We are fond of saying that we live in a "Reality Based Community".
So we do. Diaries, posts, comments that stray from the path of verifiable information, allowing for moderate reasoned deductions, receive push back, and so they should.
If we can't keep it real we are no better than the "other" side. We are better than them. That is not a wild allegation, it is a demonstrable fact. It can be deduced by simply listening to the hate, reading the policy proposals and considering the actions of the Right.
Part of the battle is the correct identification of labels and terms.
It's easy, for example, to fool folk about the intent of a proposed law by calling it "The Right to Work Act". See what they did there? Many GOP voters actually believe that laws such as that one increases the chances of them obtaining secure and decently paid employment.
Getting rid of the difficult bit in the title is a time-honored way of concealing your true intentions. In our sound-bite society, there are many who never get much past the title.
Another example might be "Safe Elections Act". We all want "safe elections", don't we? That the laws is really intended to disenfranchise up to 10 million predominantly Democratic voters is just another Liberal lie .... Like the "Affordable Care and Patient Protection Bill". See ... Libruls even lie in the title! Still, it's a good Title so let's call it "ObamaCare" and demonize it.
The above is one of the few times the demonizing back-fired. ObamaCare is gaining wide acceptance and the term has been embraced by many progressives as a badge of honor. That, by the way, has pissed of the Right no end. They hate that we use the term.
So terminology matters. For too long we have allowed them to use words like "socialist", "progressive", "Liberal" as pejorative terms, and for too long they have they have been setting the agenda.
Well no more. It is heartening to see Democrats fighting back this time around. It is wonderful to see Diaries describing Facebook spats, conversations in bars, a whole panoply of pushing hard against the bigotry and hate that is the weapon of choice of the ideologues on the Right.
I want to see much more of it, and a good place to start would be the terrible "Pro-Life" label.
The Left has pushed back against this, but we could be harder. We are all "Pro-Life" because the opposite would be "Pro-Death", and liberals are not that. So they take a term and they co-opt it as cover for a viscous campaign against the rights of women.
They are not Pro-Life. We know that, we say so regularly, and they know it too. They just got to the term first.
What they are is a group of misogynists who, alarmingly, include women among their number, who are simply in favor of "Forced Birth". They have no agenda beyond forcing every pregnancy, however it was conceived, to result in a birth .... even under the threat of criminal sanctions should it not.
This is not extreme, it is fascism.
Once the birth has occurred, their interest in the life of the child doesn't just end. That would be bad enough, but it's not enough for them. Once the birth has happened they then support policies that would seek to destroy any and all support the mother and child might then need.
So while we have made a good start, I would like to see a complete end to referring to these people as "Pro-Life", and using the term "Forced Birthers" at any and all opportunity. In Blogs, in posts, in comments, on your Facebook wall and from the mouths of candidates.
"Forced Birther" is but one example of applying the expression "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it is a duck!" There are many other examples of calling it like it is, not how they want us to.
The Right will kick, scream, "un-friend" you and really consider you to be very impolite.
Well here is some "impolite" just to get the ball rolling:
Fuck 'em!
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