Anybody See George Lakoff on C-SPAN?

George Lakoff is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. He previously taught at Harvard University and the University of Michigan. He has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, and a Visiting Professor at the Ècole des Hautes Ètudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris (1995) and at the Linguistics Society of America Summer Institute at the University of New Mexico (Summer, 1995).

Here's an excerpt from a Lakoff interview from the UC Berkeley News:

Why was the Rockridge Institute created, and how do you define its purpose?

I got tired of cursing the newspaper every morning. I got tired of seeing what was going wrong and not being able to do anything about it.

The background for Rockridge is that conservatives, especially conservative think tanks, have framed virtually every issue from their perspective. They have put a huge amount of money into creating the language for their worldview and getting it out there. Progressives have done virtually nothing. Even the new Center for American Progress, the think tank that John Podesta [former chief of staff for the Clinton administration] is setting up, is not dedicated to this at all. I asked Podesta who was going to do the Center's framing. He got a blank look, thought for a second and then said, "You!" Which meant they haven't thought about it at all. And that's the problem. Liberals don't get it. They don't understand what it is they have to be doing.

Rockridge's job is to reframe public debate, to create balance from a progressive perspective. It's one thing to analyze language and thought, it's another thing to create it. That's what we're about. It's a matter of asking 'What are the central ideas of progressive thought from a moral perspective?'

So, the liberal media isn't liberal enough.

My impression of Lakoff is that he's just another Paul Krugman. Krugman uses his doctorate in Economics as a source of credibility and authority for his political opinions. Lakoff uses his degree in Linguistics for the same purpose. Lakoff believes that voters have simply been bamboozled by conservatives "framing the issues" and using magic words to fool people.

Is this a new insight for progressives? Nixon was the object of this kind of attack, "Who you buy a used car from this man?". Reagan was attacked for simply having slick packaging and marketing. Lakoff just expands this to the entire conservative movement. Over the past 40 years, conservatives have spent billions of dollars on their think tanks and have learned to "frame" the issues in collusion with their propaganda outlets in talk radio, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. Liberals don't have these think tanks, therefore they lose out in framing the issues in what the majority of Americans actually agree with, but are fooled by the use of magic words.

So, Lakoff decided to get on the money bandwagon by founding his own think tank with seven other faculty members from Berkeley and UC Davis.

Anyone have any specific examples from the show?

1 posted on 06/03/2005 8:17:46 AM PDT by Jabba the Nutt

To: Jabba the Nutt

Yes, saw the tub of s$*t this morning.

Still doesn't get it. Thinks it's "terminology" not "truth" that is responsible for recent election results.

Says the reason Bush and Repubs win is because (get this!) conservatives have an organized media machine that shapes all the coverage of news stories! Says that the media uses ALL the terms that the Bush admin. wants to use to shape the public views.

All I could think of was the bit on Limbaugh were the press was showing that Bush was a light weight and needed Cheneys 'gravitas" to seem a serious candidate.

Talked about DeLay using the term "Embryonic" in the stem cell debate. Said that the term "embryonic" was not an accurate term, that the correct term was "blasto-cyst" from which the cells are removed, NEVER MIND THE FACT THAT THE BLASTO-CYSTS is a growing, live embryo that is ALIVE!!!

What a dope.

2 posted on 06/03/2005 8:26:42 AM PDT by Mr. Jazzy (Bumper sticker "Martyrs or Marines: Who do YOU think will get the virgins?")

To: Jabba the Nutt

I watched for about 5 minutes. Just kept rambling on about how Republicans are wrong and "abortion on demand" doesn't exist. Roe vs Wade saves lives....blah, blah, blah.

3 posted on 06/03/2005 8:27:12 AM PDT by zkbeta51

To: Jabba the Nutt

Oh, you mean "George Lakoff, rhymes with . . . " Rush cracks me up whenever he refers to him.

4 posted on 06/03/2005 8:30:15 AM PDT by piperpilot

To: Jabba the Nutt

In a word, it was - duplicity, too early in the AM!
The minute this old lump said he was from a leftist political family
and attached to UC Berkeley - bingo,, look at him - he is
still wearing red-diapers. He admitted doing his best for the DNC to help them to over-come the MEANING OF WORDS. It's the dream of being in a workers paradise.
It's a pity that C-SPAN seemed to be getting only calls from his dreamy acolyte's.

5 posted on 06/03/2005 8:40:35 AM PDT by seenenuf (Progressives are a threat to my children!)

I listened to his response about Abortion on Demand is a myth. Women have to go through counseling before they their wish. Roe vs Wade decision didn't bring about more abortions, it only took it out of the back alleys ( musttah been a lotta dem back alleys back den)

6 posted on 06/03/2005 8:42:12 AM PDT by shadeaud (Liberals suffer from acute interior cornial craniorectoitis)

The moderator was VERY careful to pronounce his guests name as "LAKE-off", not "LACK-off".

Should be pronunced "JERK-off"

Not funny, but true.

7 posted on 06/03/2005 8:43:27 AM PDT by Mr. Jazzy (Bumper sticker "Martyrs or Marines: Who do YOU think will get the virgins?")

To: Jabba the Nutt

.......Does anyone still watch C-SPAN's Washington Journal? .........

YES! I watch Washington Journal every weekend. Weekdays I'm at work and busy........Except for the odd comment that establishes me as a Blue Member of the Masons and a running-dog lackey of the Illuminati.

8 posted on 06/03/2005 8:48:51 AM PDT by DoctorMichael (The Fourth Estate is a Fifth Column!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

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