That Can’t Be Missed

Andrew E. Kramer | April 16, 2021 | The New York Times

CNN’s Portrayal of North Korea as Lawless Aggressor Reverses Reality

Joshua Cho | June 25, 2020 | FAIR

Ending world hunger by 2030 would cost $330bn, study finds

Kaamil Ahmed | October 13, 2020 | The Guardian

Hyping the Venezuela Threat

Jim Naureckas | April 1, 2017 | FAIR

Venezuela should spend money on food, not missiles: Colombia president

September 5, 2019 | Reuters

North Korea's Kim Jong Un Is Starving His People to Pay for Nuclear Weapons

Cristina Silva | March 23, 2017 | Newsweek

Hurting, Hanging, Suffocating & Starving: The Inhumanity of Iran Threat Rhetoric

Nima Shirazi | March 2, 2012 | Wide Asleep In America

How Dictators Keep Control

Eric Niiler | December 21, 2011 | NBC News

Covering Islam: How The Media and the Experts Determine How We See The Rest of the World

Edward W. Said | 1981 | Vintage Books

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Transcript

For a full transcript of this episode, go here.

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