You’ve seen the signs in your neighborhoods. They’re often accompanied by a “Biden Harris 2020” sign, or better yet a sign saying “NOPE” to Trump. Critics of these signs will point out that they are “semantically overloaded tautologies.” But that’s not even right — if anything, it’s an overestimation of the logic behind these signs. A tautology requires that something be stated twice in two different phrases (“the liberal media leans left”). But phrases like “Love is Love” don’t even bother with the rephrasing. It’s just the same word twice.
Yet phrases like this one and the others included in these signs are loaded with political baggage and begging for a discourse. Unfortunately, the homeowners of these signs don’t make room for dialog. Instead, they put themselves in a semantic straitjacket while simultaneously blocking anyone from making movements toward them.
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