Antitheton - Fight the Right

Sales and Marketing of the Right

The right has left no stone unturned in their quest to study the art and science of selling a message.  Rockridge Institute has a great article that talks about this:

The radical Right's messaging and framing infrastructure doesn't seem so fearsome if you know how to spot its weaknesses.

The radical Right is acutely aware of cases where the general public has progressive values and would ordinarily reject their agenda. The Right's approach to such cases is deception, often through the use of Orwellian language -- language that means the opposite of what it says.

For example, the term compassionate conservatism is used because leaders on the Right have traditionally been considered mean and lacking in empathy toward people who are needy, poor or oppressed. The term compassionate suggests that conservatives do care about such people, although their policies go in exactly the opposite direction. And indeed, certain conservative theorists are open as to what compassion is to mean, namely that removing "interference," especially by the government, allows disciplined people who are seeking their self-interest to become prosperous.

This use of language is no accident.

Frank Luntz and his associates are well paid to devise such language. What does Luntz advise?

    * When talking to women, use words women like, such as love, from the heart, and for the children - no matter what is being said.

    * When talking about our environment, use the words healthy, clean, and safe - even if you're advocating policies that increase pollution.

In a recent version of their regularly updated language manual, there is a chapter titled "The Environment: A Cleaner, Safer, Healthier America". In it, Luntz acknowledges that the scientific evidence does not support the conservative position on global warming. What does he suggest?

    "The scientific debate is closing [against us] but not yet closed. There is still a window of opportunity to challenge the science."

And Luntz is listened to.

This strategy has been adopted in how the Right talks about the "Clear Skies Act," which increases pollution and mercury contamination, and the "Healthy Forests Act," which permits clear cutting and the destruction of forests.

This is part of a major strategy. The radical Right knows that it does not have a majority that accepts its worldview. If most Americans really believed what the radical Right does, no resort to such distortions would be necessary.

This is crucial for progressives to understand, because Orwellian language reveals weakness.

Progressives commonly wring their hands in despair when conservatives use Orwellian language. They shouldn't. The use of Orwellian language signals to us where conservatives are weak. Forget that their deceptiveness is immoral. The point is that they are weak and are revealing their weakness. If they had public support, they could freely call their initiative the Dirty Skies Act.

Progressives can use the Right's Orwellian weaknesses to our advantage. We can focus the public's attention on it by highlighting the discrepancies between what the radical Right says and what it does. Do not hesitate to rename their Orwellian legislation. For example:

    * Do not call it the "Clear Skies initiative." Call it the "Dirty Skies initiative."

    * Do not call it "Healthy Forests." Call it "No Tree Left Behind."

    * Do not call it "Compassionate Conservatism." Call it "Callous Conservatism".

Luntz is clearly very influential in helping the Republicans control their message thruough the use of language. The Environmental Working Group put togther a detailed analisys of the Luntz environmental document entitled "The Environment: A cleaner, Safer, Healthier America". EWG cities several do and don'ts from this memo:

- Don't Focus on the Present, Do Focus on the Future.

- Don't Focus on the Process, Do Focus on benefits.

- Don't use economic terms such as "risk assesment or cost benefit analysis", Do "Talk about the real world day to day effects that proposed environmental remedies would have on their lives (p. 139).

- Don't use weak, passive language, DO "assure the public of your values and intentions. Use strong, active words:"preserving and protectng" (p.135).

Don't talk about rollback or deregulation, Do talk about protection/Common sense legislation.

Another Luntz document is entitled "Communicating the Principles and Protection in the War on Terror". Atrios did a extensive review of this back in June.

The right's tactics can be seen in many sales and persuasion courses. In my opinion, Robert Cialdini's Persuasion Principles from the book Influence:Science and Practice have "influenced" the strategy of the Republicans a great deal:

 

1. Principle of Liking - People like those who like them (a corallary is people like those who are like them). Application - Uncover real similairities and offer genuine praise.

2. Principle of Reciprocity - People Repay in Kind. Application - Give what you want to receive.

3. Principle of Social Proof - People follow the lead of similiar others. Application - Use peer power whenever it's available.

