LAKOFF: Words That Don't Work

[L. Coyote]

George Lakoff, Author, The Political Mind, Moral Politics, Don't Think of an Elephant!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/occupy-rhetoric_b_1133114.html
Words That Don't Work
2011.12.07 08:40 AM ET

Progressives had some fun last week with Frank Luntz, who told the Republican Governors' Association that he was scared to death of the Occupy movement and recommended language to combat what the movement had achieved. But the progressive critics mostly just laughed, said his language wouldn't work, and assumed that if Luntz was scared, everything was hunky-dory. Just keep on saying the words Luntz doesn't like: capitalism, tax the rich, etc.

It's a trap.

When Luntz says he is "scared to death," he means that the Republicans who hire him are scared to death and he can profit from that fear by offering them new language. Luntz is clever. Yes, Republicans are scared. But there needs to be a serious discussion of both Luntz's remarks and the progressive non-response.

What has been learned from the brain and cognitive sciences is that words are defined by fixed frames we use in thinking, frames come in hierarchical systems, and political frames are defined in moral terms, where "morality" is very different for conservatives and progressives. What lies behind the Occupy movement is a moral view of democracy: ...........

[pansypoo53219]

1. he is evil.

he is giving the rite the power of words to fool the sheeple.

[drm604]

2. You mean Luntz, right?

[certainot]

3. and for 20 yrs their most effective tool for language is talk radio- completely ignored by the left

1000 think tank coordinated radio stations reaching 50 mil a week- the only medium that can do the unchallenged repetition necessary to make the myths and lies acceptable as truth.

unfortunately, in what may be the biggest political blunder since climate change became a problem, except for an occasional swipe at the blowhards themselves the left keeps giving what used to be karl roves invisible political 2x4 a free speech free ride.

[eridani]

4. My favorite part--

Unfortunately, Luntz is still ahead of most progressives responding to him. Progressives need to learn how framing works. Bashing Luntz, bashing Fox News, bashing the right-wing pundits and leaders using their frames and arguing against their positions just keeps their frames in play.

Progressives have a basic morality, which is largely unspoken. It has to be spoken, over and over, in every corner of our country. Progressives need to be both thinking and talking about their view of a moral democracy, about how a robust public is necessary for private success, about all that the public gives us, about the benefits of health, about a Market for All not a Greed Market, about regulation as protection, about revenue and investment, about corporations that keep wages low when profits are high, about how most of the rich earn a lot of their money without making anything or serving anyone, about how corporations govern your life for their profit not yours, about real food, about corporate and military waste, about the moral and social role of unions, about how global warming causes the increasingly monstrous effects of weather disasters, about how to save and preserve nature.

Progressives have magnificent stories of their own to tell. They need to be telling them nonstop.

[The Wizard]

5. Luntz is effective

because he has a large megaphone that appeals to the worst fears and lowest instincts. That's why he's a Repube. Luntz's target audience is essentially fearful and ignorant, thus making them pliable putty in the hands of a manipulator like Luntz.
Frank bolted from me twice in two days because I framed questions in words that paralyzed his thinking.
This was one I asked: If the United States gets hit with another terrorist attack during George Bush's tenure what part of Bill Clinton's anatomy will the liberal media blame?
At first his jaw started going up and down with no words coming out of his mouth like Ralph Kramden's "homina homina homina." That was followed by "I can't answer that." followed by turning and running away.
In essence, he's exploiting ignorance and fear.

[L. Coyote]

6. "what part of Bill Clinton's anatomy will the liberal media blame?"

:rofl: