How do we expose the GOP and their Orwellian newspeak and

[mandyky]

stop it?

Regulating the media is one of the first steps. If we don't do something soon, America will indeed become a "banana republic".

[R Hickey]

1. GOP wordsmith Frank Luntz uses 1984 as his newspeak guidebook.

I saw him explain it all on PBS's "NOW" with Bill Moyers.

[tom_paine]

2. Please elaborate. What exactly did Goebbels, Jr. say?

[checks-n-balances]

3. Yes, do tell: did Luntz actually say that, or just imply it? n/t

[R Hickey]

4. Luntz actually said it.

He said "1984" was his guide book. He talked about "Clear Skys" and other Bushovic phrases.

The show just aired a week or two ago. I almost couldn't believe his candor. He admitted to being totally Orwellian. I believe he got his expertise thru his experience in the wording of various poll, and push-poll questions.

[NJCher]

5. gulp, gasp!

Wow, I could really use a media clip like that in my classes, where I teach how to watch for this sort of thing. I hope this program is put up on their Web site and I can get it.

But little wonder...if Andrew Card was so oblivious as to say, "You don't roll out a major product in August," we could certainly expect this sort of admission.


Cher

[AirAmFan]

6. Here's part of Luntz's "Bill MOyers NOW" transcript. Creepy!

On the July 2nd Bill MOyers NOW, Frank Luntz, GOP boy-wonder pollster, OPENLY ADMITTED Orwell's '1984' is a favorite book:

From http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript327_full.html

'BRANCACCIO: I know you read a lot of George Orwell.

LUNTZ: I love 1984. In fact, the only time ever... Kaminski Park in Chicago where two baseballs were hit out of the stadium. They were both done by Greg Radzinski. The only time ever in the history of that stadium that a player hit two balls out in the same game and I was reading the last 100 pages of 1984.

BRANCACCIO: You were looking down?

LUNTZ: I was looking down and I missed the first home run.

BRANCACCIO: Were you...

LUNTZ: So, 1984 means something to me.

BRANCACCIO: Well, you know what Orwell writes, he says, "Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

LUNTZ: And I get that. And you know what? Language, it's just like fire. It can either heat your home or it can burn it down. In the hands of someone like a Ronald Reagan, it's used to illustrate a philosophy and a principle. In the hands of less decent politicians, it is used to obscure or even lie. It's the difference between, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall." And, "It depends on the meaning of the word 'is' is."

BRANCACCIO: Language, of course, as we're all taught... and you make money off this. I guess I do, too. Language really does matter. I mean, isn't it a crime to go to war if it's later shown that it was based on a false premise? ...

BRANCACCIO: And if you're good at setting the context and at deploying the information in a set order, can you convince a voter what to think?

LUNTZ: That's a good question. But the way that I look at it is not to convince the voter what to think, it's to convince the voter that what they think is correct. Some of this is not a matter of re-educating them. Some of this is a matter of just explaining that their gut instincts are correct. That they should not be fooled by either what they see or what they hear. That what they feel is what is correct. And that's a lot of it, by the way. It's not just language. It's style, it's presentation....

BRANCACCIO: Do you see what needs to be done as a manipulation? In other words, messing with people's heads?

LUNTZ: No, I've heard that before. And it's not messing with their heads because it's these thoughts, these ideas, these assumptions already exist. I would not... I do not believe in calling something that is white, I won't call it black. I do not believe in calling something that's up, calling it down. This is not Orwellian. This is listening to what you care about. This is understanding who you are, what you believe, all your life experiences and then explaining things in that way....'

[tom_paine]

8. Holy shit! Listen to this MONSTER rationalizing away his vileness!

My Dear God in Heaven, is there any way we can halt the Fall of the American Republic with monstrous termites like THIS chewing at it's foundations.

Ahem, Frankie, going to war on a KNOWN LIE IS calling black, white and up, down!

My God, can we stop these Kinder and Gentler Monsters?

I don't know. They have done SO MUCH without opposition for SO LONG, the Orwellian Madness is already mundane.

You just KNOW that a monster like Luntz, though he would never admit it, has sympathies the lie with Big Brother. Big Brother is the hero of that book, O'Brien...and Winston is just another Liberal to be ground up as fodder.

[lottie244]

7. To whom would you "expose" this?

The people would understand and appreciate such exposure already are aware of the propaganda ploys. The others are too stupid to understand anything that would be "exposed."

[AirAmFan]

10. Michael Moore already has started to expose Karl Rove's political use of FEAR

in Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 911. Moore or some other expert in reaching mass audiences with sophisticated ideas might make another independent film on Orwellian politics. And MoveOn's "Who on earth would fall for THAT" ad even boils political manipulation of fear down to 30 seconds of TV airtime. There are many very creative people on the left and in recent months significant money has started to flow to them.

[AirAmFan]

9. We must point out also Newt Gingrich's use of Orwell as a political handbook

Gingrich's key "GOPAC" memo apparently was modeled on the Appendix to Orwell's '1984', "The principles of Newspeak". Click 'Appendix' at http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/~smf7/175/booktoc.html

Compare Newt's famous GOPAC memo:'LANGUAGE:A KEY MECHANISM OF CONTROL', at http://www.fair.org/extra/9502/language-control.html

"Memorize as many as possible. And remember that, like any tool, these words will not help if they are not used....

Contrasting Words

Often we search hard for words to help us define our opponents. Sometimes we are hesitant to use contrast. Remember that creating a difference helps you. These are powerful words that can create a clear and easily understood contrast. Apply these to the opponent, their record, proposals and their party.

decay... failure (fail)... collapse(ing)... deeper... crisis... urgent(cy)... destructive... destroy... sick... pathetic... lie... LIBERAL... they/them... unionized bureaucracy... "compassion" is not enough... betray... consequences... limit(s)... shallow... traitors... sensationalists... endanger... coercion... hypocrisy... radical... threaten... devour... waste... corruption... incompetent... permissive attitudes... destructive... impose... self-serving... greed... ideological... insecure... anti-(issue): FLAG, FAMILY, CHILD, JOBS... pessimistic... excuses... intolerant... stagnation... welfare... corrupt... selfish... insensitive... status quo... mandate(s)... taxes... spend(ing)... shame... disgrace... punish (poor...)... bizarre... cynicism... cheat... steal... abuse of power... machine... bosses... obsolete... CRIMINAL RIGHTS... red tape... patronage"