4. Principle of Consistency - People align with their clear commitments. Application - Make their commitments active, public, and voluntary.>

5. Principle of Authority - People defer to experts. Application - Expose your expertise. Don't assume it's self evident.

6. Principle of Scarcity - People want more of what they can have less of. Application - Highlight unique benefits and exclusive information .

(Cialdini's work has been published several times in the Harvard Business Review, and is in many MBA curriculums.)

When the right deals with demographics (like Christian fundamentalists) you can see all of these in action. The right uses these persuasion priciples along with professional marketing techniques to hone their message for their audience. The message is fine tuned in targeted focus groups, then each crafted message is delivered to a specific audience or demographic.

It works spectacularly well, as evidenced by their total control of all three branches of government. it appears 51% of the electorate believes it. The goal of all progressives should be to expose this use of language to hide the real right wing agenda, while learning from it use in progressive messaging.

It's the System, Stupid

The right controls political discourse in America. If the debacle we have now was not enough to throw Bush and his "machiavellian minions" (Barbara Boxer quote) out, I shutter to think what would be enough. There are three big issues that progressives must lead on if we ever want to have a chance to balance the (never) Right wing's power:

- Media Deregulation

- Fairness Doctrine

- Term Limits

Media Deregulation

Media deregulation was clearly part of the strategy of the Republicans to drive profit motive into news reporting, then use that profit motive to influence and control the media. CNN and MSNBC cower before this administration because of it (and the fear of losing access). Here are a few facts from FreePress.net .

Since 1995, the number of companies owning commercial TV stations has declined by 40% . Facts On Media In America: Did You Know? Common Cause, 8 May, 2003

Heavy viewers of the Fox News Channel are nearly four times as likely to hold demonstrably untrue positions about the war in Iraq as media consumers who rely on National Public Radio or the Public Broadcasting System study by the Program on International Policy Attitudes, which surveyed 3,334 Americans who receive their news from a single media source.

32% of local reporters have acknowledged that they have softened the tone of a news story on behalf of the interests of their news organization. Self Censorship: How Often and Why, Journalists Avoiding the News The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 30 April, 2000.

73% of journalists believe that buyouts of news organizations by big, diversified corporations has a negative effect on journalism. Self Censorship: How Often and Why, Journalists Avoiding the News The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 30 April, 2000.

The lack of a truly independent media has given the Bush Admin a free pass to wage war and reduce or eliminate our civil iberities. The lack of a truly independent media emboldens the Republicans to lower the standards for Tom Delay, and to try to slip in nasty IRS and abortion provisions into a massive spending bill.

Fairness Doctrine

The loss of the Fairness Doctrine allows the Sinclair Broadcasting debacle. The FCC under Reagan repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. Here is a brief description from Wikipedia :

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy enforced in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission that required broadcast licensees to present controversial issues of public importance, and to present such issues in a fair and balanced manner. ...

The Doctrine was enforced throughout the entire history of the FCC (and its precursor, the Federal Radio Commission) until 1987, when the FCC repealed it in the Syracuse Peace Conference decision in 1987. The Republican-controlled commission claimed the doctrine had grown to inhibit rather than enhance debate and suggested that, due to the many media voices in the marketplace at the time, the doctrine was probably unconstitutional. Others, noting the subsequent rise of right-wing radio host like Rush Limbaugh, suggest the repeal was more likely motivated by a desire to get partisans on the air.

The two corollary rules, the personal attack rule and the political editorial rule, remained in practice even after the repeal of the fairness doctrine. The personal attack rule is pertinent whenever a person or small group is subject to a character attack during a broadcast. Stations must notify such persons or groups within a week of the attack, send them transcripts of what was said, and offer the opportunity to respond on the air. The political editorial rule applies when a station broadcasts editorials endorsing or opposing candidates for public office, and stipulates that the candidates not endorsed be notified and allowed a reasonable opportunity to respond.

