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RUArmyNavyMominTX's avatar

History will judge your willingness to tell the truth and hold the press accountable. I've said it before, but it bears repeating; press who continue to refuse to call Trump a liar directly are as complicit as Republican congresspeople.

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EllTeacher's avatar

What strikes me is the tortured way adjectives and an adverb are used to offset the noun or verb "claim." Weak writing on full display and an easy path to being disregarded as readers can easily skip over the describers and just see "claim." It makes a big difference to the brain's interpretation of the sentence's meaning.

As an example:

The president incorrectly claimed he...

Trump lied because Obama (or Bush) actually did...

The first invites misunderstanding as it is fuzzy.

The second example is clear, direct, and provides no avenue for misunderstanding.

The first uses the title of president as the subject, which also provides a bit of cover with implied respect for the office. This implied respect also weakens the sentence; in contrast, by naming the offender as the subject of the sentence, the directness is powerful and attention-grabbing.

The wimpy usage of the English language is a crime against good writing in addition to being an injustice to readers.

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