The Language Of The Hostageification of January 6th Terrorists.
Drawing on the nightmares Israeli hostages suffered, Donald Trump and Elise Stefanik are trying to appropriate the term “Hostage” to apply to terrorists they support.
Hello, friends,
Last week, I endorsed Marianne Williamson’s campaign for the Presidency. This week, we’re going to talk about something that, honestly, I noticed starting up and I want to nip kind of in the bud.
Today, we’re going to go for a relatively short session talking about the language that politicians use and why they use it. As you already know by the title, a new term has been used, by select political actors, to describe those who were imprisoned for their crimes on January 6th, 2021: “Hostages.”
This is a critical advancement in the radical right’s political scheming, but to understand why, first we have to discuss The Overton Window
The Overton Window
For those who are unfamiliar with the concept of the Overton Window, Wikipedia has the following definition:
Put in my own words in an adjacent context: The Overton Window is what I’d consider the “average” scope of public debate.
Way back when, we talked about the terms “Regressive” versus “Conservative.” We concluded that Conservatives generally didn’t want to change the status quo, but that Regressives wanted to change the status quo back to a previous, generally more restrictive, generally less equitable situation.
By their nature, Regressives tend to do something similar, yet opposite to what Progressives tend to do: Operate outside of the currently-accepted Overton Window in order to shift it in our preferred direction.
We talk about ideas like Medicare For All not simply because they’re good ideas, but because they are, for the most part, outside of the current scope of debate. At the very least, even when these ideas do take some precedence (like M4A did during the 2016 election), they are on the very far edge of the Window, and thus the easiest thing to see taken away.
I have two other takes on the topic, one from the Regressive angle and one from the Progressive one.
Ian Danskin of The Alt-Right Playbook, who makes videos about the alt-right radicalizes people towards Fascist agendas used a different metaphoricalization to describe the process: A layered-onion. Those being indoctrinated are caught up in something similar to an onion. When within a given layer of the onion, you can see the ones adjacent to you - the one in front of you might seem a bit too radical, whereas the one in front of you might seem a bit too dated and ineffective. But you’re always guided towards the center of this malicious vegetable.
Yet another example of this kind of public debate movement from the Progressive direction, and victories we’ve earned over the course of my lifetime, is the way that Queer rights have been established over the past two or three decades. Bear in mind I’m not saying this issue started then, just talking about my lifetime.
When I was in college, the big debate was the recognition of “Same-Sex Marriage.” In 2004, Massachusetts became the only state where Gay people could get married. There were smaller jurisdictions that recognized same-sex marriage, but they were the first state that conferred equal benefits. It wasn’t until 2015 that the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision made marriage equality the standard across the country, so much so that states like Indiana still try to legally prohibit it, even if those laws are held in abeyance.
Nowadays same-sex marriage is generally seen as socially normal by most (not all) people. In the meantime, now the rights of Transgender people are the policy-debate battleground. Political Youtube streamer Vaush did a relatively short video about all the various anti-Trans bills being introduced nationwide. There are even stupid-ass organizations like the “LGB Alliance” that try to erase Transgender people in the name of Regressive interests, cloying to pull the Overton Window back to the right.
All of this to say: The way we talk about things matters.
How Political Language Matters
Following the October 7th atrocity and the abduction of hundreds of innocent people as hostages by HAMAS, the word “hostage” has taken on a significantly charged tone. These hostages are known to be subjected to various forms of cruelties - all the worst stuff you can think of. Many died, either at the hands of their captors or even their would-be rescuers. It is, to put it mildly, a clusterfuck.
And all of this charges the term up further, making it more and more explosive.
That’s why Fascists like Elise Stefanik used the term “January 6th Hostages” to describe those imprisoned by the government for attempting to overthrow - well, you know - the government. It’s notable that her use of this absurd term went unchallenged by ‘journalist’ Kirsten Welker.
Donald Trump also used the term “Hostages” to describe those who he unleashed upon the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. You know, as if they were kidnapped and held at gunpoint and raped, starved, and physically as well as psychologically tortured.
By equating terrorists who attempted a coup (on Trump’s behalf, under his instruction) with the status of “hostage,” it’s clear these Fascists were attempting to push the Overton Window towards indicating this sort of behavior is okay. After all, Trump has said he would pardon the terrorists, while Trump’s lawyers have literally argued that Presidents have the right to order Seal Team 6 to assassinate their political opponents.
I mean, surely this guy belongs in charge of a Democratic-Republic, right?
Changing the language was an attempt to shift the Overton Window, and the only saving grace here is that by and large the people who were most necessary to complete this shift - other GOP bigwigs - decided against doing so. They’re very laissez-faire about it, very ‘to each their own’ about it, but they say things like ‘I wouldn’t use that term,’ so I guess that’s a plus.
When I set out to write this article days ago, I figured that Republicans would broadly embrace this framing. Surely many in the far right have, but the center right (what excuse for that notion remains, anyway) wasn’t playing ball.
And, good, that’s important.
But we have to remain on guard against similar shifts in tone. They could easily try again, hoping that hammering the term “hostages” home leads to that narrative picking up speed. But if we’re prepared, we can defeat that strategy every time.
And if they try it again, we will defeat it again.
In Other News…
Brittany Watts will not be charged with crimes related to her miscarriage. Good.
Following an Iranian military hijacking of an oil tanker as well as repeated missile and drone attacks by the Houthi terrorists against international shipping, the U.S. and U.K. have retaliated against the Houthis in Yemen. This could lead to further escalation. It has also led to Congressional Representatives like Ro Khanna pointing out that Biden may not have had the authority to launch those attacks.
South Africa has taken Israel to the International Court of Justice under claims of genocide. We have chronicled the use of genocidal language by Israeli leadership, such as Netanyahu’s embrace of the “Amalek” story, so one expects those words to be used against Israel.
The New Republic’s headline on this article about Trump “Doing services” for foreign nations while President is definitely spot-on.
The Biden Administration is, perhaps later than I’d like, revoking rules that allow medical practitioners to deny services based on “personal beliefs.” Let it never be said that Biden occasionally does good things.
Some genuine scumbag is trying to use AI to make a George Carlin special. His daughter, Kelly Carlin, had some words for that.
Thank you for reading The Progressive Cafe. If this article has helped you, please consider signing up for our mailing list. This article is by Jesse Pohlman, a sci-fi/fantasy author from Long Island, New York, whose website you can check out here.