The construction of rhetoric

In last night’s Darkstream, I noted that the most effective rhetoric tends to have something in common: it is based on mocking an aspect of the target’s self-identification.

For example, the reason Social Justice Warrior is effective rhetoric that triggers the emotions of SJWs while derogatory terms like Social Justice Bully and Social Justice Crybaby do not is because “warrior” is a term that the SJWs gave themselves, and more importantly, it is how they see themselves. To hear the term used contemptuously, as an open form of mockery, is what causes the emotional pain that triggers them.

Fake News, which is arguably the most effective rhetorical term ever deployed against the media, is almost exactly the same. It is a term originally coined by the media, but stolen and deployed against them, and one that strikes at the very heart of their self-value and self-identification as devotees of truth and accuracy.

So, as an exercise, let’s see if anyone can utilize this principle to come up with a rhetorical term for moderates that would serve as an alternative to Cuckservative, which is itself already an effective tag that is a play on a self-title rather than an actual one, but nevertheless strikes powerfully at the conservative’s self-image as loyal and moral.