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On first name terms

#1

We’re fed up of ‘alternative’ commentators using people’s first names, on a selective basis, thereby hinting at friendliness or approval. Has anyone else had their hackles raised by this?

We especially dislike hearing “Bibi” so regularly on Judge Napolitano’s show (him and just about all his interviewees). The Duran is another offender (latest is “Kamala”). Meanwhile “Putin” is “Putin”, “Xi” is “Xi” and who cares what AnsarAllah, Hamas or Hezbollah leaders’ names are, never mind their first names, familiar names, pet names?

We used to get “Boris” & “Rishi”, thank fuck they’re over at any rate.

It all smacks of propaganda in our view.

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#2

Boris was always the egregious example, with the unspoken chuckling prefix “…good old…”

I agree that this kind of framing could be a tell. I enjoy Alex Christoforou’s sarky pet names: Jungle Borell, Annalena Three Sixty, and always Elensky. In most cases these refer back to some archetypal snafu associated with the individual. But even so, these humanise utterly contemptible people.