Have you ever wondered why it's so hard to get through to a right winger? Does it seem like the more wrong they are, the more closed-minded they become? For anyone who has ever tried to get through to a Republican, this article may help explain some of the frustrations felt by the thinking community.
The fundamental difference between Republicans and the thinking community is they have different goals. One side, for example, may want to reach an agreement on something that will make the world a better place. The other side just wants to win.
Average Republicans and Teabaggers (they are one in the same) are not interested in forming cogent arguments or in fact-based reasoning. Truth seekers they are not. Republicans don't want actual debate, they simply want to win the argument. They want to be the last one standing in a shouting match.
Their blind allegiance to FOX's propaganda channel is so they don't get exposed to information accidentally. Facts don't sit well with Republicans because facts don't further their agenda. Facts are the things that "evil Liberals" use to discredit Republicans; to them, facts are bad. Fortunately for Republicans, FOX has little to do with facts.
FOX does, however, provide a never ending litany of neo-conservative talking points, great sounding lies and sound bites that average Republicans need to shut down actual discussion and reasoning. Republicans watch FOX propaganda because it is useful. The FOX propaganda network provides the talking points Republicans need to obfuscate debate and make them impervious to reason.
A typical Republican technique is to accuse others of precisely that which they themselves are guilty. If you want to know what Republicans are up to, just see what they are accusing Democrats of doing. Are Republicans running up the deficit? Accuse Democrats of running up the deficit. Are the Republicans filibustering bills that help the economy? Accuse Democrats of stifling debate. And of hurting the economy.
It's that easy. Here, you try this one:
Republicans want to give tax breaks to the richest 1% and pay for it by increasing the deficit.
If you said "Democrats are driving up the deficit" good job. And if you added "Democrats are killing jobs" then you could be a Republican Senator!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Tea Party Taking On Role of Brown Shirts
The Tea Party is not as grassroots as we are led to believe. They are under the direction of the ultra-right wing lobbyist group ironically named "FreedomWorks" led by Dick Armey. Teabaggers get their marching orders and funding from Freedomworks, who in turn gets its money from corporations like Koch Industries. The money from Koch and other corporations is quietly funneled to organizations like Freedomsworks and Americans for Prosperity to stage what they would like us to believe are citizen protests. Through obfuscation, fear and intimidation, corporations and the secretive billionaire Koch brothers are determined to control public opinion on issues that might cause people to question their business practices.
The tactics of the tea party teabaggers is eerily similar to those of the Brown Shirts in the first half of the twentieth century during the rise of Nazism. For example, at the health care discussions by Congressman, Dick Armey and his henchmen were the ones responsible for training and organizing the hecklers whose only goal was to shout down debate and intimidate anyone who tried to express their own opinion. These mercenary 'protesters' are waging a war over the control of the public square.
Freedomworks Brown Shirt organizers gave specific instructions how to infiltrate a crowd to give the impression that your agents represent the majority, how to completely shout down all other people, and how to intimidate anyone who tried to disagree.
A recent video clip of tea party teabaggers screaming and verbally abusing an elderly man on the ground who had Parkinson's disease is a sickening but typical display of the sociopathic nature underlying the tea party Brown Shirts.
The sinister overlapping of neo-nazi groups, the KKK, and the tea party teabaggers is no accident. Freedomworks and the Americans for Prosperity actively cultivate and channel existing hate groups' activities toward its own political ends. The video shown below on this blog (Right Wing Crazies & Tea Party United Against Health Reform) shows how teabaggers and traditional racist groups are co-opting the anti-Obama campaign as a 'softer', more politically acceptable form of racism. The Koch brothers and other large corporations have hired Freedomworks to show these hate groups how to mask their outright racism and twist it into a more news-friendly 'political protest'. Watch the video and you can judge for yourself if it's working!
The tactics of the tea party teabaggers is eerily similar to those of the Brown Shirts in the first half of the twentieth century during the rise of Nazism. For example, at the health care discussions by Congressman, Dick Armey and his henchmen were the ones responsible for training and organizing the hecklers whose only goal was to shout down debate and intimidate anyone who tried to express their own opinion. These mercenary 'protesters' are waging a war over the control of the public square.
Freedomworks Brown Shirt organizers gave specific instructions how to infiltrate a crowd to give the impression that your agents represent the majority, how to completely shout down all other people, and how to intimidate anyone who tried to disagree.
A recent video clip of tea party teabaggers screaming and verbally abusing an elderly man on the ground who had Parkinson's disease is a sickening but typical display of the sociopathic nature underlying the tea party Brown Shirts.
