Posted on 10/29/2024 4:54:16 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Republican activists say they have to water down the reality of their opponents’ agenda in focus groups. ‘They just don’t believe it’s true. It can’t be.‘
In the September debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Trump said something so ludicrous that many viewers must have dismissed it out of hand. “She did things that nobody would ever think of,” Trump said, while rattling off a list of some of the vice president’s most radical past positions. “Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”
The idea that the vice president “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison” seemed so patently absurd that The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser cited it in a column posted the next morning as an example of Trump’s lunacy: “What the hell was he talking about?” Glasser wrote of the trans operation lines. “No one knows, which was, of course, exactly Harris’ point.”
That reaction was understandable—the idea of the operations was, as Trump himself said, a “thing nobody would ever think of.” The problem was that it is true. As CNN had reported that week, Harris, when running for the Democratic nomination in 2019, had written in an ACLU questionnaire that she supported publicly funded “gender-affirming care,” including transition surgeries, for federal prison inmates and detained illegal immigrants. Follow-up reporting from The Washington Free Beacon revealed that while serving as California attorney general, Harris had in fact implemented a statewide policy of taxpayer funding for prisoners’ sex changes, born out of a settlement in which she agreed to pay for the transition of a man convicted of kidnapping a father of three and then murdering him as he begged for his life. Harris later bragged, on camera, about this policy as evidence of her commitment to the progressive “movement”—in a clip that has since become a staple of Trump campaign ads.
The sequence of events neatly encapsulated a pattern that has played out countless times since Trump entered American political life. Trump says something seemingly insane, to many people’s outrage and disbelief, only to have his supposed “lie” revealed to be wholly or at least significantly true. Often the specific truth revealed—that the outgoing Obama administration spied on the Trump transition team in order to gather information for what later became the Russiagate hoax, to cite another example—is in fact “crazier” than Trump’s exaggerations or garbling of the details. The insanity of the policy becomes the front line of defense against potential blowback: Who would believe that anyone would actually propose or support something so obviously at odds with public opinion and basic common sense? Trump must be a raving nutjob, just like we told you he was.
The reason that this strategy has worked is because Democrats rely on all nonexplicitly right-wing media to adopt their framing of issues and cite the party’s preferred experts, which they do. The party’s influence over the country’s communications apparatus has, for the past decade, emerged into something like a political superpower, allowing it to act outside the normal bounds of American politics without suffering from political blowback.
“All of it,” said a Republican congressional staffer, “is insulated by their absolute confidence that they can just use their control over communications institutions to just say words, including change of language, right? Flip a switch and it’s now gender affirming care. Flip a switch and it’s now undocumented migrants, or undocumented Americans. Flip a switch and now you can change people’s pronouns.”
The result, for anyone skeptical of the Democratic Party yet bound to operate within the consensus reality of its discourse, is akin to living in a wilderness of mirrors. How to explain, for instance, that elected Democrats from the Biden White House on down support not only taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal aliens, but policies that allow schools to “socially transition” children without informing their parents? How to explain, without sounding like a lunatic, that the newspapers and expert bodies that recommend life-altering surgeries for children, and defend them as “life-saving” or “medically necessary” care opposed only by cranks and Bible thumpers, either don’t know what they’re talking about or are lying to you for political reasons? That the claim that such surgeries were rarely if ever performed on children was also a lie? That when President Biden, the kindly old moderate, directed his Department of Health and Human Services to address the “barriers and exclusionary policies” keeping children from accessing “gender medicine,” what he was describing was a policy that would see members of his own administration pressuring medical agencies to allow procedures such as breast and penis removal be performed on young children, despite the lack of any proof that these measures contribute to greater mental or physical health?
