.. . elicit and contradict their irrational rationalizations and beliefs.
If you can get to a town meeting there is likely to be an opportunity. Someone is likely to ask about impeachment. Whatever idiocy they offer, try not to let it go unchallenged. Even a brief comment while shaking hands has power.
Their delusions and irrational "conventional wisdom" are constantly reinforced inside their insular world. Inside the beltway, they don't even come up because the questions are "settled."
The goal is actually a fairly modest one. Do something to make their assumptions explicit. Getting them to speak them is one way. Reflecting back public statements is another. The more they are forced to invoke a false meme, the more likely they are to actually HEAR how absurd they sound.
Simply getting them to pull out one of their "standards" is a significant accomplishment. If you can also plant a seed of doubt by contradicting them, you've hit a home run.
When some
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=334569&mesg_id=334745">particularly moronic and immoral quote is reported, it's a chance to fax a letter with a few pointed questions ("Do you actually believe. . .?). If you are willing to follow up, include a request for a conference call (having a friend there is helpful.). After you have faxed a question you tend to get farther up the chain when you call to follow up for an answer.
And if that seems like too much, just pose a rhetorical question without follow-up.
If you find yourself face to face with a Rep, Senator, or staffer when they blather one of the false memes, look at them like they are nuts (because they are) and then state the contradictory reality flat out. You don't need some lengthy "case" -- short sweet is better. (Might find some useful quips in
http://january6th.org/talking-impeachment-customize.pdf">Talking Impeachment PDF).
And if no response comes to mind (my brain tends to shut down under stress) just tell them there is no basis for their baseless assertions. (And know that there NEVER is.)
If they've run out of rationalizatiosn to hide behind, they may hit you with "you just don't/can't understand." If that happens, just tell them they are insulting your intelligence with such condescending statements. If there are facts and logic to "understand" then offer them.
We are social creatures. None of us are completely "impervious" to social forces like ridicule. (It is the ridicule of their fellows that keeps group thinkers in line. It is their condescending attitude toward us that helps them dismiss us.)
The thing is, at lot of people have been effectively confronting them. We ARE getting through. How do we know it? Just look at their escalating level of defensiveness and annoyance. The more they are forced to actively deny a fundamental truth, the more that truth eats at them. And
the more they are "bothered," the more they see us as "bothersome."."
Effective lobbying can't be limited to "making the case." It requires dialog. It requires social interaction. There are cracks in the wall of irrational beliefs and rationalizations. We just have to keep chipping away. Whether or not we actually move them to impeach, we are challenging the dysfunctional thinking that has immobilized them for years -- and for a good number of them, decades.