First appeared in the 9/20 edition of Bartcop Entertainment; edited, primarily for format with a few new links, for DKos.
Leftover ranting
Last week, I said that I would talk about the reason to vote for the Democratic candidate rather than just vote against Republicans, but the Benedict Arnold Express has got me even madder. I hope that the center/left base is getting passionate too. This is an important election.
Karl Rove technique: Attack their strengths
Much more under the fold.
Bush key advisor Karl Rove had a deceptively simple technique: Attack their strengths. He had it easy: The gullible right wing just ate up all the lies; the Big Lies repeated ad nauseum in the conservative news media. You, representing the Sane Faction, have a harder job: You have to tell the truth, which is politically incorrect. Here are a few truths to rebut the cherished yet incorrect firm beliefs of the right, with some sound-bite-sized responses.
Republicans are bad for the economy and always expand government. When they talk about "smaller government" or "spending less" they're simply lying. Your response to being called a "tax and spend liberals" is "responsible government" and "you're a spend and red ink conservative". From last week: Paying People Not To Work a DKos Diary from deaniac83; analysis of the Dem and GOP tax plans.
The teabaggers are the worst branch of the extremists. Maybe they're not evil manipulative evil billionaires. Maybe they're just gullible morons. In any event, they're lying. Bill Clinton points out that the teabaggers are beholden to special interests. Even Jesse Ventura dares to point out that the tea baggers are not anything that could be considered a grass roots movement and gets cut off. Billionaires give 91 percent of funds for Rove-tied group, American Crossroads. Salon.com 9/20/10. Teabaggers are tools of special interests: How Right-Wing Billionaires and Business Propaganda Got Us into the Economic Mess of the Century alternet excerpt of book 9/15/10 re Tea Party and lies about the economy.
Don't say "Republicans", say "Tea Party Republicans"
The conservative news media likes to trumpet how poorly the Democratic Party is doing in polls. What they rarely mention is that Republicans are doing as bad or worse. Basically, the Republican strategy of The Party of No has worked and no one likes them or the Democrats who didn't use their large majority to get things done. Your response: "To get things accomplished, we need larger Democratic majorities."
One clue as to how conservative the polling is: They avoid polls that favor Dems (good summary at DKos diary by kos, GOP agenda remains unloved, unwanted and Is the Dems' Bush strategy finally gaining traction?) and don't ask questions of the secessionist and birthers, such as How wrong was Galileo? or Were you kidnapped and probed by aliens? I'd be willing to bet that the people who insist Elvis is alive are far more inclined to be teabaggers than those who don't. But no one asks.
After a media-led surge in anti-administration pseudo-polulism, the tide seems to be turning: Gallup poll "shock" part two: Dems lead generic
mentioned in Jed Lewison's 9/20/10 dKos diary about the recent Gallup poil.
Rush Limbaugh is not just a lying liar, he's a sexual perv: Limbaugh Condones Sexual Harassment Of Sports Reporter: She Has 'Bootylicious' 'ASS-ets'
Republicans are always soft on crime... when it's theirs. Eg Bush-era War Crimes
Republicans aren't just mean spirited, they're mean. Conservatives have no moral compass. Without a grounding in morality, they can't understand the world around them. They will say and do anything to get elected, regardless of veracity or sanity. This is the legacy of Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater and Karl Rove, who cynically played on the worst fears and encouraged ignorance.
Tell the truth about their god Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was a terrible president (and not a nice person). He started the era of Big Government, far more than LBJ, with obscene budget deficits. The Soviet Union reacted to Jimmy Carter's military buildup, but didn't increase their military budget after the early 80s. Reagan didn't outspend the Soviets, he just put you into debt and lied about it. He funded terrorists, leading to 9/11. He had the most corrupt administration yet. (This is why the radical right wants to control the judiciary: They want to jail anyone with small amounts of illegal drugs but ripping off taxpayers for millions is okay.)
Reagan was soft on terrorism: He ran away from the bombings in Lebanon, and hostages taken in his watch were killed and kept for a long time. (All of the hostages taken under Carter were released safely.)
The Confederacy was mostly about slavery, and not popular with many southerners at the time.
