The Rush Limbaugh syndrome

[Kingofalldems]

As a longtime listener of Pigboy (keep your enemies close) I have noticed this admin has adopted his tactics and even shares his character traits. Here are some examples, feel free to add to this list: 1. Lie with impunity, when caught repeat the lie. 2. Fake tough-guyism, never back down (see #1). 3. Projection---accuse dems of doing the very thing you are doing. 4. When anything goes wrong it's Bill Clinton's fault. 5. They are 99 3/4% chicken hawks--just like Rush. 6. Trash the poor either overtly or covertly. Ex. The president's silence this week.

[NewJeffCT]

1. that about sums it up

Don't always blame Clinton, though. Sometimes it is the fault of another Democrat - Rush's drug investigation is the fault of an aggressive & glory seeking Democratic prosecutor, not his own weakness as a human being and as a man!


And - welcome to DU!

[roenyc]

2. Liberals are the enemy

we are responsible for all that is wrong with America.

[itzamirakul]

3. I heard that Rush gets his

talking points daily, directly from the White House.

[izzie]

4. I think you have it back wards.

[snippy]

5. You may be right. After all, Bush did make a pilgrimage to seek

Limbaugh's blessing for his candidacy prior to declaring for 2000. Bush may have brought gifts of Oxy and pledged allegiance to Limbaugh's message of hate at that meeting. On the other hand, Bush may have placed a gun to Limbaugh's head and made him an offer he could not refuse. Maybe both.

[The Zanti Regent]

6. Franken and Letterman went to the troops? Where's Rush?

Why is Rush hiding?

[izzie]

7. Ever see his TV show? It was just bad.

--

[FormerDittoHead]

8. Maybe there are some things we can learn from them.. PLEASE READ

I say, PLEASE READ because I know that I'd get replies like, "and be like THEM??! NEVER!"

OK, let's take a look at how they're WINNING from an ABSTRACT view.

1) they're coordinated. How much do you see the in-fighting in the Republican party? Sure, you hear about that 'loose cannon' John McCain trashmouthing Rumsfeld, but THEY consider McCain a "LIBERAL". But I mean REAL dissent. Like the kind that "Democrat" Zell Miller gave at the Republican convention. Which Republican did WE have speaking at the Democratic convention trashing Bush?

What right-wing media strongly disagrees with another member of the right-wing media (eg: Fox news says Rush got it wrong, etc). Notice how on the Right no one disagrees with ANYTHING Limbaugh says, as if he's "middle of the road" or something...

They speak with ONE VOICE. They've agreed on the 'gameplan' and dissent is otherwise kept to a LOW ROAR, as opposed to the HIGH ROAR *HERE*.

Should we discourage dissent? No (err, did you READ that word?), even though I see a lot of that going on HERE.

It seems here at the DU, just SAY we should compromise on abortion, reach out to religious people, call ourselves "progressives" instead of the now-demonized word "liberal" and you'll be put down faster than a horse with two broken legs...

2) Frame the argument and everyone use THAT frame. "Class warfare", "tax and spend liberals", etc - these are FRAMES which one can not WIN against directly. They've created these frames and they ALL, top to bottom, use them.

good souce of info:
http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/howtorespond

3) learn from THEM. (gasp!) Examples taken from thread starter msg:

1) Be STRONG - never back down.
2) When anything goes wrong it's the fault of the flawed neo-con philosophy.
3) Trash the rich either overtly or covertly OR let's make HEROS of the poor and the downtrodden.

If you're losing the game, I say, change the game plan.

A lot of you people remind me of gamblers who continue to play and bet MORE because they figure their luck's got to turn around...

[Dawgs]

9. Great post FormerRushFan...

I agree 100%. Ever since the election I've been saying that we need to start playing their game. Don't lie like they do, but use facts. I believe that your first number 2 is the most important point we need take from the Republicans. Stay on message with defined points that EVERYONE repeats.

AAR is a good starting point for taking back the media. I love the shows, but I'd like to see some more consistent conversation with defined talking points.

We all know that Bush and the right are wrong on many subjects. We(AAR) can't be all over the map on what and when we discuss these topics. Slowly we can bring people back to our side, but it will take time. If we stay on message and dumb down our approach, we can accomplish what Rush and Bush have been able to do.

This may not be what many here want to hear, but it works. It's a better alternative that letting THEM win all the time.

[Kingofalldems]

10. You are right

politics is war to the right wing. Ever see an expose' of a repub in any RW media source? It ain't gonna happen. There is a huge agenda at stake for them, to cancel the 20th century and change the very fabric of society. And they will do or say anything to forward their agenda.