Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 09/25/2009 9:41:10 AM PDT by nickcarraway
In 1998, then First Lady Hillary Clinton famously observed that a “vast right-wing conspiracy” was subverting her husband’s presidency. A decade later, a similar gang of Republican miscreants has mobilized to bring down the Obama administration and healthcare reform. Recent conservative attacks resulted in the firing of Van Jones. Didn’t liberals learn anything from the coordinated assaults on the Clinton administration? Why isn’t there a left-wing “conspiracy” to counter the kamikaze tactics of the right?
The conservative attack machine has three components. The first is political. Conservatives have adopted what Clinton adviser, Sidney Blumenthal, termed the perpetual campaign. As soon as Barack Obama was inaugurated, Republicans went on the offensive, aiming to diminish the new president’s popularity and to increase GOP congressional numbers in the mid-term election.
The right wing reiterates a simple theme: Obama is wrong for America. Beginning with the economic stimulus legislation in mid-February, Congressional Republicans have dogmatically opposed every Obama initiative. Meanwhile, the conservative spin machine has cranked out daily messages that denigrated Democratic proposals—Obama’s program will lead to socialism—and attacked members of the Obama administration, such as Van Jones.
The GOP’s daily messages are relentlessly negative and designed to evoke fear: Everything you hold dear is about to be taken from you. While some Republican missives seem nonsensical—Obama is not an American citizen—their thematic unity plays on visceral conservative emotions: People who are not real Americans are ruining the United States.
As a result, right-wingers have begun to describe themselves as “patriots” and assert that they want to “take back the country.” Heavily armed, they favor “sovereignty,” a blanket assertion of state’s rights that would diminish the power of the Federal government and, they hope, put white folks back in control.
The second component of the right-wing media strategy is sociological. The conservative attack machine broadcasts to those who did not vote for Obama in November—46 percent of voters who are overwhelmingly white, Protestant, and conservative. The negative messages resonate because Republican voters operate in an information “silo,” where their news is supplied by reactionary radio hosts, Fox News and conservative Christian ministers.
Since January, Republicans have solidified their base of McCain-Palin voters, who are overwhelmingly opposed to the Obama administration and Democratic initiatives. More importantly, GOP attacks have spilled over into the mainstream media, where they’ve eroded Obama’s support among Independents.
Finally, the right-wing attacks have a psychological component. George Lakoff’s Moral Politics, observed that conservatives and liberals have different worldviews. The conservative view, the “Strict Father” model, is rule based: children are taught to respect and obey their parents and the rules they espouse. Conservative messages are framed from a rules-based worldview that encourages absolutist, “concrete operational” thinking. Obama is not a legitimate president because he didn’t follow the rules about citizenship. Democrats aren’t following the rules because they’ve allowed “giveaways” to special interests.
There are several reasons why liberals haven’t been effective countering the right-wing spin machine. First, conservatives have an advantage because they only attack; they don’t propose solutions to real problems or alternatives to Democratic initiatives. The right-wing spin machine aims to bring down the Obama administration by maintaining that he is wrong for America. Therefore, conservatives blithely assert that, whatever ails the United States, government is not the solution, as the “free” market will fix all problems.
Second, while the Obama administration has controlled the legislative agenda, the right wing has dominated the message agenda and, therefore, been more effective shaping public opinion. Until recently, the Obama administration did not frame their message so that it resonated with average Americans. This is beginning to change. On Sept. 9, Obama began talking about access to healthcare as a moral issue, evidence of “large-heartedness ... A belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play, and an acknowledgement that, sometimes, government has to step in to help deliver on that promise.”
Third, while President Obama is a compelling speaker, it’s not his role to counter conservative attacks. There has to be two aspects of the Obama administration: one concerned with governance, running the White House, and a separate entity that’s directing the liberal version of the perpetual campaign—the left-wing spin machine. The latter has been missing-in-action since Obama’s election.
It’s not a question of money. Liberals can raise enough money to counter the vast right-wing conspiracy. Rather, it’s a question of focus. After Obama’s election, liberals turned their attention to repairing America. While Democrats have to propose solutions to the mammoth problems created by eight years of Republican incompetence, it’s equally important to win the message wars.
Liberals must wage their own perpetual political campaign and use it as a vehicle to counter the vicious right-wing attacks. There has to be a liberal message machine that on a daily basis battles for the hearts and minds of average Americans.
LOLOLOL!
Even a diehard liberal would have to laugh at the absurdity of this one.
Hmmm... Let me think... A "liberal message machine" huh?
Oh, I know! How about THE WHOLE FLIPPIN' LANDSCAPE OF NEWS MEDIA!? Would THAT be what you're looking for?
Oh this one is too easy.
The reason there is no left-wing, they are all moderates.
“There has to be a liberal message machine that on a daily basis battles for the hearts and minds of average Americans.”
I know! I know! This guy lives in a cave...on Mars.
Fascinating. The author cites Sidney Blumenthal and George Lakoff and then wonders where the left-wing machine is? It’s right under his nose. No points at all for perspicacity on this one.
This is a joke right??
Somebody from Berkely complaining there is no Left wing conspiracy??
The mas Media IS a left wing conspiracy.
What happened to them?..
There used to be one.. I think..
It appears there is zero right wing in America these days.. NONE...
I've looked under rocks in closets.. nothing...
Any help would be appreciated..
Their called "CZARS". Also Just "READ THE STIMULUS, HEALTH CARE, And CAP AND TRADE BILLS".
The Left-Wing conspiracy is alive and well.
Haven't you been paying attention to Beck?
Seriously, Beck builds a case for his argument. The leftists then call their opponents names, smear and ridicule them. Not even close to a worthy rebuttal. Hard to understand why leftists think they are the intellectual ones.
The mas Media IS a left wing conspiracy.
And most of the Congress and Senate.
Where has this person been?
Like a fish wondering where the water is.
What a maroon.
Where have these guys been for the last 10 years?
You know, when Bush was targeted for EVERYTHING!
Apparently it’s a conspiracy only when they DON”T agree with the “conspirators”.
I’ve used the term, but we should start pushing it more.
“Obama is part of a VAST left-wing conspiracy.”
An dat’s duh troot.
Why isn’t there a Left Wing Conspiracy? Because that would be redundant.
how is it possible these people, are this blind, and yet still alive? at some point, being this clueless, will lead you to walk out into traffic, run your car into a tree, , set yourself on fire, forget to eat, choke on air,
When your main principle being Liberal is to TAKE from one to GIVE it to another who the GOVERNMENT deems worthy by a dogma of guilt, appeasement and political correctness, the rest of the logical people call “BS”.
LOL!! Maybe little Bobby Burnett should ask ABNBCBSCNNMSNBCNPR that question.
But then again little Bobby writes for the “The Berkeley Daily Planet”. If he wrote for an American newspaper he would understand that they are the Left-Wing Conspiracy he pines for.
The Berkeley Daily Planet; the official paper of the “People's Republic of Berkeley”? I bet their Superman, Comrade Kent has a hammer and cycle on his uniform instead of a big S.
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