How to Spot the Bought Line
A genuine position has a center. A bought line is only pointing.
The over-justifying tell: a genuine position can be stated in one line and then be defended from there. A bought line cannot - it comes pre-defended, with the caveats and the "of course that is not what I mean" already attached. The over-explanation is the receipt showing.
The name-checking tell: the buyer is not in the room, so the line performs loyalty by naming who it is loyal to - "anyone who knows X would say..." The naming is not to inform the audience; it is to signal to the buyer. That is the sycophant, and it is what "you were bought" points at.
The sudden softness tell: the line is hard on everyone except the critic, who is suddenly the one who is "right to feel that way." The softness toward the critic is the performance - a genuine position is not softer on the person they are actually disagreeing with. The game plays exactly these three tells, and the read rate is how many you spot.