The Court of Appeals for Washington D.C. ordered the FCC to justify these corollary rules in light of the decision to axe the fairness doctrine. The commission did not do so promptly, and in 2000 it ordered their repeal. The collapse of the fairness doctrine and it's corollary rules had significant political effects. One longtime Pennsylvania political leader, State Rep. Mark B. Cohen of Philadelphia, said "The fairness doctrine helped reinforce a politics of moderation and inclusiveness. The collapse of the fairness doctrine and it's corollary rules blurred the distinctions between news, political advocacy, and political advertising, and helped lead to the polarizing cacophony of strident talking heads that we have today.""

Does anyone doubt that there has been a blurring between news and political advocacy today? The Fairness Doctrine ensured both sides of a debate were to be presented. Since to its repeal, one side dominates the discussion in our media. The combination of media being driven by profit motive and the absense of the fairness doctrine have lead to a decidely right slant to major mdeia outlets. (Check out www.fairnessdoctrine.com for more info)

Term Limits

It is virtually impossible to unseat an incumbent in the House. In 2004, 96% of incumbents were re-elected, and 98% were re-elected in 2000 and 1998. The percentage has only dipped below 90% twice in thirty years (1974 and 1990). The Senate is almost as difficult, averaging 87.6% re-elected in the last five elections. Incumbents raised on average more than four times the funds of challengers in the House in 2002. See this site for more information on incumbents, re-election, and money.

The lack of term limits keeps congressmen and Senators in power for decades, and ensures they are more concerned about their own power than the desires of their constituents or party. The Democrats in Congress are just as guilty. Many Dem Senators bitterly attacked the Republicans for a few hours about the IRS and abortion provisions in the spending bill, but ultimately agreed to a deal that that gained little to nothing. In my opinion (and many others), this deal was more for political expediency than for standing up aginst a blatant abuse of power.

These three issues are critical to the health of our democracy. Vote suppression, imtimidation and fraud are alot more difficult with a true independent media. Campaigns are likely to be much more issue focused with term limits and a national fairness doctrine. Wars based on lies, greed, and political power grabs are much more difficult to pull off when an independent media is not afraid to stand up, and are not as likely to be supported in a Congress NOT full of lifetime members.

I think these three issues are the core to the progressive fight. We must press them at every opportunity. Without significant changes in our current system, it will be extraordinarily difficult to displace the neo-conservative Republicans from power.

Machiavellian Minions

It did not take long for the right wing to begin abusing their power. The Senate is debating at the moment of this posting (on CSPAN 2, www.cspan.org)  the Omnibus Spending bill just approved by the House. Fortunately, before the vote, someone discovered a few items that were slipped into the bill without debate. According to the Lexington Herald Leader, " the bill contained a provision that would have permitted some members of Congress and their staffs access to income tax returns and disclose the information without penalty".  While debating this amendment, several senators have railed against the Republicans majority and their "Machiavellian Minions" (Sen. Boxer's words) for attempting to slip this into this spending bill. Apparently, this bill would also allow any member of Congress or their staff to release ANYONE's TAX RETURN to the press with no penalty. According to the debate on CSPAN,  Rep. Ted Ishtook (R - OK) is responsible for this amendment. This may be inteneded to use against the Prosecutor pursuing charges against Tom Delay.

The Republicans did not stop at eliminating our right to privacy for our tax returns. The GOP also wanted to"permit hospitals and HMOs to avoid state requirements that they offer abortion services".  In one bill, the Right hopes to use a backdoor to eliminate abortion and hopes to give Congress and their staff the right to look at anyones tax return.

The right wing majority not only tried to slip this into a spending bill without debate, they also expected to get away with it after the bill passed. Appropriations Chair Ted Stevens from Alaska claims this was a "mistake" and that it will never be enforced. Kurt Conrad of North Carolina points out that this mistake will become law if this bill is passed, and Stevens cannot ensure this power will never be used once granted. 

