It's the PRIVACY, silly.

[phiddle]

The Republicans are the party that wants government involved in the private lives of American citizens:
1. Roe v. Wade did not "legalize" abortion. Rather, it affirmed that it was a woman's PRIVATE choice that the government had no business restricting. The repubs disagree, and we Dems should be upholding the RIGHT TO PRIVACY.
2. Who one chooses as a domestic partner is a PRIVATE decision. The repubs disagree, and we Dems should be upholding the RIGHT TO PRIVACY.
3. The Terry Schiavo case: a PRIVATE decision if there ever was one. The repubs disagree (Dr. Bill Frist making a diagnosis at a distance of 2000 miles), and we Dems should be upholding the RIGHT TO PRIVACY.
4. The repubs even think that the PRIVATE life of a president (Clinton) is fair game. We Dems have never investigated the PRIVATE life of any of their officeholders, not all of whom were saints. And, we Dems should be upholding the RIGHT TO PRIVACY.

Ladies and gentlepeople, I submit that if we frame the issues this way, we have a winner!

[lvx35]

1. Meme: Big mommy government.

The repukes are pushing for a government that will act like a mommy for everybody, peering into our rooms to make sure we're not getting into anything to risky. We can show what little boys the repukes are by pointing this out to them. But we need to watch and eliminate the big mommy faction of the democratic party, including but not limited to:
1) Bans on smoking in private venues
2) Attacks video games for sex or violence
3) Outlandish concern for safety while iraqis are getting blown to peices.

[phiddle]

3. Agreed,

and let's use the fear of big government in our favor for once.

[BattyDem]

2. Brilliant!

:toast:

The right to privacy is something that EVERYONE can relate to, regardless of political, personal or religious beliefs.

[phiddle]

4. Yeah, the Repubs have it backwards:

they want peoples private lives subject to publicity and government regulation, even while they cheat, steal and hide what they do in public matters.

[Karenina]

23. They want every life

but THEIR OWN held up to public scrutiny. How soon forgotten that the most strident critics of a blowjob were themselves involved in conduct unbecoming a statesman or gentleman. Thank you, Larry Flynt. A true Southern gentleman does NOT "kiss and tell."

[Gloria]

5. Sam Seder just said the same thing basically--said we should

call our Senators and make sure that the same questions about privacy that was asked of other nominees are asked of Roberts---basically, "is there a unspecified right to privacy in the Constitution??? (I don't know if the word "unspecified" is the right word, but you get the drift...)

[BillZBubb]

8. Implicit is the word you are looking for.

The document implies, but does not directly grant, a right to privacy.

This goes directly to Madison's concerns about adding a Bill of Rights. He correctly pointed out that one could never enumerate all the rights citizens do and should have. Therefore, he said people might later use the fact the a right was not listed to claim the right didn't exist. It's ironic that the Federalist Society of right wing stooges uses Madison in there logo, yet takes anti-Federalist positions on issues and makes a mockery of Madison's views on the Constitution.

And DUers are correct about this, it's a winning frame.

[sundancekid]

12. bravo! that's exactly the legal argument, plus the slogans within

this thread to be used at respective venues are brilliant:

it's the privacy, silly (or stupid)

the repukes: people who want to peep into our bedrooms, but keep in the dark policy for the public interest

who wants to privatize everything EXCEPT privacy itself???? OK, what's wrong with THAT picture????

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

15. Republicans shrink gov't just small enough to fit thru the BR keyhole

[ChickMagic]

21. It's an unenumerated right n/t

[CrispyQ]

6. Like someone on this site so eloquently put it

The repubs want to privatize everything but our privacy.

Apologies for not recalling who said that. It is so spot on.

Needs to be repeated over & over again. Makes me wonder if any of our dems have even read "Don't Think of an Elephant"? Rockridge Institute is a great site & Lakoff's book was excellent, but I don't see the dems putting it in action. The repubs have their talking points for every issue. Have I missed the dem 'talking points' or are we behind the 8-ball on this too?


http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/


Good thread - nominated.

[phiddle]

9. Thanks for the nomination,

but even more for the Rockridge Institute site. It looks good and is bookmarked for study.
Yes, in my opinion we Dems are totally behind the 8 ball in talking points, frames and buzzwords. We've got better policies, better history, better vision, and very little to show for it.

[Hippo_Tron]

7. Doctor/patient confidentiality

What goes on between a doctor and a patient is nobody else's business but the doctor's and a patient's. So while they could theoretically "ban" abortion, there is no way for the government to legally find out whether an abortion took place, because of doctor/patient confidentiality.

If they want to ban abortion, then they have to wipe all doctor/patient confidentiality laws as well and believe me, I would love to see them try.

[Karenina]

17. Watch out for

those medical record data bases. ;-)

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

10. That's what I want to hear: Respect for privacy

The word "Right" to privacy, while I agree should exist, runs smack up against the RW argument about "strict constructionist" but if the Dems paint it as a "respect" for privacy and not trying to legislate personal matters, it may be more effective.

[phiddle]

13. Good point---

"respect for" privacy. But INMHO we should neither be legislating, nor adjudicating through the courts matters of privacy. We Dems (and ModRepubsinPA also!) need to agressively defend private life from any kind of public sector encroachment.

[earthboundmisfit]

11. Yes. THE RIGHT TO BE LEFT THE FUCK ALONE.

Ya know? Is it too much to ask?;-)

[phiddle]

14. Beautiful!

You managed to use both "right" and "left" in one sentence without being contradictory! :-)

[bobbieinok]

16. Bork nomination for SCOTUS: he lost b/c he said 'there is no right to

privacy in the constitution'.....even republicans of the time were appalled at that

Jay Sekulow, Pat Roberts sponsored lawyer for the religious right, said that the conservatives were surprised by the '(evil, nasty) liberal' attack and unprepared.....he said this would never happen again

see his web site http://www.aclj.org/ with its 'cute' play on the aclu

one of the stories from the page

These are critical days in the life of our great nation. With recent rulings on issues like the display of the Ten Commandments, judicial filibusters, and the vacancy in the Supreme Court, Christians must stay informed. Constitutional lawyer Jay Sekulow, through his show ACLJ This Week, helps Christians understand these issues and reports on what is being done about them.

[Skidmore]

18. More basically, it goes beyond privacy to do I indeed have

ownership of my body and my mind.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. John Stuart Mill

"Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

20. Kick

[kenny blankenship]

22. Well said.

The Bushlerite rightwing talks a lot about "Liberty" and "Freedom" but unless there's profit involved, they're ALWAYS AGAINST IT.