propaganda

[guerillahost]

Republicans have mastered the art of inoculation, and Democrats don’t seem to have a clue as to how to combat it.

You “inoculate” yourself against criticism by accusing your opposition of doing the very same thing you are doing yourself. Thus, when Rs repeatedly accuse Ds of waging class warfare (trying to make voters envious of the rich), and make the charge stick—and Ds don’t counterattack by explaining what the Rs are doing—the public assumes the Rs are right. As a result, Rs “own” the class warfare argument and use it repeatedly and with impunity.

Even when Ds counterattack, if they do it ineffectively, the public concludes that “you can’t believe any of them, and they both are probably right.” Even this stalemate works to the Rs advantage, because they are actually the ones waging class warfare, and their exposure would put the American public in a hanging mood. (Why do Rs frequently say on radio and tv that they would “love it” if the Ds would bring up the class war issue? Because they are scared to death that they will, and they’ve learned that Ds are too timid to take on the challenge.)

The fairness of our tax system is one of the most recent examples of inoculation. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial made the case that the poor don’t pay enough taxes, and the rich are unfairly forced to pay too much. To claim that the poor are not paying enough taxes was NOT the Wall Street Journal’s real intent. Only someone totally out-of-touch with reality would seriously make this point. This is a backdoor attempt to defuse the argument that the rich should be taxed more. Republicans feel that they can inoculate themselves from attack if they can convince people that the case for taxing poor people is at least equal to the case for taxing rich people. In other words, it’s a wash, and we shouldn’t raise taxes on either.

Rs have effectively turned reality on its head, made black appear white, on the following issues:

-Class warfare: who’s doing it and with what effect

-Tax fairness

-The best ways to stimulate the economy (it’s money in consumers’ hands; only then will investors invest)

-The reasons wages increase or stagnate (government policy has a lot to do with it)

-The true nature of free markets (the playing field must be fair)

-The best ways to preserve and improve the environment

-The effects of unmanaged globalization (not the same as international trade) on wages and jobs, and the living standards of workers

-Whether the economy is getting better or worse, and why



The Big Question

On the above issues, reality (the facts) and logic so clearly favor the Ds’ positions and are at odds with the Rs’ positions, one has to wonder why the Ds have been so ineffective in presenting their case.

Is it possible that too many Ds are really Republican-lites? And a criticism of Rs is also an indictment of themselves? Has everyone, including many Ds, been bought off by corporate America?

Or is it that the Ds have become too inbred with their own pollsters and spin-doctors, and forgotten what it means to speak clearly, honestly and with conviction?



What to do

Assuming it’s the latter, Ds should:

1.Educate the public about what inoculation is and who’s doing it.

2.Identify at least five specific issues that can be proved without doubt:

-Say upfront that the Rs are waging class war on America’s workers. Make Rs defensive about class warfare for a change.

-Demonstrate how Rs believe in aristocracy (wealth, political power and social position should be inherited). Ds believe that honest work should be rewarded.

-State why a progressive income tax is fair; why sales and flat taxes are unfair

-Clearly admit that globalization has been a boon for investors, corporate executives, and the established wealthy—and a disaster for working-class Americans. (There are good ways to do this, even for those Ds who have supported international trade in the past. [Globalization and international trade aren’t the same things].)

-Make clear proposals for stimulating the economy and putting more money in the pockets of workers. (Revising conditions for international trade, progressive income taxes, revisions of social security taxes, etc.)