Whistle While You Lie: The Subtle Art of Coded Speech

One of the so-called "reforms" to Medicaid in the Big Beautiful Bill is the addition of a work requirement.

There’s no real need to argue whether this is necessary or even effective, because it’s not a policy; it’s a dog whistle.

I doubt anyone reading this needs a refresher, but for the record: a dog whistle—in political or social contexts—is a phrase that sounds harmless or reasonable to the general public but sends a loaded, often divisive, message to a targeted audience. Just like a literal dog whistle, it goes unheard by most, but loud and clear to the ones it's meant for.

Examples?

• “States’ rights” was long used to oppose civil rights while pretending it was about federalism.
• “Globalists” often serves as an antisemitic euphemism, dressed up to sound like economic policy.

The Medicaid work requirement operates the same way.

The surface-level message sounds logical:

“If you want benefits, you should work.”

But the subtext—the part heard by those tuned into the frequency—is:

“People on Medicaid are lazy freeloaders, scamming the gub-ment.”

And that pronunciation—gub-ment—isn’t accidental. During the Obama years, certain Republican figures leaned into that drawl like it was part of the uniform. It wasn’t just about making government sound foolish—it was about evoking a time when men were men, sheep were nervous, minorities knew their place, and nobody worried about “wokeness,” “inclusion,” or facts.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t just a dog whistle.

It’s a nested dog whistle.

Remember: When conservatives talk about “scammers,” their minds often flash back to Reagan’s infamous “Welfare Queen.” A Black woman driving a Cadillac, buying T-bone steaks for her dog because the snotty-nosed cashier wouldn’t let her use food stamps for pet food. You know how the story goes — because “you know how they are.”

And Trump? He’s fluent in this language.

When Trump said “Suburban housewives will vote for me”

Surface Message	I'm protecting your way of life.
Dog Whistle	I’ll protect your neighborhood from crime and chaos.
Nested Layer	I’ll preserve the segregated, postwar ideal of white suburban safety.
Tertiary Bonus Dog Whistle	Those Black guys want your white women.

When Republicans say “Take our country back”

Surface Message	Patriotic revival
Dog Whistle	Something was taken—by immigrants, minorities, progressives.
Nested Layer	This implies that “real Americans” (i.e., white, Christian, native-born) have lost power to outsiders—evoking deep nativist and often racial resentment.

When Republicans say “Protect our borders”

Surface Message	National security and immigration control
Dog Whistle	We’re being invaded by dangerous outsiders.
Nested Layer	Recycles “replacement theory” rhetoric—that white Americans are being demographically outnumbered. Also activates fear of crime, disease, or cultural dilution.

When Republicans say “School choice”

Surface Message	Let parents decide what's best for their kids.
Dog Whistle	Distrust of public schools (feel free to substitute "Black" or "urban" for "public").
Nested Layer	Echoes of segregation-era “freedom of choice” plans used to avoid integration—today repurposed to shift public funds to private, often religious, schools.

When Republicans say “Inner city”

Surface Message	Geography
Dog Whistle	Black and brown communities in distress.
Nested Layer	Conjures up images of crime, decay, and failure—used to suggest cultural inferiority or lack of personal responsibility without saying it outright.

When Republicans talk about “Traditional values”

Surface Message	Patriotism, family, faith.
Dog Whistle	Anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant, anti-secular progress.
Nested Layer	Suggests that certain people or lifestyles (queer, atheist, immigrant, feminist) are fundamentally un-American—and only a specific cultural identity is valid.

When Republicans say “Law and Order” (and no, they don’t mean the TV series with the doink doink...)

Surface Message	Public safety
Dog Whistle	We’re going to crack down on “them.”
Nested Layer	Triggers fear of riots, protestors, and “urban crime.” A coded way to position Black and brown bodies as threats to white comfort and stability.

Bottom Line

If you don't hear the 'Dog whistle', it's because you aren’t supposed to. They're aimed at 'like-minded' individuals, they’re layered propaganda. They let politicians signal bigotry without ever saying the quiet part out loud. Until we learn to decode them, we’ll keep mistaking "common sense policies" for what they really are; Weapons, cloaked in civility.

...I'm just saying