Used in a sentence: "I haven't had a political science class since the mid-nineties, so as the recent events got dissected and reference after reference was made to the concept of political bracketing, I had to look it up, as I didn't know the difference between Political [Bracketing (or Parenthesising {or Bracing})]."
Turns out it wasn't so much that I missed something when I was a student ...as this practice is a recent strategy born of the new millennium. Whereas it may have originally been about getting news coverage immediately before and after an opponent's event to steal some of the thunder ... it's now devolved into getting people to follow the other candidate and to show up at their actual events to "present an opposing view" aka "shout at their supporters".
Which is, of course, the democratic way. Because there's free speech. And money involved to harass the free speech of others with your own free speech. And confrontation. And the opposite of consensus building and compromise. And blathering. Lots of blathering. Sigh.
Or ... I mean to say ... let's start the 2016 Presidential election cycle right now! Announce your events, folks, so strategists can start planning their bracketing strategies! Let's shout it out! Woo-hoo ...
A BIT OF BRACKETING HISTORY:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/victory_lab/2012/09/03/_bracketing_why_do_political_operatives_use_the_term_to_describe_everything_they_do_.html
AKA SPOTLIGHT STEALING:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4872320/ns/politics/t/art-political-spotlight-stealing/#.VFq0SPnF_ng
BRACKETS, PARENTHESES AND BRACES ARE MY FRIENDS:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/parentheses-brackets-and-braces
No comments:
Post a Comment