The Confederacy was not all that popular in the South, and the "heritage" of the Southern states should include real patriots not just racists. During the slavery period and the Civil War, not all of the South was in favor of slavery or the Confederacy. Most Confederate states sent troops to the Union side (all but South Carolina, iirc, though that's not specifically mentioned in the article), and western Virginia, which would later become a state because of its overwhelming anti-confederate sentiment during the Civil War in 1863. Nevada was admitted to the United States in 1864 and immediate joined the Union side, sending their state constitution via e-mail (the longest telegraph message ever sent up to then).
During Sherman's march to the sea, barely a remnant of a rebel army in the path of all of Georgia and General Sherman was quick to take full advantage of this departure which led to increase desertions among Confederate soldiers in the field. Continuing their racial hatred, Jefferson C. Davis removed the pontoon bridge before the slaves crossed. Frightened men, women, and children plunged into the deep water, and many drowned in an attempt to reach safety (though Sherman defended this as a military tactic, it was clearly designed to kill freed slaves). Meanwhile, many Southerners supported Sherman: Sherman's personal escort on the march was the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment, a unit made up entirely of Southerners who remained loyal to the Union.
Clinton, Gore and the Democrats warned Bush about terror attacks before 9/11 and Bush screwed up.
After 9/11: Bush administration bungling allowed Bin Laden to get away dKos Diary from Laurence Lewis with lots of links, 9/19/10. Whenever you bring up the Bush administration being asleep at the wheel before 9/11, they immediately get all huffy and rail against those who accuse Bush of causing 9/11. For example, Armed pilots banned 2 months before 9-11 from a right wing site which blames the airlines but doesn't mention that the Hart/Rudman report predicted a 9/11-style attack in January 2001.
Don't let them change the subject. Bush was a major screw up, and if the Supreme Court hadn't stolen the election then the World Trade Center towers would still be standing. Then go on the offensive: the far right yearns for terrorist attacks. Tea Party Republicans want to win elections, they don't want to keep America safe. (And there wre other terrorist attacks under Bush, which are beyond the purview of this article.)
Dealing with The Big Lie
In almost any discussion, we know what the Republicans will do: They will lie. Eg, Bachmann Decries Rumors, Then Spreads Them Factcheck.org 9/18/10.
The counter to a blowhard is from Moynihan (or Bernard Baruch): "You may have your own opinions, but you can't have your own facts." Let's face it: Conservatives don't live in the world G_d made.
When they defend their lies, or insist that they believe their view of reality despite the evidence, say: "Jesus was a liberal, why aren't you? Bearing False Witness breaks one of the ten commandments. Which other Commandments are you breaking?"
Alternately (or in addition), when you encounter a bald-faced lie (the picayune ones aren't worth fighting over... yet) say. "You need to apologize. You don't have any credibility until you admit you were wrong." Say this over and over until they either apologize or leave. Don't be distracted by any attempts to change the subject. You caught them in a lie. Hold their feet to the fire. When they leave, say, "It takes a real man to admit he's wrong. You're just a coward." Tough love, baby, tough love.
When called a liberal: "Thank you."
(from last week) Taxes are your money, but the deficit is your deficit. Just to pay for Conservative spending and red-ink accounting, you owe a lot of money. You owe (as of this writing) $43,535.22. Time to pay up.
Dealing with Birthers (from last week) Anyone who can't tell an American from a non-citizen is too stupid to own a gun. This isn't about rights, it's about personal responsibility.
For secessionists (from last week) Being a patriot means loving America even if you lose an election. All those who want to secede from the US are traitors. They claim to be patriots, but they're lying. Here's a deal: Real Americans will trade anyone who wants to leave the US with a foreigner who wants to live in America and work and pay taxes.
When they say something about "the liberal media" or "liberals in Congress" respond, "if only there were!"
The right can dish it out, but they can't take it
The Benedict Arnold Express has been doing nothing but spewing hate and lies, then gets all girly when you have the cojones to repeat a fraction of their zeal back at them. Tough love, baby, rough love. They may have started out thinking they were patriots, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions and it doesn't help that they're racist morons. They're traitors, pure and simple. Republicans were too stupid to ditch their hatemongers and now they're stuck with them. We, as Americans, can't let the bastards win.
"Social Conservative" = "hatemonger". Don't enable their hate. Tough love, baby, tough love.
"I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends.... That if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them." -- Adlai E. Stevenson