Civil Liberties/Civil Rights

[hiaasenrocks]

I mentioned this in another post, but I wanted to make a separate topic for it to see what some of you think.

The recent issue about the NSA wiretapping is important enough on it's own to fight against, but I think this can be a winning issue for Democrats as well. This will largely depend on the packaging, though.

In my opinion, the GOP has been better lately at controlling and defining the debate, simply because they have been able to come up with better buzzwords, slogans, advertising. They're wrong on the issues of course, but their packaging works. Somehow. So let's play their game.

I think Democrats should tie the recently revealed NSA wiretapping story to Civil Rights. This nation has fought Civil Rights battles in the past, with respect to women and minorities. And now, this latest issue represents yet another battle in the long-term fight to preserve Civil Rights (Civil Liberties) as put forth in the Constitution.

Let's portray them as the anti-rights party. Let's remind people that the conservatives were on the wrong side of the previous Civil Rights battles, and ultimately lost. Let's make the point that they are on the wrong side of this one, too, and they will lose yet again...but all of this depends on the voters standing for Civil Rights once again, just as they did in the past.

[ThomWV]

1. A couple of things

First off I disagree with this: "simply because they have been able to come up with better buzzwords, slogans, advertising". I think it has a lot more to do with ownership of the means of communications than it does about catchy phrases. Its an important distinction in that most of the communications paths are part of the public domain.

The other thing is this, there are plenty of people in this country today who believe the Civil Rights movement was the beginning of the end of America. It is no accident that Bush takes the south. The gross bigotry ended in the 60's but the subtle bigotry is just as powerful and as is as prevelent now as it was in the open air 40 years ago. Ask any black person in the south.

[hiaasenrocks]

2. Racism and discrimination happen everywhere.

I work with many black people here in South Carolina. Two of them are from out of state; one from Illinois, one from New York (upstate). I've heard their stories about experiencing racism and discrimination in the North. One of them lived and worked in Alabama for three years and said if it weren't for a layoff, he would have made a permanent home there because those were the friendliest people he'd ever been around. I lived just outside Philadelphia for three years and I never saw more segregation (voluntarily, on both sides) than I did there. I'm in my mid-30's.

I don't know anyone who denies that there's racism in the South, but I've met plenty of people who live with the misconception that it's predominantly (or maybe even exclusively) a Southern phenomena.

[hiaasenrocks]

3. I meant to address your first point, too. Forgot.

This could be a chicken and egg argument. I'd argue that they have more control over the media because of their packaging. They live off of bumper sticker slogans: cheap, simple, and doesn't require much thought. The lazy are more apt to latch on to this political "philosophy" (if you can even call it that) because it's tidy and easy to repeat. Therefore, that's where the ratings numbers come from.

I had a discussion with a 'con the other day about this who said, "Why do you think liberals can't stay on TV or radio?" He was overstating the case, but he clearly was alluding to the idea that people didn't like what they were saying. My argument was that in order to understand our side, you actually have to pay attention, listen to a lot of information, and think about it all. That stands in stark contrast to the: "Support the troops"..."We're at war"..."Abortion is murder"...."Evolution is JUST a theory" type of sloganeering. The liberal argument doesn't usually fit into a soundbite. And that's why TV and radio might be poor media for liberals.

We write and we read. :)

[Batgirl]

4. Behold the power of cheese

I hope Dems can figure out how to compete in the area of buzzwords and slogans. Repubs' shamelessness is a huge advantage for them. They know there's a large segment of the populace that is attracted to maudlin, sentimental crap.

They direct their message at the same people who watch "reality TV" and get sucked into the manufactured drama and fake relationships, without a clue that it's manufactured and fake. Meaning the Repubs are the real elitists, because they not only recognize the existence of these gullible types, they custom design their pr for them. The people who come up with the repub slogans are slumming, i.e. "This'll kill'em in Peoria."

Their shamelessness and slumming knows no bounds. For instance, the internet can barely hold all their invented phrases that mean the opposite:
• "swift boat veterans for truth"
• "USA Patriot Act"
• "Clear skies initiative"
• "W stands for women"

They don't shy away from the corny, the maudlin, the cheesy, the lame:
• "security moms"
• "Kerry is a flip flopper"
• "Protecting the sanctity of marriage"
• "A Stronger, More Faithful America"
• "Yes, America Can!"

Or how about the intestinal fortitude to unblushingly spout false, over-the-top hogwash:
• "My first thought was 'Thank God, George Bush is President!'"

They also lack the embarrassment gene, enabling them to choreograph revolting public displays:
• Wearing purple heart bandaids
• Clapping flip-flops together in unison
• the Mission Accomplished aircraft carrier landing
• the granddaddy of them all: the "bullhorn moment"

A Mother Jones account of how the Repubs molded public perception of "lawsuit abuse", shows what we already know, that their slogans and catchphrases originate at considerable expense from Repub bullshit farms (think tanks):
"Behind those slogans are years of painstaking fine-tuning by Republican consultants, focus groups, and corporate think tanks. The term "lawsuit abuse" was coined in the early 1990s by Jan van Lohuizan, a Washington pollster wholater helped plan Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. More than 100 corporate-funded groups have been working to convince the public that the legal system is out of control; organizations such as the American Tort Reform Association and Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, using expensive PR firms and funds from companies like Philip Morris, have spent years testing sound bites and spreading stories of a court system out of control." (http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2004/09/09_400.html)

I think it's a great idea to brainstorm our own ideas because we don't have the think tanks. But it's going to be a challenge to come up with stuff that's smart, persuasive and that appeals to the higher nature in people.

[meow2u3]

5. Civil liberties = Constitutional rights

Civil rights = freedom from discrimination