Senator Bryd went further in his condemnations of the Republicans and the White House. "That's the White House meddling.  A White House that does not seem to recognize that there is a Constitution of the United States. A white house that does not seem to recognize that there is a separation of power. A White House that does not seem to remember that the legislative branch is not, indeed, subordinated to the executive branch." It is nice to see some backbone from the Democrats in the Senate. Senator Lautenburg agrees. "If one party is shameless, the other party cannot afford to be spineless". 

This is just the beginning. Despite the protestations of Ted Stevens, the Republican Majority clearly expected to slip these provisions into the spending bill without debate. What will the Right do in the next Congress with extended majorities in both Houses and a President with a "mandate".  The Democrats in Congress are hammering the majority relentlessly on this issue. The ability too see anyones tax return and release it to the press could be used against Congressmen, their families, and their staff. Can we rely on the Democrats in Congress to stand up every time the right tries to consolidate their power and remove or reduce our civil liberties??? Will this backbone strengthen, or whither away? TIme will  tell.

[Update]: The Guardian just posted this story. The Senate "unanimously adopted a resolution immediately after passing a 3,300-word spending bill containing the measure, saying the provision ``shall have no effect.'' House leaders promised to pass the resolution next Wednesday.

``We're going to get that done,'' said John Feehery, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert." The story does not clarify if this resolution is legally binding. In any case, our Congress just passed a law to allow Congress members to look at anyone's tax return and release it to anyone. Resolution or not, that is a frightening development. Rep. Earnest Ishtook and his colleagues have alot of explaining to do...

The horror of Iraq

The BBC is reporting that an NBC photographer caught an American soldier on film shooting an unarmed, wounded man. The soldier has been taken into custody. It is reasonable to assume this is not the first or last time this has happened. There are posts on DailyKos and other sites calling American soldiers war criminals. In this case, it seems obvious. This soldier was absolutely wrong. But before painting all of our soldeirs with a broad brush, it helps to consider for a moment the situation our soldiers live in every day, every miserable, neverending moment.

Just imagine for a moment being in a battle where the enemy doesn't wear a uniform and is everywhere, and nowhere.

Imagine seeing disemboweled corpses and dismembered limbs lying in pools of bright red blood, covered in maggots and flies.

Imagine the knot in your stomach tightening as the smell of death assaults your nostrils, over and over.

Imagine going from overpowering fear to intense exhilaration and  back to paralyzing fear, in moments, knowing that at any time your could be killed or horribly maimed by a suicide bomber, a car bomb, a rocket propelled grenade, a home made mine, or 30 rounds from a AK-47.

Imagine seeing women lying dead in the street, holding their dismembered children and dead babies,  every day, their families both begging you for help and cursing your existence at the same time.

Imagine the never ending sound of artillery shells, tank rounds, M-16 fire, the desperate gasp of the soldier dying next to you, the piercing scream of a widow, the heart stopping cry of a mother, the soul numbing silence of a child breathing her last breath.

Imagine being many thousands of miles away from home in a blazing hot desert where no one speaks your language, and everyone hates you. Everyone wants to kill you. Everyone thinks you want to kill them.

All this for a war where you know many thousands of innocent civilians have died, and the thought of it overwhelms you with grief. All for this for a war you know is wrong, a war you were lied to by your commander in-chief, a war in which many of your friends have died. A war which you know is getting worse, not better, every day. All this horror and grief in a war in which you know deep down that you will likely leave in a flag draped coffin, hidden from the cameras, so the public will not realize how brutal, barbaric, and viscious real war is.

This does not excuse commiting atrocities, but at least try to put your self in the shoes of a soldier before condemning them all as war criminals.

Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz are the real war criminals. The Iraqi people and our soldiers live this nightmare live and in color, every day, every moment of there miserable lives, while Bush pontificates about "mandate" and "political capital".

Fascism Anyone?

The 109th Congress will debate renewal and expansion of the Patriot Act when it convenes. The Patriot Act is intended to keep Americans safe from terrorism. It is not yet clear if it has been successful, however it is abundantly clear that the Patriot Act is an assult on our civil liberties. In our fear of terrorism, Congress has given the goverment the power  to delay notifying a person their home or property has been searched (sneak and peek searches). A special court is empowered to issue secret search warrants for info related to terrorism.  The secret warrants are accompanied by gag orders which prevent any person served with such a warrant from discussing it with anyone. Bush hopes to expand and extend these powers in a "Patriot Act II".

