Editing Thought-terminating cliché (section)

== In politics ==
Two criticisms made by various journalists are that the cliché tends to halt debate and restrict or censor [[freedom of speech]], or tends to be synonymous with language that would be used by [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian states]] as Lifton originally identified with [[Communist-controlled China (1927–1949)|Communist China]]. Chancellor [[Adolf Hitler]] of [[Nazi Germany]] is remarked to have employed such clichés and platitudes to justify his actions prior to and during the events of World War II.<ref name=":4">{{Cite magazine |last=Soni |first=I. M. |date=August 2017 |title=Cliches are like base coins |magazine=[[Alive (magazine)|Alive]] |page=88}}</ref>

In [[Joan Didion]]'s essay "Good Citizens", included in her 1979 collection ''[[The White Album (book)|The White Album]]'', Didion writes of the clichés used by the people she sees as comprising 1960s "liberal Hollywood": "It is a way of talking that tends to preclude further discussion, which may well be its intention."

David Volodzko in ''[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]]'' in 2015 characterized [[China]]'s justification for persecuting [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]], [[Uyghurs]], [[Falun Gong]], artists, and journalists (including [[Liu Xiaobo]]), summed up as "for [[National security|security]] reasons", as a thought-terminating cliché, going on to say "that's every bit as vapid as 'God moves in a mysterious way' or '[[support our troops]]'. What it really means is that the Party is more important than the people."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/06/chinas-biggest-taboos-the-three-ts/|title=China's Biggest Taboos: The Three Ts|last=Volodzko|first=David|website=The Diplomat|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-09}}</ref>