George Lakoff: Whose Betrayal?

[babylonsister]

Whose Betrayal?
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Sun, 09/16/2007 - 11:30pm. Guest Contribution
By George Lakoff, The Rockridge Institute

Betrayal is everywhere in the news. We learned from the Washington Post that Alan Greenspan said, in his new book, "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil." Not keeping our country safe, as the troops were told. Not democracy. Not Weapons of Mass Destruction. Not al Qaeda. Oil! All those lives and maimings about oil! Are you shocked, shocked? It is Betrayal of Trust of the highest order: "Politically inconvenient ... everyone knows..." Oil was not discussed at the Petraeus hearings. The silence in Washington has been polite.

MoveOn's "General Betray Us?" ad has raised vital questions that need a thorough and open discussion. The ad worked brilliantly to reveal, via its framing, an essential but previously hidden truth: the Bush Administration and its active supporters have betrayed the trust of the troops and the American people.

MoveOn hit a nerve. In the face of truth, the right-wing has been forced to change the subject -- away from the administration's betrayal of trust and the escalating tragedy of the occupation to of all things, an ad! To take the focus off maiming and death and the breaking of our military, they talk about etiquette. The truth has reduced them to whining: MoveOn was impolite. Rather than face the truth, they use character assassination against an organization whose three million members stand for the highest patriotic principles of this country, the first of which is a commitment to truth.

New York Times columnist Frank Rich, right about so many things, got it wrong when he criticized the ad in his Sunday column.

He overlooks the fact that the "distraction" he worries about has led the supporters of the Iraq occupation to endlessly evoke the Betrayal of Trust frame, identifying themselves with the Betrayer of Trust in that frame. The betrayers themselves took MoveOn's bait.

Thanks to their making it a national issue, we can now proceed to discuss their Betrayal of Trust on the national stage they have conveniently provided. The importance of this frame is discussed in "Betrayal of Trust: Beyond Lying" — Chapter 6 of Don't Think of an Elephant!

more...

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1307

[OHdem10]

1. Thank you. Any THIKING Democrat knew Rich got it wrong

and Many here at DU said so.

[depakid]

6. Rich is just a theater critic turned pundit

Lakoff is a well respected communication professor at one of America's top universities.

Who are you gonna believe?

[Cha]

8. Yep!

As Andy Ostroy said..anybody outraged by the Moveon ad..he has two words for "Swift Boat"

"Back in the Spring of 2004, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) went public, declaring its mission to essentially destroy the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry (MA) through a series of venomous attack ads, web site smear campaigns and slanderous public statements with the singular focus of disparaging Kerry's patriotism and military record. Funded by such hardline rightwingers as Bob Perry, Sam Fox and former House Majority Leader Tom Delay, they charged--using a despicable bunch of lying sailors who allegedly served with Kerry on the swift boats he commanded in Vietnam--that he lied about his length of duty and the nature of his injuries which resulted in his receiving three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star. It was a disgusting display of the Republicans' ravenous appetite for power. That Kerry stood up to defend his country--enlisting for two tours of duty, leading dangerous patrols down the deadly Mekong Delta--and was a highly decorated war hero was of little matter to these front-stabbing, amoral chickenhawks. It was partisan politics at its absolute worst.

Of course, the charges were baseless and completely fabricated. In September 2004, upon completion of his review of the claims, Vice Admiral Ronald A. Route, the Navy inspector general, stated in a memo to Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England:

"Our examination found that existing documentation regarding the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals indicates the awards approval process was properly followed. In particular, the senior officers who awarded the medals were properly delegated authority to do so. In addition, we found that they correctly followed the procedures in place at the time for approving these awards."

Yet while all the bashing was taking place, neither President Bush, VP Cheney, the Republican leadership in the House and Senate, or prominent figures in the conservative media condemned the attacks. Only Arizona Sen. John McCain, himself a decorated war hero and renowned Vietnam prisoner of war, publicly criticized the smear campaign.

To be sure, the powers that be in the GOP were downright giddy over the effect the attacks were having on Kerry's campaign. It put him constantly on the defensive, and served as a major dstraction away from the pertinent issues of the campaign. And their comrades in the lock-stepping right-wing media ran with it. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others did their Fourth Estate best to villify this undesputable war hero.

Now cut to September 10, 2007, the day that the liberal political group Moveon.org took a full-page ad in the New York Times asking in a headline, "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" and accusing the top US military commander in Iraq of "cooking the books for the White House." This was in advance of the Congressional testimony on the war that Petraeus was to provide that day. The ad, as expected, created a veritable shitstorm in Republican circles. A sampling of this righteous outrage:

[bemildred]

2. Yep, gotta attack the messenger when the message is too hot to handle. nt

[babylonsister]

3. That's precisely what happened. nt

[NewHampster]

4. All DUers should re-visit the Moveon Ad

I believe and trust George Lakoff and his framing theories. I read his article this morning and proceeded to donate to Moveon.org.

[babylonsister]

5. Good for you! They got lots of money by putting that ad out there. nt

[NewHampster]

7. Thanks