With Bush's relection, the Christian Right who helped elect him wants payback. James Dobson, leader of Focus on Family warns Bush "needs to be more agressive" on the "religious right's pro-life, anti-gay rights agenda", or else.

This combination of using fear to reduce civil liberties while pushing a religious agenda on the electorate should be familiar.

The 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism

Lawrence Britt published a article in 2003 on the 14 defining characteristics of fascism enitiled Fascism Anyone?. In light of Bush's second term, now is a good time to review these for comparison to America in 2004.

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.

5. Rampant sexism.

6. A controlled mass media.

7. Obsession with national security.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.

9. Power of corporations protected.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.

14. Fraudulent elections.

Britt goes on to state "Does any of this ring alarm bells? Of course not. After all, this is America, officially a democracy with the rule of law, a constitution, a free press, honest elections, and a well-informed public constantly being put on guard against evils. Historical comparisons like these are just exercises in verbal gymnastics. Maybe, maybe not."

Bush has wrapped himself in the flag and religion from the beginning. Septmeber 11th gave him a enemy to fight and an excuse to use our powerful military at will. Furthermore, Bush has chosen to use fear to reduce (in some cases eliminate) our civil liberties in order to protect us. His agenda and talking points are blasted at the public every day by  the right wing noise machine of Fox News, Limbaugh, Hannity, and Drudge, with wanna be's at every other majot media outlet.

Corporations and the wealthy are Bush's clear constituency. Corporations benefit from Bush's outsourcing tax breaks while the middle class labor is squeezed out of the economy. Five tax breaks for the rich during a war is ample proof of where Bush's loyalty lies.

Instead of improving our faith in the election system, 2004 has brought more questions. Numerous allegations of throwing out democratic registration before the eletion and using a "felon" list to remove voters from the registration rolls put the process in question. Voter intimidation and suppression stories have been rampant, with many precincts in minority neighborhoods not having enough voting machines or poll workers. And this do not even consider the whole debacle of electronic voting.

The Democratic Party and Independents must fight this adminidtration at every turn, as the Republicans did prior to 94. Every nomination and every bill must be fought vigorously. The alternative is a ever increasing slide into fascism in America. One more major terrorist attack is likely enough to complete this slide.

"Imagine a boot stamping on a human face- forever."

Possible Side Effects of Right Wing Red Include...

The Right Wing Noise Machine is repeating one word over and over : MANDATE, MANDATE, MANDATE.

“Mandate” is a pill intended to make the second term neo-con agenda easier to swallow. As more and more of the public and media swallow this pill, news of the second term agenda leaks out. Progressives are likely already having dry heaves from the force feeding of the ‘red’ pill.  Google News and MediaMatters.org provide ample evidence of the right’s latest prescription for the American public.

Conservative pundits like Limbaugh are happy to push pills for the right (Rush is rumored to color his OxyContin red before taking it for ‘pain’.) Unfortunately, talk radio is not the only right wing drug store.

William Kristol of the Weekly Standard may have taken a bit more than the prescribed dose, and his readers follow suit.  Kristol opines "…we're nevertheless inclined to call this a Mandate. Indeed, in one sense, we think it an even larger and clearer mandate than those won in the landslide reelection campaigns of Nixon in 1972". Here's hoping that Bush's mandate ends in resignation as well.

The Washington Times feels about red pills the way a certain former Washington Mayor felt about crack. In an article entitled  "Conservatives urge Bush to go his own way” (as opposed to his ultra-liberal first term?), the Times states "Conservative activists say President Bush should push forward with his second-term mandate ratified by 59 million voters on Election Day, including a constitutional amendment banning same-sex "marriage." In the same article, Pat Buchanan describes the Bush win as "a victory in the ‘culture war’ ".  Buchanan takes his ‘red’ pill as a suppository twice a day, religiously.

