One thing that Democrats always seem to forget is that, when it comes to the lives of millions of Americans, the ends justify the means when it comes to policy initiatives.
The list of slime that Rethugs have used over the years to destroy opportunities and ruin lives is almost limitless.
Misinformation flyers have been used to disenfranchise voters in numerous elections.
Outright lies about John Kerry's service were used to dissuade voters from supporting him, costing the Democrats the entire election and dooming the world to two Bush administrations.
Push polls and robocalls have been used to influence voter perceptions.
There is even an entire book on rigging elections and manipulating voter perceptions written by the Rethug operative.
My question is: Where are our slimeballs?
We see a continuation of these practices with respect to every single initiative taken up by the Obama Administration.
We have a Republican spawned "birther conspiracy" that delegitimizes the lawfully elected president.
We have lobbyists faking letters from established organizations in an attempt to sway legislators on climate change.
And now we have one of the most evil pieces of misinformation that I have ever seen: Scaring the elderly into believing that health care reform is a secret plot to euthanize them.
This hideous framing first raised its ugly head with respect to funding of electronic medical records in the Stimulus Bill. In February, Judie Brown, president of American Life League, wrote, "Our elected representatives have fed on the fears of a nation gripped by economic panic to legislate state-enforced euthanasia. President Obama's economic stimulus package puts a price tag on each of our heads. The package's health-care provisions threaten the elderly and open the door for euthanasia and nationalized health care."
On July 23, House Rethug leader John Boehner began adopting this framing with respect to the Dem-written House Bill, stating that the bill "may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia."
The framing is picking up steam and has even been highlighted by Rachel Maddow.
Of course, we all know that these claims are preposterous and meant to scare the elderly.
But they are working.
The elderly are frightened.
And this could doom real health care reform for millions of Americans.
I am of the opinion that it is time for Democrats to consider going down the slimey route to save America from these jerks. The Rethugs are a clear and present danger to the health and prosperity of the American people.
Let me be clear: I am in no way advocating illegal activity. Some of these acts perpetrated by Rethug operatives are outright illegal, while others are borderline illegal.
Some are just slimey, but in no way illegal. I believe we need more Democratic operatives working here--in the slimey yet still legal area of public framings.
Again, Where are our misinformation specialists?
In the end, which is worse: (1) Adopting a slimey framing that leads to success of a policy initiative that helps hundreds of millions of Americans (even those who were misinformed) vs. (2) Keeping the high road but having the policy initiative killed off by the slimey framing of opponents?
Well, the modus operandi of the Democrats over the past thirty years has always been to keep the high road...and watch their policy initiatives killed off by misinformation by Rethugs. It's the same story, and frankly, I am sick of it.
We cannot afford to let Rethugs win (once again) with misinformation. These are not childish debates, where you can walk away and laugh them off. These are real people's lives we are talking about! Millions of people suffer because of these jerks and we need to be willing to get down in the mud if we hope to actually push through our initiatives.
Here is a framing that I suggest we use for the health care debate. It is a video that suggests that "The Republicans hate govt run health care so much they want to kill Medicare-For-All." Everything is true, but it suggests something that is likely to be interpreted in a given way--a way that is advantageous for Democrats trying to push through reform.
-----BEGIN SCRIPT -----
"You may have heard about health care reforms in Washington."
"What you may not know is that Republicans finally see this as a chance to kill Medicare-For-All."
(Voice of Roy Blunt (R-MO)) "We've had Medicare since 1965, and Medicare has never done anything to make people more healthy." (http://www.dailykostv.com/w/002000/)
"Call your Senator and Representative and tell them to support Medicare-For-All."
-----END SCRIPT-----
As you may have noticed, "Medicare-For-All" does not yet exist on paper. But when the script is read aloud, it sounds like the narrator is speaking about the existing Medicare program.
Why not gin up some fear that the Republicans want to do away with the existing Medicare program, if it can help get Health Care Reform passed? The claim is not too far out there, given the history that Republicans have with trying to privatize social security and thwart single-payer health care.
Remember: Opponents to health care reform are doing much, much worse by insinuating that the government wants to euthanize the elderly. This is unconscionable, in my opinion, and my slimey video goes no where near that place. Nevertheless, the video does obfuscate the truth.
For me, I am willing to support a slightly obfuscating commercial if it means that health care reform gets passed. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we seriously cannot afford to mess up this opportunity.
Real nations at war use propaganda and psych-ops folks to manipulate the masses in order to win the war. The Rethugs remain cognizant of this fact at every step. Dems do not.
So what do you think?
Where do you stand?