The sinister overlapping of neo-nazi groups, the KKK, and the tea party teabaggers is no accident. Freedomworks and the Americans for Prosperity actively cultivate and channel existing hate groups' activities toward its own political ends. The video shown below on this blog (Right Wing Crazies & Tea Party United Against Health Reform) shows how teabaggers and traditional racist groups are co-opting the anti-Obama campaign as a 'softer', more politically acceptable form of racism. The Koch brothers and other large corporations have hired Freedomworks to show these hate groups how to mask their outright racism and twist it into a more news-friendly 'political protest'. Watch the video and you can judge for yourself if it's working!
In Lawsuit Against Carnahan, FOX Wins Either Way, and We Lose
Will FOX win its suit against Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Robin Carnahan for using video from FOX? Either way the suit goes, FOX wins.
FOX is not pursuing this case because they will make money from winning it; how much money could they possibly get? They are not doing this to protect their integrity; Mike Wallace and FOX have long ago given up any shred of integrity. Integrity is irrelevant to FOX’s mission to make money by distributing conservative propaganda.
Chilling Effect
Democracy requires that we know as much as we can about how candidates will govern if elected. The best argument against Republicans is their own words. The best attack ad against a Republican contains the actual statements showing the Republican's extremist views. And the best place to get that media is from FOX where Republicans feel free to express their extremist views.
If FOX wins their case, it would squelch campaign ads against Republicans using the choicest media from FOX that reveals Republican extremist views most clearly. Even if FOX loses, just the threat of a lawsuit by a big corporation against any campaign has a chilling effect on the media it uses in its ads.
That would shield Republican candidates from having their extremist views used against them. The last thing Republicans need is the media exposing what wing nuts they really are.
Winners and Winners
FOX actually would further it's propaganda mission if they lost the suit. As a manufacturer of propaganda, FOX knows it’s a lot easier to parse and clip video to make it look like it is saying something that it isn’t because the truth doesn’t fit their political agenda. FOX routinely hypes these fabricated stories. It is their bread and butter. For example, the Shirley Sherrod video clip was purposely edited to portray her as a racist, when actually the opposite was true. Her speech was really a triumph of tolerance over racism. But FOX pounced on it and played the maliciously edited clips relentlessly. Another example was the fake Acorn “scandal” where treacherous editing created a video that was entirely fictional. The controversies created, however, are real. We later find out we were duped when the truth is the opposite of what was shown.
This is exactly what they are accusing Carnahan of doing. FOX is employing a common Republican trick. Republicans routinely accuse others of precisely that which they themselves are guilty. FOX wants to prevent lawsuits against itself for doing exactly what it is suing Carnahan for allegedly doing.
FOX wins if it loses the case because the court will be saying it’s OK to parse, clip and edit someone’s words to totally distort what is actually said. They would have a court ruling that gives them permission to continue misrepresenting reality and continue manufacturing their propaganda without fear of legal recourse. FOX wants to prevent lawsuits against itself for routinely manipulating video and misrepresenting the truth on its network.
That’s why I want to see FOX win their suit. If they win they will have inadvertently set a standard that they will have to meet. They will have to abide by the decision that you can’t manipulate video and distort the truth.
Then what will FOX broadcast? News?
FOX is not pursuing this case because they will make money from winning it; how much money could they possibly get? They are not doing this to protect their integrity; Mike Wallace and FOX have long ago given up any shred of integrity. Integrity is irrelevant to FOX’s mission to make money by distributing conservative propaganda.
Chilling Effect
Democracy requires that we know as much as we can about how candidates will govern if elected. The best argument against Republicans is their own words. The best attack ad against a Republican contains the actual statements showing the Republican's extremist views. And the best place to get that media is from FOX where Republicans feel free to express their extremist views.
If FOX wins their case, it would squelch campaign ads against Republicans using the choicest media from FOX that reveals Republican extremist views most clearly. Even if FOX loses, just the threat of a lawsuit by a big corporation against any campaign has a chilling effect on the media it uses in its ads.
That would shield Republican candidates from having their extremist views used against them. The last thing Republicans need is the media exposing what wing nuts they really are.
Winners and Winners
FOX actually would further it's propaganda mission if they lost the suit. As a manufacturer of propaganda, FOX knows it’s a lot easier to parse and clip video to make it look like it is saying something that it isn’t because the truth doesn’t fit their political agenda. FOX routinely hypes these fabricated stories. It is their bread and butter. For example, the Shirley Sherrod video clip was purposely edited to portray her as a racist, when actually the opposite was true. Her speech was really a triumph of tolerance over racism. But FOX pounced on it and played the maliciously edited clips relentlessly. Another example was the fake Acorn “scandal” where treacherous editing created a video that was entirely fictional. The controversies created, however, are real. We later find out we were duped when the truth is the opposite of what was shown.
This is exactly what they are accusing Carnahan of doing. FOX is employing a common Republican trick. Republicans routinely accuse others of precisely that which they themselves are guilty. FOX wants to prevent lawsuits against itself for doing exactly what it is suing Carnahan for allegedly doing.
