It's Republican Lyng Time
As the election cycle returns, it is time for the spinmeisters of the Republic Party to dust of their Big Lies to use against Democrats (along with their use of "Democrat Party" which they think doesn't sound as good as "Democratic Party." I am going to refer to their party as the "Republic Party" to return the favor. The first Big Lie I recall was that "Democrats are soft on Communism." That, of course, is impossible to attach any specific meaning to and so is hard to refute effectively. Its power lay in the fact that its vagueness encouraged people to substitute what they most fear to flesh it out.
Of course "soft on communism" no longer works, but that hasn't deterred the Republic Party. As E. J. Dionne notes in my morning paper, Republicans have turned to the notion that Democrats are "defeatist" and "give aid and comfort to the enemy." We heard the same crap during the Vietnam war, first from Johnson's administration and then from Nixon's. It is an effective way to suppress dissent for awhile but that doesn't trouble members of the Republic party because they don't believe in the Bill of Rights anyway -- except for the gun amendment. This tactic will not be effective now since it is easily parried. All Democrats have to do is point out that we have already been defeated in the respect that we cannot achieve our goals. We are going to get either a civil war or a partitioning of Iraq (the latter being the same as the inevitable result of the former but with less bloodshed). We have not been driven off the battlefield but we are going to "cut and run" before the next Presidential election.
Another Big Lie Repubs use against Demos is to call them "Tax and Spend Liberals." That's also been effective partly because there is an element of truth to it. But, it is vastly more responsible to tax and spend what your taxes bring in than for "Free Spending Republicans" to run the country into ever greater deficits. That's the best slogan I can come up with on the spot. Perhaps others of you can do better.
I am hoping that organizations like MoveOn.org can come up with some Big Lies to throw at the Repubs. It is just plain stupid to try to run an honest campaign against a party that has elevated lying to an art form.
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posted by The Language Guy at 9:54 AM
2 Comments:
I haven't been paying much (or any) attention on the national scale, but as far as the Senate race here in Nebraska is concerned, you are absolutely right. Pete Ricketts is the Republican candidate, and Ben Nelson is the Democratic incumbent. (Of course, he's the furthest right of any Democrat in the Senate, but he'd have to be to get elected in Nebraska.)
Ricketts is completely insane. His ideas are not only radical and terrible, but as a first-time senator he would be completely ineffectual. I just saw an ad where he was talking about his position on illegal immigration. He said that his plan would require prosecution of any business that hires illegal immigrants. Doesn't he realize that doesn't even make sense? How do you
a) force investigators to discover such a fact,
b) force prosecutors to pursue litigation, or
c) prove that the prosecutor failed to prosecute a case when none of the facts were ever proven?
Let's not even mention the fact that this would be a completely unconstitutional violation of Separation of Powers, the 10th Amendment, and probably Due Process.
Ricketts also tries to characterize Ben Nelson as a "tax-and-spend liberal." First of all, he's not liberal, and secondly, Ricketts wants to impose a national sales tax (which would, by the way, increase taxes on about 95% of Americans and benefit only the extremely rich, like Ricketts himself).
Ricketts baits Nelson with attacks on "the liberal Senate controlled by the Kennedys and Hillary Clinton," impliedly association Nelson with them (which is bizarre by any measure) and when Nelson defends against these attacks, Ricketts comes back by calling Nelson a mudslinger.
Sorry for going on a rant. Ricketts infuriates me. Hagel's alright in my book, but I think I would celebrate if Ricketts died today.
For some reason, though, I doubt that there are any actual senators, Republican or Democrat, that are as insane as Ricketts. The House may be another matter.
12:43 PM
Lying
12:34 AM
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