[Newsletter] 12.12.24 | “There’s no other skeletons to come out,”
December 6, 2024
Besides our winner and two runner-ups, Kraft mishandled customer complaints, football star Jason Kelce demonstrated how negative words bounce back and forth. Also, we introduce a new category: “sarcasm.” (How have we missed it all these years?) And an example of a bad apology from Disney’s Snow White, Rachel Zegler. It was a light month. Readers! I need your help! Watch for examples – mostly bad but that makes them good teaching material. Too early to say “Happy Holidays”?
“I AM NOT A CROOK”
“There’s no other skeletons to come out,” said Tim Parlatore, an attorney for Fox News star, Pete Hegseth who has been picked by President-elect Trump as Secretary of Defense. Allegations have surfaced that he was accused by a woman in 2017 of sexual assault although no charges were filed, and it was “fully investigated and found not to be true.” Note the lawyer’s clever hedge, “there’s no reason to withdraw that I’m aware of.” Bet there’s more?
The Washington Post, “Trump team weighs Pentagon pick after sexual assault allegation surfaces” November 15, 2024
THE RUNNERS-UP
Fox News, “Trump says media is ‘vital’ to making America ‘great again,’ vows to work with ‘free, fair and open’ press” November 18, 2024
“We are not having quality issues…” said language in a box from Kraft disputing other customers’ claims of missing ingredients on TikTok. This raised the question of how to refute or counter complaints and allegations on this platform. Kraft’s response generated more comments – apparently of missing cheese packets. We’re still in favor of stating the positive, for example, of saying “quality is a top priority” and posting an address or contact where complaining customers can get a complimentary coupon or box.
TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTY2EFMqN/ November 21, 2024
THE POWER OF WORDS
An example of how negative words propagate themselves; we followed the dust-up between former NFL Eagle star player Jason Kelce and an unidentified other person who apparently criticized Kelce’s brother Chiefs player Travis. The criticism involved what news reports described as “a homophobic slur” or the “f—” word. We’re still having trouble getting the whole picture of the incident, but Jason hurled the word back at the original speaker and smashed his cell phone. The lesson, however, is Jason’s comment afterwards where he said, “The thing I most regret is saying the word,” adding, “Now there’s a video out there with me saying the word, him saying the word” because naturally it went viral. He also had comments worth taking seriously, “I try to live my life by the Golden Rule,” noting “Even though I fell short this week, I’m going to do that moving forward and continue to do that.” Good advice.
USA Today, “Jason Kelce provides timely reminder: There’s no excuse to greet hate with hate” November 6, 2024
SARCASM
“I plan to seek unanimous consent to send every American a pony,” said Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.) about a shenanigan pulled by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) who teamed up to twist House procedural rules to try to defeat a piece of legislation (the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate provisions that reduce benefits for some government retirees.) The House is obligated to have a formal ceremony showing that it’s in business – or pretending to be – every three days.
At 5:00 p.m. EST on election day, when all the members were elsewhere focused on the election, Harris and Good conducted a charade where Good asked ‘unanimous consent’ to do what’s called table a piece of legislation. Of course, there was “unanimous consent,” and the legislation was sent to its probable death. Graves, noting correctly that this behavior creates a precedent, offered his comment about the pony.
We suppose we need to update President Reagan’s favorite story about the optimist versus the pessimist. The optimistic child is asked why he’s digging so happily into a pile of manure. “There has to be a pony in here somewhere!” He’s obviously counting on unanimous consent.
The Hill, “Freedom Caucus’s rogue procedural move raises questions about consequences” November 12, 2024
APOLOGIES
While we’re still reluctant to jump into politics at the presidential level, we regularly comment on apologies, a genre that is all to itself and all too frequently mishandled. That’s our opinion on the controversy kicked up by actress Rachel Zegler, starring in Disney’s “Snow White” blockbuster. She suggested her followers boycott X, called Trump supporters a ‘sickness’ and finished with “’f’ Donald Trump.” Big surprise, Disney was not pleased and issued an apology theoretically from Zegler. We include it as a bad – namely pro forma – example since it sounds nothing like her and authenticity is critical.
She posted, “Hi everyone, I would like to sincerely apologize for the election post I shared on my Instagram last week. I let my emotions get the best of me. Hatred and anger have caused us to move further and further away from peace and understanding, and I am sorry I contributed to the negative discourse.” “This week has been so emotional for so many of us, but I firmly believe that everyone has the right to their own opinion, even when it differs from my own. I am committed to contributing to a positive tomorrow.” How to judge her? By what she says and does in the future.
Variety, “Rachel Zegler Apologizes for Anti-Trump Comments After Backlash: ‘I Let My Emotions Get the Best of Me’” November 15, 2024
“You Don’t Say” is a reminder not to repeat and deny a negative word because of how the listener hears words. When you repeat and deny a negative word, the listener is likely to overlook the denial and hear the opposite of what the speaker is trying to say.