FOX wins if it loses the case because the court will be saying it’s OK to parse, clip and edit someone’s words to totally distort what is actually said. They would have a court ruling that gives them permission to continue misrepresenting reality and continue manufacturing their propaganda without fear of legal recourse. FOX wants to prevent lawsuits against itself for routinely manipulating video and misrepresenting the truth on its network.
That’s why I want to see FOX win their suit. If they win they will have inadvertently set a standard that they will have to meet. They will have to abide by the decision that you can’t manipulate video and distort the truth.
Then what will FOX broadcast? News?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Newt Gingrich: Political Terrorist
Gingrich is a sociopath intent on being swept into power by inflaming the racists, bigots, and other right wing ideologues, even showing his willingness to use the same techniques employed by the nazi propaganda machine.
The parallels are clear. He foments distrust of races other than white. He questions the legitimacy of the democratically elected government, and says that our elected President is not one of us because he is black and has an African tribal mentality.
Gingrich disseminates the propaganda that first our government, and now our nation, has been taken over by extremists, even though the government was freely elected by the majority of the voters who make up our great nation. He is claiming that the institution of democracy itself has somehow failed, and that he actually sees himself as the "savior" of the nation. So when he says he wants a "revolution", he really means it, and he is using political terrorism to achieve it.
Gingrich is spewing hateful propaganda vilifying the Muslims in the same way that the nazis vilified the Jews with their propaganda in the years leading up to World War II.
From the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he generalizes that Islam is in a holy war against us, and that we must fight back against all Muslims or perish. His anti-religious propaganda targets American citizens who happen to practice a different faith than he does. He wrongly equates Christianity with patriotism and cites "the founding fathers", despite the fact that the founding fathers explicitly enshrined the freedom of religion, and the separation of the government from religion in the Constitution. In the case of the Muslim community center in New York, Gingrich actually believes that the first 16 words of the First Amendment of our Constitution do not apply to Americans when they are of a different religion than his.
His movie "America at Risk: The War With No Name" shows a radical and absurd portrayal of Islam, and his "final solution" is a radical and absurd takeover of secular government by Christian religion.
All of Gingrich's hateful rhetoric is directed at extremists who he hopes will see him as their leader. He hopes to channel the anger he has created into a violent rage and push America one goose-step closer to fascism. He knows from history that by employing intimidation techniques with the real threat of violence, a small group of extremists can have a disproportionate and corrosive effect on political discourse. By harnessing all of the weaknesses of character of marginal Americans, he carries out his acts of political terrorism with the complicity of the media.
We should not fear Gingrich; we should expose him. We need to remain vigilant, and see him as an example of everything that America isn't.
It is my hope that by exposing Gingrich's political terrorism, the great American democratic ideals and the better judgment of the vast majority of Americans will prevail.
The parallels are clear. He foments distrust of races other than white. He questions the legitimacy of the democratically elected government, and says that our elected President is not one of us because he is black and has an African tribal mentality.
Gingrich disseminates the propaganda that first our government, and now our nation, has been taken over by extremists, even though the government was freely elected by the majority of the voters who make up our great nation. He is claiming that the institution of democracy itself has somehow failed, and that he actually sees himself as the "savior" of the nation. So when he says he wants a "revolution", he really means it, and he is using political terrorism to achieve it.
Gingrich is spewing hateful propaganda vilifying the Muslims in the same way that the nazis vilified the Jews with their propaganda in the years leading up to World War II.
From the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he generalizes that Islam is in a holy war against us, and that we must fight back against all Muslims or perish. His anti-religious propaganda targets American citizens who happen to practice a different faith than he does. He wrongly equates Christianity with patriotism and cites "the founding fathers", despite the fact that the founding fathers explicitly enshrined the freedom of religion, and the separation of the government from religion in the Constitution. In the case of the Muslim community center in New York, Gingrich actually believes that the first 16 words of the First Amendment of our Constitution do not apply to Americans when they are of a different religion than his.
His movie "America at Risk: The War With No Name" shows a radical and absurd portrayal of Islam, and his "final solution" is a radical and absurd takeover of secular government by Christian religion.
All of Gingrich's hateful rhetoric is directed at extremists who he hopes will see him as their leader. He hopes to channel the anger he has created into a violent rage and push America one goose-step closer to fascism. He knows from history that by employing intimidation techniques with the real threat of violence, a small group of extremists can have a disproportionate and corrosive effect on political discourse. By harnessing all of the weaknesses of character of marginal Americans, he carries out his acts of political terrorism with the complicity of the media.
We should not fear Gingrich; we should expose him. We need to remain vigilant, and see him as an example of everything that America isn't.
It is my hope that by exposing Gingrich's political terrorism, the great American democratic ideals and the better judgment of the vast majority of Americans will prevail.
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