Frank Luntz's talking points on Iraq and the war on terror.

[drm604]

GOP Strategist Frank Luntz wrote the official guide to misleading the public.

COMMUNICATING THE
PRINCIPLES OF PREVENTION & PROTECTION
IN THE WAR ON TERROR
The overwhelming amount of language in this document is intended to create a lexicon for explaining the policy of “preemption” and the “War in Iraq.”
However, you will not find any instance in which we suggest that you use the actual word “preemption,” or the phrase “The War in Iraq” to communicate your policies to the American public. To do so is to undermine your message from the start. Preemption may be the right policy, and Iraq the right place to start. But those are not the right words to use.

Oh yeah, they certainly respect the American public. :sarcasm:

PDF: http://www.zephoria.org/lakoff/files/Luntz.pdf

HTML version: http://tinyurl.com/zdhf4

[alteredstate]

1. Wow.

Thanks for posting this.

[CBHagman]

2. Here are some other links you might need.

This evening when I came home, Luntz was the guest on After Words, on C-SPAN, plugging his new book and taking questions from a sympathetic interviewer (McCaslin of The Washington Times). The business of Luntz is to control the debate and promote the GOP policies. Bear in mind that his goal is to be heard and remembered and believed, not to speak truth.

Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Luntz


Luntz's website.

http://www.luntz.com/

Perhaps the most pressing thing to read is this story from several years back:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54906-2004Jun19.html

Luntz, according to a strategy paper that fell into the hands of Democrats, says minor changes in language used by politicians can lead to major differences in voter perceptions -- turning a potential liability into an asset.

Among his suggested talking points, in the nine-page section on Iraq and terrorism:

• It's not the war in Iraq -- it's the war on terror. "You will not find any instance in which we suggest that you use the actual word 'preemption' or the phrase 'the War in Iraq' to communicate your policies to the American public. To do so is to undermine your message from the start," it said. "Your efforts are about 'the principles of prevention and protection' in the greater 'War on Terror.' "

• Remember: better there than here. " 'Prevention at home can require aggressive action abroad' is the best way to link a principle the public supports with the policies of the Administration," it said. " 'It is better to fight the War on Terror on the streets of Baghdad than on the streets of New York or Washington.' "

Never mind that 9/11 was carried out by 19 hijackers with no connection to Iraq whatever, or that it's possible for terrorist attacks to be carried out on more than one continent (indeed, experts agree that the West can expect more devastating attacks). Notice how Luntz manipulates through fear and false hope.