"Meme."
It’s become one of the buzzwords of the late 20th and early 21st century. It’s been used to describe the propagation of everything from short-term pop culture trends to narratives (including religions and moral parables) passed down through generations.
And it’s time to use it to our political advantage to undertake nothing short of a bloodless revolution in this country.
Put simply, a "meme" is an idea that takes hold of the imagination in a particular way, and propagates itself through repetition and replication. It’s an idea, approach, storyline or "information fragment" that gets transmitted through retelling, in every way possible – by voice, radio, TV, songs, print, and the Internet.
And although it may mutate during the re-telling (like the children’s game of "Telephone"), in most cases, the reason a "meme" survives is because, at its core, there’s a narrative that keeps people remembering it. It’s "idea-as-virus" – and just like a virus, it lives and reproduces by replicating its basic DNA and spreading itself as far as possible.
Finally, a "meme" can be good or bad. It can be as instructive as a Biblical parable or one of Aesop’s fables, or as corrosive (and blatantly stupid) as an unfounded rumor (or urban legend) that never seems to die out.
(Note that even the Neanderthals at Fox News have realized the power of memes; on multiple occasions, when a Republican has been caught in a scandal, they will have a crawl that identifies him as a "D," knowing that their predominantly lazy, older, non-cross-referencing and fact-checking low-information audience will remember that simple letter. Later, they’ll scratch their heads because, every time that scandal comes up, they’ll remember that letter and a little voice in the back of their mind will say, "Hmm... isn’t that guy a Democrat?")
There’s a new political "meme" that we can help establish -- a fragment of information that we should be helping to propagate and spread and implant in every American’s mind, as quickly and as widely as possible, and to reinforce at every given opportunity between now and November.
That meme is this: that John McCain represents a third term of the single worst President in American history. That John McCain will continue the staggeringly harmful policies of George W. Bush, an ignorant, arrogant war criminal who has attacked the Constitution, destroyed America’s moral standing in the world, saddled us with unimaginable debt, and whose idiot policies have resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 American soldiers and untold thousands of Iraqi civilians.
Put simply, make John McCain = an older, even less-stable George W. Bush, a President who is near-universally loathed and feared, even by many of his former Republican supporters.
So, how do you condense this meme down into the smallest possible information fragment?
"McBush."
At every single Obama/Obama’s VP campaign appearance (which will be covered on TV), make sure that there are people holding giant "McBush" banners, and placed throughout the audience so the TV cameras always see them. (You could also use "No McBush" signs for variation; you could even have the "o" in "No" be the "Obama O" design.) Better yet, establish a fixed typeface, size and color, with downloadable templates available on the Internet, so that the signs’ and banners’ appearance are as instantly recognizable as any corporate logo.
At every single McCain appearance, do the same thing. "McBush." "No McBush."
Get these signs seen on television at every single political candidate appearance between now and November. Make them as ubiquitous and inescapable as a commercial jingle that you can’t get out of your head even 30 or 40 years later.
"McBush."
It’s simple, it’s instantly understood, and if cultivated and propagated widely, will be the counter-agent to another four years of a diseased imperial Presidency, accountable to no one.
Be a carrier. Spread the word. Spread the meme.
No McBush.
Note: in the spirit of the above, feel free to copy and disseminate this as widely as possible. Thanks!