Facts. HUH! What Are They Good For? Absolutely Nothing.

[xchrom]

http://www.nationofchange.org/facts-huh-what-are-they-good-absolutely-nothing-1345468490

George Lakoff is right. Republicans are winning the language wars. As half of America is charmed into voting against their own interests, we progressives keep telling them the facts. Instead, we should be concerned about what Joe Romm calls "language intelligence," the ability to convince people of something by moving them both intellectually and emotionally. The Republicans do it so well. They've hijacked the big issues with inflammatory phrases like "class warfare" and "death tax." We have to learn to fight back.

For starters, we might pick some inflammatory phrases of our own. Like "class carnage," inflicted by the super-rich. And "ancestral theft," perpetrated by hustling modern-day entrepreneurs who take most of the profits from technological products developed through decades of public research.

Lakoff emphasizes the need to place words in conceptual frameworks, as Republicans do with "tax relief" to portray taxes as an undue burden that must be relieved. In this spirit, Mike Lofgren proposes that the negatively charged 'entitlements' be reframed as "earned benefits." After all, Americans pay for their retirement benefits.

Or how about the emotionally unstimulating "financial transaction tax"? Boring. In the framing world, the proposal for a tiny imposition on risky high-speed thousand-trillion-dollar trades should be called a "quadrillionaire's fee."

[brewens]

1. I really wish I could remember the particular source of a Republican hack

commenting on Clinton "raising" taxes. He actually hadn't but the Republican was quite proud of the fact "that is was the perception" that he raised taxes that was important. At that time, just like now, I knew I hadn't paid higher taxes because it was reflected in my effective federal tax rate.

You can count on many right-wingers being convinced they are paying higher taxes under Obama.

[CrispyQ]

2. The dems need to wise up.

This is a nation of sound bites. If they want to win the message war, they have to adopt sound bites. Lakoff's been around for a long time. Why do the dems disregard him?

[coalition_unwilling]

3. How would we best use 'language intelligence' in the case of the comments of

a Todd Akin yesterday? (Paraphrase: women who are 'legitimately' raped cannot get pregnant.)

[deutsey]

4. Article about Lakoff...right on time

These articles usually crop up around election time (at least since 2004 or 2002), making the valid case that the Dems need to frame political discourse better...and I suspect the Dems will ignore them again.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. "Unearned income tax"

At a bare minimum, stop using their euphemisms. Income from sources other than work are unearned income. Mitt Romney's 21 million in income was unearned, and allegedly taxed at 13%.