The Republicans discovered long ago that whoever owns the language sets the terms of the debate from the start. The words used in the debate bias people from the get-go. Words and "framing" influence people as much as, if not more than, actual policy. Sad, but true. Dems are starting to learn this, but not fast enough.
Republicans have been masterful in making the word "liberal" into such a slur that even proudly liberal Democrats shy away from it like it's radioactive. When we say it, it's grudgingly and apologetically. With their attack dogs, their Ann Coulter books, they have brilliantly made us ashamed, like gays half-driven back into the closet, to even openly call ourselves what we are. They've made us into Mary Cheney.
It is high time for us to reframe the debate. The first and easiest thing we must do is stop calling the Republicans and the right-wingers "conservatives", because they are anything but, and calling them "conservatives" just plays into their hands.
"Conservative" appeals to a certain brand of voter who is afraid of change, who likes to stick with so-called "proven" institutions and ways of doing things, and who doesn't like to rock the boat. There will always be a number of people who feel this way.
However, as we all know, this is no longer what the Republican party represents, if in fact it ever was.
The Republican Right is dismantling the middle class. It is dismantling Social Security and Medicare. It is dismantling the Constitution. It is dismantling the judiciary. It is dismantling checks and balances. It is dismantling separation of powers. It is instituting a military dictatorship of the Commander-in-Chief. It is dismantling representative democracy and fair elections (Diebold, phone jamming, redistricting). It is dismantling Congressional ethics and public citizenship. It is instituting a theocracy and dismantling the separation of church and state. It is destabilizing the world order. It is dismantling the Geneva Conventions. It is dismantling the writ of habeas corpus (Hamdi v. Rumsfeld). It is dismantling the Fourth Amendment (warrantless wiretaps and physical searches). It is destabilizing nuclear disarmament. It is dismantling the EPA and FDA. It is destroying our environment. It has undone the Clinton surplus and is plunging us into unprecedented debt. It has threatened to "go nuclear" in the Senate and abolish the filibuster. It is encroaching into end-of-life decisions and the sphere of the family like never before.
Everything the Republican Party stands for is the exact opposite of conservatism. The Republicans stand for abolishing the American way of life and our institutions of government. Their policies are leading us to insolvency, global nuclear catastrophe, and an abolition of the system of government that we all learned in junior high school civics class in favor of a military police state. There is nothing "conservative" about this. They are not "conserving" anything.
I, for one, vow never again to use the word "conservative" or "conservatives" or "conservatism" to describe the Republican party. It is patently inaccurate. By using it, we help perpetuate the myth that the Republicans are somehow the party of moral, fiscal, and political responsibility, and that in comparison, we are dangerous and destabilizing, when the exact opposite is true. Every time any one of us uses the word "conservative" to describe the GOP, we feed the myth they want to perpetuate, and contribute to the misperception that we are struggling to dispel.
If Joe Q. Public knew just how unconservative the GOP is, I guarantee he would either vote Democratic, vote Libertarian, or stay home in protest. Any of these things benefits us.
Let's call the Republican party what they are. Authoritarian. Dictatorial. Regressive. Disastrous. But anything but "conservative." I cannot blame some people for wanting to "conserve" what they feel is good and right with America. I also want to "conserve" what I feel is good and right with America. I just disagree with them over what is good and right with America that should be conserved.
But the Republican Party doesn't want to "conserve" anything, and we need to make this abundantly clear this November. We need to start now. Wording counts. Framing counts. Don't help their cause. Boycott the word "conservative."
Who's with me?