Liberals are different from you and me. They have more gobbledygook.

Their pretentious vocabulary is what’s keeping progressives from connecting with everyday Americans, according to a memo prepared by a left-leaning think tank and aimed at helping Democrats regain their common touch.

Titled, “Was it Something I Said?” the memo comes from Third Way and lists 45 words Democrats should never use in communicating with “normies.” Normies, apparently, refers to everyone who is not a bat-scat left-wing lunatic.

Released exclusively to Politico, the memo scolds Democrats and their allies for using “an awful lot of words and phrases no ordinary person would ever dream of saying.” (Like “normies,” perhaps?).

That, the authors warn, makes them “sound like the extreme, divisive, elitist, and obfuscatory enforcers of wokeness.”

“To please a few, we have alienated the many — especially on culture issues, where our language sounds superior, haughty and arrogant.”

Ignoring the old adage, “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck,” the memo contends, “most Democrats do not run on wildly out-of-touch social positions. But voters would be excused to believe we do because of the words that come out of our mouths….”

It goes on to list 45 of those words, by category, that distract from the noble work Democrats could do if they would just talk more like the guys at the neighborhood bar rather than the pompous denizens of the faculty lounge.

Starting with Therapy-Speak, the offenders: privilege, violence (as in environmental violence), dialoguing, othering, triggering, microaggression/assault/invalidation, progressive stack, centering, safe space, holding space and body shaming.

These words, the memo advises, signal, “I’m more empathetic than you, and you are callous to others’ feelings.” Nyah, Nyah, Nyah.

Next is Seminar Room Language, or in my definition, words and phrases that have audience members looking for sticks to poke in their eyes. They are: subverting norms, systems of oppression, critical theory, cultural appropriation, postmodernism, Overton Window, heuristic and existential threat to (climate, the planet, democracy, the economy.) These words say, “I’m smarter and more concerned about important issues than you.” Now, who’s ever got that impression from a liberal?

At this point, the memo pauses to explain, “When we use words people don’t understand, studies show that part of their brain that signals distrust becomes more active, undermining our ability to reach them.” That’s because their feet get the signal to run away as fast as they can.

Organizer Jargon is the next category. Put in there: racial transparency, small “d” democracy, barriers to participation, stakeholders, the unhoused, food insecurity, housing insecurity, person who immigrated. These say, “we are beholden to groups not individuals. People have no agency.” (No what?)

Gender/Orientation Correctness is the real mother when talking about how to talk to regular folk. Words to avoid are: birthing person/inseminated person, pregnant people, chest-feeding, cisgender, deadnaming, heteronormative, patriarchy and LGBTQIA.

Let’s move on to The Shifting Language of Racial Constructs grouping, which, if you mess up, the memo warns, will likely get you labeled a racist. Fortunately, it’s short: Latinx, BIPOC, allyship, intersectionality and minoritized communities.

The memo states, “As we fight racism, we should reflect on whether the words we are using are part of the reason Democrats are losing support from all non-White voter groups.” Sure, that’s the reason.

Finally, in “Explaining Away Crime,” it’s vital not to say: justice involved, carceration, incarcerated or involuntary confinement. Probably better to say, “lock them up and throw away the key” if the goal, as the memo contends, is to connect with those who “deserve to feel safe where they live, work and go to school.”

In conclusion, the memo asks Democrats to “Recognize that much of the language above is a red flag for a sizable segment of the American public.”

Memo to Third Way: It’s not the words that are the red flag. It’s the ideas they so accurately represent.

Nolan Finley writes for the Detroit News.

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Today is Thursday, Sept. 11, the 254th day of 2025. There are 111 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed as 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four jetliners, sending two of the planes into New York’s World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania. It remains the deadliest terror attack in history.

Also on this date:

In 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

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In 1814, an American fleet scored a decisive victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812.

In 1936, Boulder Dam — later renamed the Hoover Dam — began operation as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a button in Washington to signal the startup of the dam’s first hydroelectric generator.

In 1941, groundbreaking took place for the Pentagon.

In 1954, the Miss America pageant made its network TV debut on ABC.

In 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende (ah-YEN’-day) died during a violent military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.

In 1985, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds broke Ty Cobb’s MLB career hits record with his 4,192nd hit.

In 2008, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama put aside politics as they visited ground zero together on the anniversary of 9/11 to honor its victims.

In 2012, a mob armed with guns and grenades launched a fiery nightlong attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost and a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

In 2023, over 4,000 people died and thousands more were missing after heavy rain from Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused two dams to collapse, flooding the city of Derna, Libya.

Today’s Birthdays:

Composer Arvo Pärt is 90.
Film director Brian De Palma is 85.
Singer-actor-dancer Lola Falana is 83.
Musician Mickey Hart is 82.
Guitarist Leo Kottke is 80.
Actor Amy Madigan is 75.
Rock musician Tommy Shaw (Styx) is 72.
Sportscaster Lesley Visser is 72.
Actor Scott Patterson is 67.
Actor/director Roxann Dawson is 67.
Actor John Hawkes is 66.
Actor Virginia Madsen is 64.
Musician-composer Moby is 60.
Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 58.
Actor Taraji (tuh-RAH’-jee) P. Henson is 55.
Rapper Ludacris is 48.
Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed is 47.
Country singer Charles Kelley (Lady A) is 44.
Actor Elizabeth Henstridge is 38.
Actor Tyler Hoechlin (HEK’-lihn) is 38.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley has canceled an event with conservative political commentator and activist Ben Shapiro — which was scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 10 — after learning that fellow conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been fatally shot earlier in the day.

