The Fight Goes On
Reported by Marie Therese - November 3, 2004 -
Now is not the time to cry in our beer! Shoulders back. Chin up! Dry the tears. Stifle the anger.
Start working now to take back the Congress in 2006.
Right now - today.
Don't let the conservatives fool you.
The PIPA report shows that the country is actually red-violet and blue-violet, not red and blue.
There - you see? I changed the LANGUAGE of the debate.
Each red state had a goodly chunk of blue voters; each blue state has a goodly chunk of red voters.
This is a PURPLE country. The conservatives demonize us. We're the elite, left-wing, fag-loving, anti-American traitors who want to sell American honor to the French for a glass of red wine and some brie.
And we've demonized them. They're ignorant, gun-toting, woman-hating, crazed Christian rednecks whose ideology blinds them to their own self-interest.
The truth, as always, is neither of these things.
The truth is that political message marketing meisters, who only care about the interests of their clients, have created a masterful set of "attack" words and we, good little Pavlov dogs that we are, jump every time they press the button.
Time to change the terms of the debate.
I'd like to recommend, as a start, that you check out this video on the work of linguist George Lakoff, in which he presents techniques for (a) understanding the emotional subtext of words and (b) helps you to rephrase your own words to communicate rather than denigrate.
How Democrats & Progressives Can Win: Solutions from George Lakoff
The other thing is stay involved on the local level. Run for local office. Alderman. Mayor. Board of Supervisors. School Board.
If you can't do that, donate money to your favorite causes. Subscribe to progressive magazines.
Remain alert and vigilant. Monitor a right-wing show or blog. Make oppositional calls and comments. Hold the Bush adminstration's feet to the fire.
And keep your eye on the prize which is a Democratic sweep of the Congress in 2006.
And (in a burst of self-interest) continue to log onto to News Hounds.
Contrary to rumors posted by one commenter who said our funding would dry up today and we'd disappear, we are not going anywhere anytime soon.
We're committed. Are you?
