The words we use in public discourse are changing. And not for the better. Past dialogue aimed for credibility, seeking commonality in truth embraced by a majority. News anchors softened harsh rhetoric, toning it down to "ring true" to a broader and more diverse audience.

But no more. Public dialogue isn't aimed at credibility, much less commonality. We now speak to inflame, infuriate or impassion our audiences. Depth of support matters more than breadth of support. Click-throughs are more lucrative than views. Turnout wins elections, and crossover appeal is demonized. In this new world, vocabulary is a deadly weapon.

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Russia didn't' "tinker" with American elections. The word has to be "interfere." Despite overwhelming evidence of Russian mischief-making, and zero actual change in election outcomes, the word "interfere" is preferred for its ambiguity. Accuse Trump of benefitting from "Russian interference," and he must deny it or appear illegitimate. But now you have Trump denying obvious mischief, a Putin apologist. "Interfere" is the verb of choice not for clarity, but for weaponry.

Our words now obliterate doubt, uncertainty and unknowns. Antifa activists are "looters and vandals," even when they have not been charged with looting or vandalizing anything. Who waits for official charges anymore, let alone conviction by a jury of one's peers?

A tenet of modern Marxism is to deny objective truth. To the Frankfurt School critical theorists the only knowledge is "lived experience." To each their own "alternative facts."

Ukraine becomes a pillar of open western democracy if that "narrative" fits your agenda. It is a cesspool of corruption, oligarchy and fascism when other agendas need it to be. The messy truth that the Ukrainian people have lived through one, and desperately desire the other, gets lost simply because this "objective truth" doesn't make someone rich or someone else powerful.

Nuances, subtle differences in meaning, are gone. COVID-19 was either created by the Chinese Communist Party or was transmitted through a wet market in Wuhan. No one defends the nuanced view that both could be true or both could be wrong. Language not supporting our version of events becomes "disinformation." The result is no evidence, facts or statistics to sway opposing opinions.

Humans have known for 2,500 years that elections need to be "seen" to be believed. To defeat bullies, Demosthenes placed the Ostracophoria, among the world's first "elections," in the central plaza of Athens in the fifth century BCE. The 2020 election, disproportionately voted in private and by mail, might be expected to increase coercion risk. But no, the words of choice are either to label the entire election a "fraud," or label all doubters as "deniers."

Our public dialogue now reeks of arrogance. We could have a thoughtful discussion on whether wide-scale ballot harvesting paid for by massive infusions of third party cash (via multi-billionaires like Bezos and Zuckerberg) might corruptly influence extensive vote-by-mail elections. But why do that? It's so much easier just to yell "the Big Steal" at those who yell back at "The Big Lie."

Bring your concerns to Congress and you become an "insurrectionist." Harvard University recently interviewed participants in the Jan. 6 "illegal entry" into the U.S. Capitol building. They found only a small fraction of participants intended to overthrow the government. Many merely wanted to inform Congress of their doubts that a free and fair election had occurred. That is not "insurrection," but the truth be damned, it is such a good word to de-platform an entire opposing viewpoint.

The crudity of our public dialogue is certainly not partisan. For every "deplorable," "denier" and "insurrectionist" label dished out, there's an equally obscene name called back. "Let's go, Brandon," now summarizes our most thoughtful critique of the Biden administration economic policy.

This change in word choice might be of passing interest to English majors, except for one sticking point: Isn't our form of government dependent on people actually talking to each other?

Trent Clark of Soda Springs is President and CEO of Customalting Inc. and has served in the leadership of Idaho business, politics, workforce and humanities education.