I'm not in a red state (obviously), and even though I'm in a very rightwing suburb, I don't interact much with many Bush supporters. So I don't get to hear what the latest Limbaugh-inspired fantasy rants are. So when I propose this idea, don't ask "Well why don't you just do it yourself?" I just simply don't have the access or the cultural knowledge to do it.
Here's the idea: Somebody create a repository (diary, web site) for effective, rapid responses to the latest rightwing talking points.
I would like a place where people in red states or people who might come up against anyone parrotting the administration line could post what they are hearing. Then everyone could work on coming up with a good response and everyone else would be armed and ready with a reply when needed.
I've heard a lot of folks here say "When I first heard [insert ridiculous right-wing propoganda phrase], I just laughed it off thinking nobody could really believe something so stupid". But I think we know better now. We know that we have to fire back immediately. But it's hard for any one person to be prepared with a response that is honest, clear, short, and effective. But as a community, we should be able to do this.
Rather than waiting for the DNC to create a real rapid response center (the irony of their slowness to create a rapid response center demonstrating just how effective it will be), let's do it ourselves.
Imagine your Aunt Helen coming at you with something so asinine you would normally just shake your head dumbfoundedly that anyone could say it, but instead you come right back with "[insert your persuasive counterstatement".
A good example of this is the recent Christmas "controversy". When I first heard about it I thought "what kind of idiot would believe that the most celebrated holiday of the year was really in danger?" But that's not what I should have been thinking. I should have been thinking "what's the perfect way to phrase the reality of the situation so that I can effectively persuade the speaker that this is not really a crisis and not make him or her feel stupid or attacked?"