Shapiro was set to appear at the library to discuss his new book, “Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics),” on Wednesday night.

The Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, however, announced the event’s cancelation after Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during a speaking engagement in Utah.

“The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is saddened to hear of events that took place today at Utah Valley University. Our prayers are with Charlie Kirk and his family,” the foundation wrote on social media. “As a mark of respect, we are cancelling our program and book signing with Ben Shapiro this evening.”

Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, rose to prominence for confronting liberals in academia, eventually winning over an influential set of conservative financiers. He was an early backer of President Donald Trump, going on to serve as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr. during the elder Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. He often espoused far-right political talking points, including racist, homophobic, and transphobic beliefs.

He was also a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, notably saying during a 2023 TPUSA faith event: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”

Shapiro and Kirk, meanwhile, operated within the same political sphere. Shapiro said on social media Wednesday that he was “utterly stunned and heartbroken” about Kirk’s death.

“Charlie was a good man who believed in right and wrong, who stood by his Biblical values,” Shapiro said. “All of us will miss him, and I can’t imagine the pain of his beautiful young family, and we all must pray for them. And we must pick up the baton where Charlie left it, fighting for the things he believed in so passionately.”

The Reagan Foundation said a new date for Shapiro’s library event would be announced in the future.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

By SHEIKH SAALIQ

NEW DELHI (AP) — The swelling wave of public anger first swept through the island nation of Sri Lanka in 2022 and ousted the president. Two years later, it erupted in Bangladesh as protesters toppled the ruling government. On Monday public fury exploded in Nepal, forcing its prime minister to resign a day after.

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Each protest movement began with a specific grievance that flared up, ending in the rejection of the government or its leaders.

In many ways, the protest movements share a common feature: disillusioned peoples’ resentment against the ruling elite and an entrenched political system they hold responsible for rampant corruption, deepening inequality and economic disparities.

Often led by young people, the protests have sparked deadly violence and sometimes left behind a political vacuum filled by unelected leaders and a worsening law and order situation.

“A perception of ruling elites as being both corrupt and ineffective at delivering a plausible path forward has created a structural basis for major crises,” said Paul Staniland, a politics professor specializing in South Asia at the University of Chicago.

Nepal’s public fury is largely against the political elite

The youth-led protests in Nepal began on Monday as simmering discontent over years was ignited by the government’s ban on major social media platforms. Many were particularly angry that the children of political leaders seem to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, while most of the population was dealing with economic problems, rising unemployment and widespread corruption.

The unrest has left at least 19 people dead.

Smoke billows from the parliament building after it was set on fire during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Prakash Timalsina)

Protesters — who have not clearly spelled out their demands apart from rallying under the anti-corruption call — burned the parliament building, presidential house, and residences of several ministers and other politicians. Bending to mounting public pressure, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli reversed the social media ban and quit. However, he will still lead a caretaker government until a new one is in place.

It is unclear what the new government would look like and whether it will constitute the old political guard. Many Nepalis fear a familiar sequence of bargaining among the same political class they want to overthrow.

Nepal is fraught with frequent political instability and each prime minister’s tenure has lasted just a year or two since the new constitution came into effect in 2015. The country abolished its monarchy in 2006, after a violent uprising that forced its former king to give up his authoritarian rule.

Staniland said the violence could make it “much harder to determine who should be in charge or how they should proceed.”

“The big question now in Nepal will be whether order can be restored and new, stable political dispensation forged,” he said.

Before Nepal there was Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Those in Nepal looking for answers about its future will not find solace in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The lack of consensus on basic reform demands like elections and anti-corruption mechanisms, and an uncertain road map for the future, have dented the democratic progress in those countries and further exacerbated the problems they face.

In Bangladesh, student-led protests started with anger against rules that limited the number of civil service jobs based on merit. They morphed into a massive nationwide uprising in July last year that culminated in the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hundreds of people, mostly students, were killed in violent protests.

Hasina fled to India, and an unelected interim administration, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was installed. He promised to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms.

One year on, Bangladesh remains mired in instability. Politic parties are bickering over election dates. Mob violence, political attacks on rival parties and groups, and hostility to vulnerable minority groups by religious hard-liners have surged.

In Sri Lanka, the then-Prime minister Ranil Wickremensignhe took over the country after protesters forced the powerful Rajapaksa clan out in 2022. The country later had a democratic transition of power after Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as president last year. He promised to improve standards of living, clean up government and hold corrupt politicians responsible for their actions.

Almost a year later, Sri Lanka’s problems seem far from over. Its people continue to deal with issues like economic hardships, human rights concerns and foreign-debt default.

“There is no sign of the ideals of change desired by the protesters,” said Veeragathy Thanabalasingham, a Colombo-based political expert.

Wider instability in the region

Recent popular revolts have also rocked other nations in the region.

In Indonesia, deadly protests last week over lawmakers’ perks and the cost of living forced the country’s president to replace key economic and security ministers. The protests have led to the death of at least seven people.

In Myanmar, imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu Kyi ’s democratically-elected government was ousted by the military in 2021. Resistance to the military government has grown, and the country is now in the midst of a brutal civil war.

Staniland said while “most protests come and go without such dramatic results” as those seen in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, “the kindling is there for miscalculations and unexpected events to spiral.”

“I think Nepal represents the new politics of instability in South Asia,” he said.

Associated Press writer Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka contributed to this report.