# 8. Agenda Control ## 8.5. Methodology/Refinements/Sub-species ### 8.5.3. Phrasing Tricks An agenda setter is responsible for writing and circulating the agenda. Normally they have a great deal of personal discretion in terms of the phrasing of agenda items. The manipulator may turn this to their advantage by wording issues for discussion with emphasis placed according to personal preferences. Thus the victims of this trick are forced to answer in a particular, predetermined way. A manipulator may precede a contentious question with another harmless one. The expected answer to the first question may then be used to exclude an undesirable response to the second. Another trick is to pose a question with alternative answers both of which are beneficial to the manipulator but of no value to the victims. A useful biblical example of this technique is the story of Jesus being asked whether the Jews should pay their taxes to the occupying Romans. If he answered "yes", he offended the powerful Jewish nationalist faction. If he said "no" he was inciting civil disobedience against the Romans. Both responses were therefore fatally damaging to him. Fortunately he had a coin in his pocket which helped him out of this squeeze by attributing both arguments equally.