“I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends… that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”
Adlai E. Stevenson
An important article by Robert Parry over at consortium news Why the Right’s Propaganda Works
“Many on the Left are blaming President Barack Obama and middle-of-the-road Democrats for maneuvering health-care reform into a fast-approaching head-on collision. And some of that criticism is well deserved for foolishly letting Republicans get their hands on the wheel at all.
But American liberals and progressives – especially the wealthy ones – should take a hard look in the mirror when assessing blame. For three decades now, the Left has sat back and done next to nothing to build a media infrastructure while the Right has put together a truly powerful media machine.”
Some of us, in fighting for local progressive media outlets, have continually hit our heads against the wall after approaching those with money or influence to help us, only to be turned away again and again and told it’s unnecessary!
When we asked for help at procuring a local radio outlet they were only interested in the “new, sexy” media… the internet. When we said that the demographic we need to reach doesn’t use the internet, it fell on deaf ears!
After the ’06 elections I sat in my congressperson’s office and listened to his top Aide tell me “What are you worried about? we have the congress now!” Robert Parry correctly calls this Magical Thinking! When said Aide left a few months later for a job with a big oil company in Texas (& my congressman is considered one of the pre-eminent liberals in a leadership position in Washington) it helped underscore the problem of corporate control and influence in government, media, and frankfully, almost everything else. Given Obama’s internet savvy and understanding of organizing the grassroots, I have been surprised at how toned deaf the whole healthcare strategy has been! The administration has continually let the rightwing frame and control the entire debate. Something has got to change! The White House has launched another fact checking site, but it may be too little, too late:SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Again, they need. to. control. the. audio. media. message!
Tell Obama that the public option is not optional. Please sign (credoaction).
Robert Reich calls for ‘march on Washington’ in support of public option
Again, if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it…?!
“…an effective communication system should have been built. Not for dictating what to say, but for creating a system of effectively trained spokespeople, who can get the basic progressive values out there every day to compete with the very effective conservative system. It should not work issue by issue, but in addition to the issues of the day; it should promote general values that apply to all issues.
The elements are all in existence. The money is there. Indeed it would be a lot cheaper to build than spending tens of millions of dollars on health care ads. What it would accomplish is laying the groundwork in advance of any particular issue. The work of such a communication system would be to activate ideas already there in the millions of citizens who have progressive as well as conservative worldviews in their brain circuitry. The idea would be to make progressive ideas stronger and conservative ideas weaker, balancing what the conservative communication system is doing now.
It is rather late in the game for the stimulus, cap and trade and health care, but better late than never. And it would be indispensable for future policy campaigns. Framing a powerful message is a lot easier when the groundwork for it has already been laid. Without the groundwork, it is much harder.”
– George Lakoff
The Policy-Speak Disaster for Health Care
Wendell Potter: Is Obama Planning to Sign Congress’ Health Care Reform Bill with Lipstick?
Former Governor Don Siegelman has launched a new online campaign: www.FireRovesProsecutors.com, “dedicated to seeing those Rove-vetted U.S. Attorneys and appointees still poisoning the Department of Justice removed from their positions — ending their ability to threaten our democracy.”
Contact the President’s Senior Adviser, Valerie Jarrett, today. Tell the President it’s time to remove Rove’s cabal in the Justice Department!
Rove Op-Ed Reveals He Had Inside Information About Probe Larisa Alexandrovna 8/20/09
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