You have got to admire this machine.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

On the defensive, the Bush administration sucks. But give them a moment on offense, and they take complete advantage of it. They blatantly buried the NSC admission of wrong-doing on the SOTU speech on the day Uday and Qusay are captured. This is not a brilliant move in and of itself. It's brilliant because it challenges the press: are you going to cover this or the fact that two guys on "the deck of cards" are now dead. Does your audience want to listen about 16 words (which they've heard about now for 2 weeks) or how these two men raped women and tortured athletes? As soon as the administration heard that they had the two sons cornered (remember, it took 4-6 hours), they put together the release of the NSC information. Nothing sneaky about it. These people know how to work.

And now they can continue with their framing of the debate: isn't it better that Iraq is rid of these tyrants? How can you suggest that liberating these people is a bad idea? And now they have a concrete narrative to show that we're winning (Uday and Qusay are dead).

You can get frustrated all you want. You can scream that America doesn't know the "true" story. But none of that matters. It's always about message. And here's the question: do the ends justify the means? That's the repub. core argument/answer. Everything else is just dressing. We either have to answer "yes" or "no" to this, or we have to reframe the question (I do hope our leaders choose the latter). And you will be slapped in the face everytime with one question: isn't Iraq better off without Saddam? Would you really take back the war effort in order to keep Saddam and his two sons in place? I think our real damage has already been done: we've put Bush's credibility into question. We have to work hard not to rebuild it (yes, we can, in fact, rebuild it for him--without any help from the repubs.).

All of this must be understood within a context of "truth" versus message, an idea a toyed with in a previous post: (from http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=48519&mesg_id=48519&page=29 )

It's not about truth; it's not about what's right; it's not about vision; it's not about ideals. It is only, ONLY, about message. There are some on this board that I know who are either connected now or who have played the game in the past. Polling, especially in this administration, goes on 24/7. But the polling doesn't ask what's popular. It asks a simple question: here are my ends "x"; what are my means "y" of getting there.

I honestly believe this is the equation at the root of every conspiracy theory on this board (whether the theory is accurate or not). Truth DOES NOT matter. Intentions make no difference. Whether Bush is lying or not is inconsequential (and if we can catch him, we're damned lucky). It's message, and only message. So-called media bias is nothing other than the message that gets out that you disagree with. The message only gets out there because people want to hear it. What you call bias or corporate interests I simply call mass mimeticism. There are literally hundreds of stories out there that are either picked up or not. News organizations used to poll stories. Yes, they used to poll stories. I will say it again: they used to poll stories. With the advent of the internet, that's no longer needed. With the advent of Right Wing think tanks, that's no longer needed. There's already a buzz by 4:00 AM. There's already a story.

You can bang your head all you want. You can create complicated narratives all you want (many of which I think are "true"). But the fact remains quite simple: power lies not in truth, justice, or equality; it lies in the telling of the story. Whoever frames the best story wins. It's not whoever wins the the facts of the story. It's who can frame it. Who has the most compelling narrative?

Here's why the republicans win every time: they frame every story, EVERY STORY, in a dichotomy (either this or that). You then have 3 1/2 minutes to construct an argument. That's it. Hell, it takes us (and by "us" I mean liberal-progressive-moderates) three minutes to explain why the dichotomy is a false dilemma (which, of course, it is). We need to have a litany of talking points in which we frame (or, in the case of our modern media, reframe) our talking points. There is one truth to the conservative mantra: they perceived that they were being wronged by the media and they got stronger. They understood the power of message over truth. They said "fuck it" to having their opponents framing any debate and constructed their own framework and repeated that framework until it stuck.

You can go down the liberal issuees that are historically the progressives' strongest: the right to choose and civil rights, for example. We have clear cut messages on these two. We cannot be shaken from our message. Why not? Because of "truth"? Do we not feel as strongly on other issues? Then why doesn't the nation come flocking to our side? Because of message. Because some piece of shit, monkey-fuck-wad can use "compassionate conservative," reformer with results" slogan and woo them over.

It's not truth, people. Truth, justice, and equality are on our side. It's message. It's not bias; it's how we frame our message. The media is easy to figure out. The repubs have a failed world-voew that unfortunately works well on T.V. (and this isn't some kind of bias either). We need to get off of our intellectual pedastals and our self-righteous high horse and fatten some lips (metaphorically, of course).

[kentuck]

1. You have well described the enemy we are fighting...

And we should never underestimate their potential for manipulation of the message. They are very opportunistic. Now we need to put them back on the defensive. That is the way the battle will be fought. There is no compromise or bipartisanship with this bunch except to use it to their advantage. I hope Democrats recognize this reality. They llok at politics the same way they look at war.

[msanger]

2. the truth is...

Every day another soldier days.
Every day the economy continues to slouch towards Argentina.
Every day people feel unsafe and unsettled.

They can be great at manipulating the news, but I really think the drip, drip, drip of reality will be their undoing.

There was nothing "shocking" that brought the 16 words into play. It was the combination of bad economy, soldiers dying, and no WMD. Those forces are still in play, and are only going to get worse.

[Karenina]

3. Perception is more powerful than truth.

I learned this axiom as a black child in the heart of white America and have been VERY fascinated by Grendelsuncle's ability to present the case.

"Every day another soldier days.
Every day the economy continues to slouch towards Argentina.
Every day people feel unsafe and unsettled."

These things are all true, but if the "perception is:
"It's worth it to protect our freedom and the American way of life" or "There's light at the end of the tunnel, recovery is JUST around the corner" or "If we beat 'em into the ground with our big stick they'll show some RESPECT" NO AMOUNT OF TELLING THE TRUTH OR PRESENTING THE REALITY CAN MAKE A DENT. People react violently to having their perceptions challenged.

In my half century on this planet I have frequently been attacked, physically, verbally and psychologically for challenging perceptions BY MY MERE PRESENCE. There were times where I never even opened my mouth. Perhaps that is why Grendelsuncle's posts always strike a sympathetic vibration; I can FEEL the TRUTH in what he posts.