The same GOP staffer, who is currently working on a competitive congressional race, told me that one problem his campaign regularly faces is that aspects of Democratic governance are simply too insane for voters to find credible, even when they are documented as official U.S. government policy. “When you outline the Democratic agenda, you have to water it down, because in both polling and focus groups, people just don’t believe it,” he said. “They are critical of things like boys in girls’ sports, but they tune out stuff about schools not informing parents about transitioning their children. They just don’t believe it’s true. It can’t be.”...SNIP
The leftist politicians use leftist fact checkers to cover for them. Democrat voters end up being malinformed.
“The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser cited it in a column posted the next morning as an example of Trump’s lunacy: “What the hell was he talking about?” Glasser wrote of the trans operation lines.”
She was staggeringly wrong, but never has to pay any price for being so wrong. Ever. In fact, she never even has to have any accountability at all. It is possible that she would write the same thing today.
Well, it looks like she can’t read, can’t hear and is completely brain dead.
Excellent article explaining a lot of what has happened in opposing the Harris-Biden Junta.
“Well, it looks like she can’t read, can’t hear and is completely brain dead.”
My observation is that Leftists feel magically, psychically connected. Therefore, they imbue any Leftist leader with whatever they themselves believe is true, or should be true if only they are granted ultimate power. It’s delusional but they won’t realize that until, like the Mensheviks, they’re standing in front of a firing squad. Or, maybe laying on a line of gurneys heading into forced trans surgery.
BTW, if you changed “trans surgery for Federal inmates” to “castration of federal inmates,” how would that affect the discussion? Where is Amnesty International on this subject?
After some time -- when any brain cells left that could be rubbed together, absolutely refuse to connect...
It's like with Establishment anything; i.e. all of the settled science and doctrine that dare not be challenged:
You can't cheat (deceive) an honest man.
It’s shocking that the Soros paid propaganda machine is so powerful. Half the country is brain washed. The are impervious to reality.
People must face that DIM Leftists are very mentally disturbed individuals. They should not be given ANY positions of responsibility or authority. They will not change. They are freakin’ NUTZ!!!
Provide FEMA aid with priority through a filter of diversity, equity, and inclusion? No way!!!!!!
Allow abortion up until full term and after birth in some circumstances? No way!!!!!
On and on, this article is very true.
“All of it,” said a Republican congressional staffer, “is insulated by their absolute confidence that they can just use their control over communications institutions to just say words, including change of language, right? Flip a switch and it’s now gender affirming care. Flip a switch and it’s now undocumented migrants, or undocumented Americans. Flip a switch and now you can change people’s pronouns.”
“Those who control language control minds.” Ayn Rand.
Never cede the language.
Ever.
L
And one has to ask why do they demand you agree with their lies? To make You a liar, a less than
Okay, the show's started. Check it out.You see the guy with the curly hair? That's Mr. Peterson.
He's this sceptic. He's basically grounded in reality... and he doesn't want to believe his neighbors are up to something strange.
'Cause if they were, he'd have to deal with it.
~ Ricky Butler
Re the "machine":
The money line. All you need to know proving Trump was right about everything.
bkmk
Mostly, they are zealots.
Doesn’t help that the worst RINO’s are the only ones getting to Lefty MSM (I repeat myself) to fail to break thru a wet Kleenex.
[snip] ...as Trump himself said, a “thing nobody would ever think of.” The problem was that it is true. As CNN had reported that week, Harris, when running for the Democratic nomination in 2019, had written in an ACLU questionnaire that she supported publicly funded “gender-affirming care,” including transition surgeries, for federal prison inmates and detained illegal immigrants. Follow-up reporting from The Washington Free Beacon revealed that while serving as California attorney general, Harris had in fact implemented a statewide policy of taxpayer funding for prisoners’ sex changes, born out of a settlement in which she agreed to pay for the transition of a man convicted of kidnapping a father of three and then murdering him as he begged for his life. Harris later bragged, on camera, about this policy as evidence of her commitment to the progressive “movement”—in a clip that has since become a staple of Trump campaign ads. [/snip]
bkmk
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.