Words matter and play an important role in the corporate media’s legitimizing of Trump and his party. While no secret to most of us here at Daily KOS, I was still upset when I considered the implications of CNN and other media sources that referred to him as a “populist.” It’s not that the term cannot be used to describe his popular appeal to some Americans and his broad criticisms of what he calls elitism, it’s that it lumps him together with many other previous leaders, who were not authoritarian ones seeking dictatorial power aka fascism. It represents lazy journalism at best and at worst an attempt to legitimize fascism.
Populism: A Word of Many Meanings
Populism is a very broad term. While I don’t expect corporate media to stop using the term when referring to Trumpism, for Trump and the Republican Party that supports him, that is much too kind and normal sounding of a word for what they stand for now and what they do. The task for their political opponents becomes “How should we describe them?” First thing to consider is that if you use the term populism solely as a noun it becomes even more misleading. In the CNN article they referred to “Trump-styled populism”. What’s wrong with this terminology for progressives or allegedly liberal media outlets? It’s the use of “Trump-styled” as an adjective. Which has no meaning deliberately because it leaves out what the term really means in Trump’s case. “Trump styled” what type of populism? Probably the most accurate two adjectives which describe the type of populism Trump and company practice are “authoritarian” and “racist”. You could even combine the two adjectives together into “racial authoritarian” populism. Or substitute something like “dictatorial populism”. Or just shorten it to racial or white supremacist populism.
What Trump and company do not practice and have never practiced is “economic populism” and that is why describing the nature of their populist character must be clearly made and differentiated from other forms of populism. Anything short of that becomes a problem for progressives. Trump has taught few truthful things, but his practice of using descriptive words to label his opponents is one thing that can work. Some labels “stick” and become politically quite useful for him. One word that rings true but may not be useful for us to use is the term “fascism” attached to his populism. Why not you say? Many if not most Americans do not understand the nature of fascism or how it develops. Using the word outside of left circles is largely ineffective and therefore pointless even though an accurate description of what they are today.
The Political “Sin” of Being Boring
The other related point I’d like to make is that using our own buzzwords, while controversial to some folks, can be educational in a positive way and energize us when we use the right ones. They can force the Republicans to respond and put themselves on the defensive and also drag the corporate media into coverage of an issue. This is largely not being done while the initiative and advantage in the Information Wars remain in Republican hands.
Since the corporate media will never sound the alarm on Trump or the Republicans, political opponents of all persuasions need to tool up in the art of both mass psychology and the use of language. We should not count on former strategies being enough.
The use of the word “populism” may not be the most important example of how we can win or lose the war of words, but I think it illustrates the importance of language in politics nicely. One more example worth citing literally out of right field. Baseball, of which I am a lifelong fan, has fallen behind football as the nation’s national pastime. I have from heard from person after person, especially younger people, that’s because it has become boring to them. Replaced by the concussive banging of heads and bodies in Football.
Well, I have heard the exact same thing from some friends of mine, many of whom are on the left politically, when they discuss Democratic Party politicians. Schumer and Pelosi do not speak the energic language of populism of the economic variety with the passion that can reach white people outside the intelligentsia. If they developed national leaders who could even turn out a paltry 5% of uncommitted voters, that could propel them to get regular majorities in the Congress.
Republican successes in building a fascist movement does not come from logic, but stem from the effectiveness of mass psychology using fear, anger and hundreds of years of racial bias based on white supremacy. Counter arguments must also incite, but appeal to our better angels in the words of Abe Lincoln. Emotions as well as logic must be tapped.
We Need To Return Fire
Whatever one hears about the Democratic Party, good or ill, one does not want to hear that they are boring. For me, that has implications for the country well beyond some of my left leaning friends complaints. Words and the feeling and emotions they can evoke obviously matter. History has been demonstrated time after time that it’s not enough to be on the right side of an issue or argument. Politics is war by other means. There are no rules that are adhered to by the Republicans, their motto is “by any and all meaning necessary.” Their daily control over the news cycle is frequently unchallenged by the Democrats. The media/information wars are being lost. Biden has tried as best he can, but he’s an old school modest man at heart and not a charismatic speaker, and his agenda was savaged by elements in his own party. He needs the rest of the party to step it up big time, get angry and emotional, raise hell, return fire daily in the news cycle and stop pretending they are not in deep trouble come the mid-terms. Not just around election time.
For example, Trump’s lies are so outlandish, they should be taken advantage of, not ignored as they often are. Most are extremely easy to refute. Just do it in a conspicuous way. Even an outrageous way. Embarrass him. Draw attention to him. Let him try to lie his way out them. Then you refute those lies. Mock him back the way he mocks his enemies. Rattle him. Why this has never been done much puzzles me. His supporters won’t like him if he’s exposed as a fool. You will eventually make headway among all but the most diehard supporters. You may not win them over, but you will demoralize much of his support. Whatever your opinion of Bill Clinton, until the Monica scandal he ran a tight ship and made sure he was covered in the new cycle almost on a daily basis. And not allow the corporate media to ignore us by always immediately and conspicuously responding to Republican nonsense. Today.
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