What was the MAIN significance of the Sherrod Incident?
---racism?
---economic inequality?
---lying manipulation of Fox News and their Repub. puppetmasters?
---an attempt to trap Obama and demonstrate the supposed 'ineptitude' of the Obama Administation?
None of the Above.
The news cycles on this have become an obsessive recycling of any opinion that any one could possibly have, now or in the next world (or next planet, if that is your preference!). Garbage in and garbage out. And I have not read anything that has touched on the central, most important message of this whole fiasco!
And what do I think is the main significance of these events?
That Democrats are now helplessly allowing the Republicans to frame the debate and are reduced to being reactive puppets on the strings of the Republican slime machine? The hook is firmly in our mouths, folks.
But what are we to do? Obama has to look decisive. We cannot let a newscycle continue without fighting back.
I agree with all of this, but join me under the fold, for some reflections and suggestions as to how to step out of the Republican spin-machine frame and put them on the defensive for once.
Although these factors, :
---racism?
---economic inequality?
---lying manipulation of Fox News and their Repub. puppetmasters?
---an attempt to trap Obama and demonstrate the 'supposed' ineptitude of the Obama Administation?
were definitely USED in this situation, they were not the MAIN POINT. Rather these issues were used by the Republican Slime machine to get us so angry that we would be distracted from the main point and just buy into their game. And when we play their game, we lose. One more time.
We lost our way (and face) in two basic steps:
- We accepted Fox News/Republican Facts as reality and then blindly REACTED to it. We literally lost our mind; our thinking capacity.
- In chomping down on the tantalizing bait that the Republicans set before us, we rushed to respond because we are very anxious because we don't know how to beat the Republicans at dirty tricks. We RUSHED to judgement.
So, what can a poor, snookered, reactive, anxious, defensive party do?
Go on the offensive. Simple.
How?
First, we can reverse Step One, by writing in big letters on all our walls, refrigerators, even our palms (!) 'FOX NEWS/Republicans LIE' DOH! Anyone going to argue with that obvious fact?
So, instead of being tricked into the frame of the substance of their lies (and discussing its relative merits,) we can immediately cooly respond:
"Oh, Fox News/Breitbart/Republicans, you accuse Ms. Sherrod of being a racist and are running a video to prove it?"
And then our crackerjack brains go into gear and we think, 'when have we seen this before?' and that brain shoots up the answer: "Acorn"....'ah', we think,'that was an edited lie'.... Fox News coupled with Lie should be engrained in our mental hard drive! Then we immediately cooly proceed...
"Ah Fox News/Republicans/Breitbart, interesting charge, now SHOW US THE FACTS! You are patriotic Americans, right? The Constitution says we are innocent until proven guilty, right? Well, then, let us exam that tape you present as FACT."
Fox News responds that the tape was from Breitbart. (Ah, look at what is happening here - they are on the defensive. They have to prove something. Their spin does not have credibility.)
Then we say, "OK, Fox News, why don't YOU ask Breitbart to let us see the tape, since you endorsed it by showing it and are making a 24/7 case with it."
We keep on pressing them "TO SHOW US THE FACTS." ALWAYS, 24/7/365. This is how to put them on the defensive. In the meanwhile, we have a crackerjack research team which unearths the whole tape, and then WE PLAY THE FULL TAPE AND ASK?
"Fox News/Breitbart WHY DID YOU PLAY AN EDITED TAPE? WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO HERE?" Etc. Etc.
Always, Always, Always ask for their sources and facts. Always. As if we don't trust them. Doh?
"OK", you may say, "but what do we do about the urgency that they foist on us and the battle for the news cycle?"
That brings me to Step Two. Anytime, and I mean ANYTIME, Fox or the Repubs are trying to rush something. STOP. STOP. STOP. This is one of their all time favorite tactics. It needs to be called out for what it is: A DISTRACTION PLOY worthy of Sun Tsu. Think of all the times Bush wanted to do something we would object to? ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, Bush rushed to the Congress for emergency authorizations, in which the world would end if the Congress didn't give up their oversight responsibilities, is their game. Need I remind you about what happened just before he left office and his rush to get us to approve a massive relief to Wall Street, "because the world would end as we know it if we didn't?"
How to counter this?
"What is the rush here, Fox News/Republicans/Bush? Do you want Justice to be denied in order to rush? We follow the law here in Amerika, and in ther Sherrod case, someone is innocent until proven guilty."
Always ask: "SHOW US THE FACTS WHY THIS HAS TO BE RUSHED AND WHY YOU NEGLECTED THIS SO LONG THAT IT HAS TO BE RUSHED. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU THAT YOU DIDN'T DO THIS IN A TIMELY MANNER?" Put the burden on them.
And in the meanwhile, think strategically: "if they are lighting a fire here in this spot, what other chicanery can they be up to that they want to distract us from?" We need a special branch of the Progressive Party just to keep looking at the 'big chess board.'
This is how the Republicans play.
Why haven't we learned their game and how to stand up to it?
From now on: "Fox News/Repubs SHOW US THE FACTS" and "Why are you rushing us? What have you neglected that makes this necessary to rush? PROVE TO US that it is necessary to rush.
And that is how I think we can put them on the offensive and not get snookered into their game.
What do you think?
(My apologies if some of my brilliant DKos colleagues have touched on this; I just haven't read you yet.)
UPDATE: (h/t william shipley)
We should have gone after Breitbart first (Fox came after the resignation- my timeline mistake) demanding to see the tape. It is the principle of demanding the facts that I am suggesting.
UPDATE II: (h/t itskevin)
They posted the video/article (1+ / 0-)
on foxnews.com and Fox Nation, before the resignation. So they do, in fact, have dirty hands here.