...I just want you to know that I support killing stem-cells, want you all to marry gay, and want everyone to vote for whoever helps McCain become President will best forward the liberal agenda. Git 'r' done.
OK, that was WAY too transparently a plant. But could you spot disguised fright-wing agitprop if you saw it? And what tactics might be being used against us, right now? Answers after the fold.
Agitprop, as Wiki explains it, is a contraction of "agitation and propaganda". Anything that gets the word out using whatever means necessary.
However, those methods may not be totally ...above board. Maybe not illegal, per se, but certainly not honest.
So I just want to be brutally honest and let you know what methods the fright wing will use to give their man (translation: John McCain, like it or lump it) the edge.
Emotions - we would like to think that we're above putting our feelings above our thought-out reasonings. And that all people basically operate that way too. We'd be wrong. The most important thing we have to acknowledge is that we're not Vulcans, we all have emotional responses, and emotional responses can be manipulated to some degree. And for some people, they can be manipulated a lot. When Mitt Romney pulled out of the race, he said some cock and bull thing about how he doesn't want the Dems to win because it means the terrorists win. I actually laughed at the TV when I heard that ...by Jove, it's a characature of a paranoid neocon. And then I realized ...there are actually large swathes of the population that truly believe it with their hearts. They actually believe all that crap. They truly believe that a Democratic President on Monday means ther kids will be forced into a burqa on Tuesday. They haven't considered how stupidly illogical it is because they're not using logic at all.
Fear works for the fright wing on the fright wingers, but not on us. If it did, Bush's approval rating would be 99%. If vinegar doesn't work on us, they'll have to use honey. And that means...
Faked affinity - I used it in the title of this piece. "As a liberal democrat" is a great way to identify yourself to others that feel the same way. It gets your foot in the door, relaxes the reader, gets them ready for what you have to say. It's also one of the easiest methods to use to spread disinformation. The best way to do that is by using...
FUD - it stands for Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. Once the reader is invested in what they're reading, FUD can be used to muddy the waters. "As a liberal democrat, I think we should protest that Kucinich isn't running by not voting on Election Day." Coupled with faked affinity, it has measured success. People are people, which means people can have their opinion swayed, which means that some people will read a sentence like that and take it at face value. Without understanding the phychological methods used in its creation.
Remember: Anyone that attempts to stop you using your Progressive voice, at any time, isn't who they would claim to be.
Truth's shoelaces - otherwise known as lies. A lie makes it around the world while the truth is still tying its shoelaces, the old saying goes. And there's truth in the axiom. But it's a weapon that can be easily thwarted. If you receive the 'Obama hates Xtians' email, make sure you reply with the link to the Snopes page that says it's a lie.
And don't just email the one person that forwarded the email. Reply All. Even Copy and Paste all other email addresses in the body of the email. The only way that truth is still putting on the shoes is because nobody bought it a round-the-world ticket yet.
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In the coming days, weeks and months, you'll see lots of diary entries that claim to be full of sage advice. Diary entries can be written by anyone. Even political activist groups with funding and a desire to spoil the party. Just make sure you check your sources, and check the person making the comments (past diaries and comments are great at that).
Go to it, and good luck.