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:
Ok, you’ve made it through nearly the entire holiday season addressing right-wingers and their Fox talking points at the dinner table. There’s only one holiday left — New Year’s. The popping of champagne corks might lead your conservative friends to pop off once again against liberals, Democrats, President Obama and their biggest target of the year: the Affordable Care Act. In anticipation of these bubbly-filled blowhards, here are some of this year’s effective pro-Affordable Care Act talking points for your New Year’s Eve:
Fallout regarding A&E Network‘s suspension of “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson for his anti-gay and anti-black comments in a GQ Magazine interview is reaching a fever pitch. For example, “Phil Robertson” is trending very high on Twitter, with commenters voicing their opinions on both sides. However, Robertson’s suspension is hardly surprising given the long list of tv, radio, musical and other personalities who have been commercially penalized for their comments made either on or off the air. This list spans the political spectrum, and includes:
Amid their electoral defeats at the hands of women during their War on Women, Republicans are now being sent to school for “messaging against women.” This type of Republican message outreach hasn’t worked so well for the GOP in the past.
The very first post at Messaging Matters noted that many issues in the news seem to skew Republican. That was nearly three years ago, and it’s still the case. Many of the so-called major news stories of 2013 were ginned up by Republicans: Obamacare website glitches, Benghazi, IRS “scandal,” etc. Even the New York Times, supposedly the bastion of liberal media, fell for these Republican-created news memes. And how about the lineups of the Sunday morning talk shows? This year, only the GOP Shutdown seemed to favor the Democrats.
“If one candidate is appealing to your fears, and the other one’s appealing to your hopes, you’d better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope!”
― Bill Clinton
If you’re a progressive and you follow the mainstream media, you might think that all you’re supposed to do lately is play weak defense against the attacks on implementation of the Affordable Care Act. That’s exactly what Republicans want — for progressives and Democrats to cower under the Republican agenda (which includes destroying the ACA), like a boxer pinned in the corner. But Messaging Maxim #1 is Go On Offense. That means to come out of the corner swinging, by pushing the progressive agenda. Here are some items on the progressive agenda, in case you’ve been following mainstream media “news” and have forgotten:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLZPHkYfukA
Last Thursday on CNN‘s “Crossfire,” Louisiana Senator David Vitter took a double shot from Van Jones and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders regarding the Affordable Care Act. It was a clash of Republican messaging versus Democratic messaging, and, for once, the Democrats won the battle.
It’s almost that time of the year again, when every Thanksgiving gathering will have at least one old uncle who’s a right wing blowhard. Old Uncle Ralph, after a few Budweisers, will no doubt spout the latest Fox talking points on “Obamacare,” Benghazi or something else. The good folks at Environmental Working Group have come up with some good talking points of their own regarding one of the conservatives’ pet issues, climate change.
A road trip from Southern California to San Francisco blows up the conservative myth that “government is bad for business” from Mile 1. First, you’ll likely drive up Interstate 5. That’s one of the highways largely built with taxpayer funds as part of the Interstate Highway System. I-5 runs through California’s Central Valley, where a big portion of America’s fruits and vegetables are grown, and it’s not unusual to see agricultural trucks making up 50 percent or more of the road traffic. Those truckers, growers, store owners and consumers throughout the U.S. depend on I-5 and other federal and state highways to move commerce to market efficiently.
follow: RSS