Fox News is, of course, America’s leading distributor of right wing red. Ed Gillespie of the RNC is quoted by FoxNews.com as saying "I think we saw obviously tonight a decisive win in the popular vote". Rudy Giuliani is quoted on Hannity and Colmes as saying " I think the popular vote ends up creating a mandate." Rumor has it that Fox news has stocked every Green Room and break room with red pill dispensers. Much to Fox’s dismay, the red pill does have a few side effects.

Unfortunately, the main stream media has been slipping a few red pills as well.

It appears that the Washington Post has been unable to resist the red pill's allure. Charles Krauthammer writes  "Later than most two-term presidents, George Bush got his mandate", then follows up with "The endorsement was resounding." Krauthammer goes further to say that "...a 3.5-million-vote margin is a serious majority." Another Post article states  "Bush heads into a second term with a clearer mandate and greater power than he did in 2000 to put a conservative, free-market stamp on U.S. domestic and foreign policy". Considering how Bush ruled in his first term, that idea that war-mongering and gay bashing is not conservative enough is sobering.

CNN is desperately trying to catch Fox News in the ratings. Several CNN programs are doubling as advertisements for the wonders of the ‘red’. Paula Zahn (Paula Zahn Now,11/8/04), Andy Sewer (In the Money,11/7/04) and Carol Costello (CNN DayBreak, 11/5/04) all claim a Bush "mandate". CNN execs likely hope increasing their own distribution of the right wing red will lead to Fox viewers switching to CNN. Delusions are obviously a powerful side effect when taking the red pill in Atlanta.

Tony Karon of Time may must have overdosed in a Fox News Green Room recently. Karon claims "claims "George W. Bush took the reins of power with the confidence and certainty of one who had carried a landslide mandate to implement his own agenda. This time, of course, his claim of a popular mandate is incontrovertible". Landslide mandate? Incontrovertible? Amazingly enough, this is NOT a Rush Limbaugh quote in Time Magazine. According to several liberal blogs, this issue of Time has been linked to a marked increase in vomiting in several blue states.

Obviously, the right wing noise machine is pushing the mandate pill for a reason. While it is easy (and quite cathartic) to poke fun at the media for swallowing and regurgitating the right’s message, there is always a chaser. As always, this message is prepping the public for the second term agenda. Rumors of this agenda have begun slipping out, and, if true, this chaser will induce much more than depression and insomia.

Andrew Gumbel’s article in The Independent entitled "The New Republican Reality: No policy is too right wing" highlights a few possibilities for “four more years’ of new and more powerful red pills . If that title is not frightening enough, he opens the article with "Where should the United States invade next? Iran, Syria, or Cuba?" An anonymous State department official is quoted from an October Salon.com article as saying:

"The neo-cons, working in tandem with a similar staff in the office of Prime Minister Sharon of Israel, have a three-part agenda for the first part of Bush's second term.’ He wrote. "First, oust Yasser Arafat; second, overthrow the secular Baathist al-Assad dictatorship in Syria; and, third, eliminate, one way or another,Iran's nuclear facilities."

Gumbel goes on to mention that President Bush promised Cuban exiles in Miami to "liberate their homeland." With our military stretched to the limit in an Iraq under martial law (didn't Bush say over and over in the campaign that Iraq was improving every day?), one must wonder how we plan to invade Iran,Syria, and Cuba as well with an "all-volunteer” military.

Of course, nation building, plundering, pillaging, and putting "freedom on the march" are not the only plans for a second term. Mr. Gumbel quotes Republican strategist Richard Vigueire as saying " "I don't know if we're going to abolish the prescription drug benefit [for senior citizens], but we'd like to. It's just an expansion of government". Gumbel paints a very ugly picture.

The doctor’s instructions on the red pill requires the patient to forget a few things, like John Kerry received the second most votes of any candidate in history after Bush. Nausea and vomiting could occur if the patient recalls more people voted against Bush than any previous candidate. Depression and Insomnia are likely if the patient is informed this was the narrowest win by an incumbent since 1916, and the smallest ever for a "War President". Magically, this red pill converts the dream of ‘mandate’ into a drug induced reality. Perhaps this is what that anonymous White House Senior Adviser meant when telling Ron Suskind that ‘when we act, we create our own reality”.

The right wing noise machine uses “pills’ like MANDATE to make chasers like Clarence Thomas for Chief Justice go down easier. If Bush has a MANDATE, the public has spoken and endorsed his "vision". The chasers are the real threat of right wing red. New and improved versions of right wing red pills are always in development, to prepare the way for more chasers. War in Iraq and the threat of terrorism on our soil could be compounded with further wars in Iran, Syria, and Cuba. If this does happen, a draft is inevitable. Many more Americans will likely die in pursuit of right wing nirvana for Bush and Cheney. The only hope is for progressives to take and stand and rebut this right wing noise machine every time it distributes a new red pill, a new right wing message. As long as the right controls the news cycle, the right will set the message. The right will continue to distribute its “pills” to numb the American people to the right wing agenda.  Until the left creates and organized and directed opposition to rebut the right in every venue and media outlet, the right will continue to dominate political discousre and political power. Unless the distribution of right wing red is halted,  the ultimate side effect of swallowing this bitter pill and its inevitable chaser will be that the right will become the only "party" in town.

Imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever

Sun Nov 7th, 2004 at 16:47:34 EST

"... a deliberate, well-financed, and expressly acknowledged communications and deregulatory plan was pursued by the right wing for more than thirty years - in close coordination with Republican Party leaders - to subvert and subsume journalism and reshape the national consciousness through the media, with the intention of skewing American politics sharply to the right. The plan has succeeded spectacularly."

David Brock, "The Republican Noise Machine" 2004

A quote from George Orwell's 1984 sums up the outcome if this noise machine continues on unchallenged: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."

 

The right wing has solidified control over all three branches of the federal government. This shift in power to the right has not happened because the right has a better message, or because the right has better front men to present their message. This shift in power has happened because the right is unrelenting in planning, coordinating, and delivering their message, whatever it may be.

Nicholas Kristoff states in the New York Times "Democrats peddle issues, Republicans sell values." The right has set a long term vision and strategy, then designed a road map to reach that vision. Further, the right has matched up every program or project within that road map to a problem that "ordinary" Americans face, real or imagined. Then they sell that problem and solution, through every facet of media possible. In many cases, the message is modified for certain demographics, or "vertical markets". This is a clear example of a coordinated, organized effort to control political discourse in the United States.

Al Gore described it best:
"The media is kind of weird these days on politics, and there are some major institutional voices that are, truthfully speaking, part and parcel of the Republican Party. Fox News Network, The Washington Times, Rush Limbaugh-there's a bunch of them, and some of them are financed by wealthy ultra-conservative billionaires who make political deals with Republican administrations and the rest of the media ... Most of the media [has] been slow to recognize the pervasive impact of this fifth column in their ranks-that is, day after day, injecting the daily Republican talking points into the definition of what's objective as stated by the news media as a whole...

    Something will start at the Republican National Committee, inside the building, and it will explode the next day on the right-wing talk-show network and on Fox News and in the newspapers that play this game, The Washington Times and the others. And then they'll create a little echo chamber, and pretty soon they'll start baiting the mainstream media for allegedly ignoring the story they've pushed into the zeitgeist. And then pretty soon the mainstream media goes out and disingenuously takes a so-called objective sampling, and lo and behold, these RNC talking points are woven into the fabric of the zeitgeist."

Of course, this same right wing echo chamber vilified Gore for this in the press.

Clearly, the right uses professional sales and marketing techniques to "sell" their ideals and programs through talking points, and then uses every possible outlet to "sell" that message. The politics of fear and hate are the current product of this machine. "Fear and Loathing in America" has been extraordinarily successful. By the next presidential election, the message may have changed, but the machine to deliver it will only be stronger.

