This past Tuesday, Michelangelo Signorile, liberal activist and host of the “Michelangelo Signorile Show” on the Sirius XM Progress channel, obliterated a hateful conservative caller from Texas. Mike did such a masterful job that we asked him to make the audio of the call available, and he graciously obliged (see above). Here’s how the call went, with our breakdown of the juicy parts:
Monthly Archives: January 2014
Chris Christie’s American Hustle
Gov. Chris Christie Town hall meeting
Could Chris Christie’s bullying help him in the 2016 election?
Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey speaking at an event hosted by The McCain Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Gage Skidmore, used under Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/10999009153/
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie‘s “Bridgegate” scandal has cemented Christie’s reputation as a bully. However, some folks are wondering whether being known as a bully could actually help Christie secure the 2016 Republican Party nomination for President, should Christie decide to run.
Chris Christie: “bully” and other word games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWdyOVC4Dvs
Republicans successfully use neuro linguistic programming (NLP) in their political messaging. That is, Republicans use and repeat loaded words or short phrases connected with names, issues, programs, bills, laws etc. in order to make voters feel a certain way. Thus, you can find many examples of Republicans praising other Republicans as “strong leaders” who take “decisive action.” On the flip side, Republicans use negative-sounding (and often flat-out false) terms like “liberal media” and “death panels” to achieve a negative effect. Republicans frequently use words such as “Muslim,” “Kenyan” and “socialist” for this reason after uttering President Obama‘s name. A list of many of these loaded Republican phrases is contained here. Through repetition, these Republican terms often sink into our brains and affect the way we feel.
Chris Christie has a Mitt Romney problem
Chris Christie‘s “Bridgegate” scandal feeds into an existing narrative about Christie. Thus, Christie might be about to learn the lesson that Willard Mitt Romney learned in 2012 after his “47 percent” remarks were caught on video — that stories which reinforce an existing narrative about a politician typically won’t go away quickly.
Liz Cheney ends Senate bid but Republican Party civil war rages on
According to her campaign website today, Liz Cheney, daughter of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, has ended her bid for U.S. Senate from Wyoming. Cheney’s withdrawal comes as a relief to Senator Mike Enzi, the Wyoming Republican incumbent who Cheney was challenging from the right. Enzi was one of a number of Republican U.S. Senators who are or were facing primary challenges from fellow Republicans aligned with the right wing Tea Party.
Progressive New Year’s resolutions
In 2013, we saw too many instances of the Republican-Corporate-Media iron triangle pushing stories containing big lies about the Affordable Care Act, Benghazi, and even President Obama‘s rather minimal vacation time. If you’re as sick of these phony stories as we are, then all of us need to make some New Year’s resolutions to try to defeat them. In 2014, we resolve to:
