I think the real meaning of “dog-whistle politics” is trying to ascribe an unpleasant secret meaning to your ideological opponents’ straightforward positions
You describe the flip side of dog whistle politics, which are false accusations of dog whistle politics. I think both happen.
Sometimes the accusations are justified, but it is an extremely poisonous tactic to the discussion, and even to your own thinking. It’s easy to project secret evil intent where you already have some fundamental disagreement with a person, and it relieves you of actually having to confront the argument as given. “He really means...”
As I noted before, in forums like these, where people come in and out of threads, and haven’t read all that goes on, I think the accusations are an extra loser, as you just end up looking like a putz, objecting to the unobjectionable.
Argue against posts as given.
if you can hear the dog-whistle, you are the dog
That’s a catchy comeback on the less than perfect metaphor, but not literally true. Sometimes people really do dog whistle, and sometimes you can hear it even if you’re not the dog (the intended audience).
You describe the flip side of dog whistle politics, which are false accusations of dog whistle politics. I think both happen.
Sometimes the accusations are justified, but it is an extremely poisonous tactic to the discussion, and even to your own thinking. It’s easy to project secret evil intent where you already have some fundamental disagreement with a person, and it relieves you of actually having to confront the argument as given. “He really means...”
As I noted before, in forums like these, where people come in and out of threads, and haven’t read all that goes on, I think the accusations are an extra loser, as you just end up looking like a putz, objecting to the unobjectionable.
Argue against posts as given.
That’s a catchy comeback on the less than perfect metaphor, but not literally true. Sometimes people really do dog whistle, and sometimes you can hear it even if you’re not the dog (the intended audience).