Media outlets that are not formally a part of the propaganda machine are drawn into it by a desire to maintain ratings share, and a fear of losing access to those in power. Because of this, the left has little chance of changing this lean to the right in America today using current strategies. In my opinion, there is no one message or one leader who can overcome this "right wing noise machine". The only way to regain a place in the political discussion is to use the right's tactics against them.

The DailyKos and the liberal blog community has proven to be very effective in mobilizing and organizing progressives for specific causes, such as Sinclair Broadcasting. The creation of dkosopedia has been an excellent way to respond to right wing talking points and explain positions of the left. In the short time I have been a member of this community, I have been amazed at what a relative few intelligent, creative  and motivated people can accomplish when they share a common goal. This community can make a difference, and it has. A quick review of the DailyKos diaries shows that many want to do more. To stimulate discussion on what can and should be done, I would like to make a proposal.

FIGHT THE RIGHT
I propose that members of the blogging community create a organized, directed and VOCAL opposition to FIGHT the RIGHT.

I propose that we create a group to develop a long term vision and strategy for the left, design a road map for that vision, then create talking points based on that road map. Then we direct a coordinated and organize effort to communicate those talking points throughout the media. Concurrently, we should have a team devoted to discerning and responding to all right wing talking points in multiple media outlets. If each of these tasks were spread across action teams, it would not require a great deal of time from individual members. This effort could potentially be organized under Dailykos,Atrios, or possibly BlogPAC. This proposal is for a parallel effort to what happens today, not one to replace any current efforts.

I realize that much of this happens today, but it has not been terribly successful. Progressive think tanks exist to create long term policy goals and visions and many pundits and authors respond to the right in multiple forms of media. This does not, however, appear to be in any way coordinated, and therefore cannot stand up to the might of the right wing machine. Whatever efforts exist today have clearly not succeeded.

Getting out the vote was very successful at substantially increasing turnout, yet Kerry still lost the popular vote by 4 million votes. The right simply has a better organized marketing machine with a mechanism in place to deliver that marketing. The selling and marketing of the progressive message does not stand up. To quote marketing expert and author Mark Stevens, "Your Marketing Sucks!".

With the number of intelligent and highly motivated people here at in the liberal blogging community, we can change this. We can create a team to take dkosopedia.com to the next level to become a cohesive, long term vision for America. We can put together a team to create a road map to achieve that vision, and talking points based on that road map. We can put together a Rapid Response team to analyze and respond to right wing talking points, to both criticize and where appropriate, satirize. We can begin an effort that may one day match the right wing. Of course, that can never happen unless we start somewhere. I am certain there are many opinions on what can be done, and what should be done. I am writing this now in hopes of generating a goal oriented discussion that will lead to true organized opposition to the right wing domination of political ideas in America.

I want to do what I can to fight the perversion of American ideals. I am willing to dedicate myself to such an effort. If others are as well, I propose a chat to get together to discuss the various ideas, then a steering committee should form to further plan and organize.  I have no doubt that this creative and vibrant community can come up with many amazing and innovative ideas. If those ideas are organized, coordinated, and implemented, I have no doubt we can FIGHT the RIGHT and stop the march of George Bush and his neo-con minions. We must no longer allow right wing ideologues go unchallenged!! We must FIGHT the RIGHT at every opportunity, in every venue, every single time they lie, cheat, and spew their venom of fear and hate. The alternative is to allow the right to complete their leveraged buyout of America as we slide into fascism. The alternative is to have the boot of the right stamping on your face, and the face of your children, and your children's children, forever.

If you would like to participate in an organized, directed effort to FIGHT the RIGHT, please post here your thoughts on this effort. It is terribly important to me to DO SOMETHING. I do not want my 3 year old son to grow up in a world shaped by George Bush's warped vision, and I do not want my two step sons to die in a middle east war created to advance a neo-con agenda. This proposal is merely a starting point to stimulate discussion. Please post any ideas you have so that we can move this forward and organize a true opposition to right wing domination of the media and America. Even a small effort now could blossom into something much more, but first we must at least try.