Politics of Misdirection

[zapp]

The Politics of Misdirection

Within the current Republican Party, there are those who believe in regurgitating whatever the party line is, regardless of the veracity of the content. These fine folks appropriately are nicknamed ‘ditto heads’, after the folks who believe and agree with anything Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk show host, has to say.
These folks listened to Rush all through the 1990’s when Bill Clinton was in power and became accustomed to blaming Clinton for anything negative that occurred. Rush continually attributed the economic success of the Clinton years to the end result of Ronald Reagan and Bush the Elder’s economic policies. What was and is omitted is the fact that a recession occurred during Bush the Elder’s time in office. The economy was bad enough that the catchphrase for the 1992 Presidential election was: “It’s the economy, Stupid.”
The formula is: If it’s negative, it’s the result of the Democrats. If it’s positive, then it must be the long-term result of Republican policies. Though this idea is fallacious at best, it is repeated over and over by the thousands of ditto heads who still populate our nation.
These politics of misdirection do not rely on truth- rather, on emotion and illogical allegiances to conservative leaders regardless of fact. Truthfully, most ditto heads don’t fact check their pundits- and this has given rise to what we deal with today- the politics of misdirection.
The politics of misdirection are the end result of years of conditioning- whether intentional or not- of those who listen to the conservative pundits, and who take their words as absolute truth. This conditioning has kept even the staunchest conservatives from questioning the current policies. A couple of the current policies that fly in the face of conservative views are: outrageous deficit spending, and the far-reaching capabilities of the Patriot Act. Even conservatives like Pat Buchanon are at odds with the current administration, and actively vocalize their opinions.
These anti-conservative policies should easily spell a positive outcome for the democrats, but the polls are still showing the current race at dead even, and some polls even report Bush ahead. How can this be, when the man at the helm currently is nothing like his Republican predecessors? Even his father spoke of the mistake of invading Iraq.
The Answer again lies in the politics of misdirection. Bush himself rarely makes public statements, except to deliver campaign speeches that people do not take very seriously. Staffers deliver most of his so-called statements. Though the statements are contiguous with his established policies, they seem to be more canned, and carefully worded, and not at all like the verbally disjointed answers he gives to questions. He clearly is not a man who thinks on his feet.
Yet, we are offered this vision, this image of Mr. Bush that seems larger than life, with catchy slogans and country music, when the reality is failed foreign policy, and disastrous miscalculations in Iraq.
So, instead of focusing on these policies, we focus on the past. The populace seems to react favorably to a war fought 30 years ago, and the Bush camp keeps extending this focus. The misdirection that is presently occurring is slight-of-hand. It is an old magician’s trick. If I have you focus on the left hand, then the right hand can do its business without notice and without repercussion.
It is up to us- those who choose to think for ourselves- to spread our message. In this time of liberals being made the scapegoats for everything from a lackluster economy to global warming, we must find our voice, and make it heard clearer than we have ever before made it heard.
We have to combat these politics of misdirection with a clear, hopeful direction that the Presidency of John Kerry will outline in clear, concise terms exactly where he intends to lead this country. It is imperative that we carry his message regardless of our personal feelings. The future of our nation fully depends on defeating these politics of misdirection! When we are once again led by a man with principles that involve thinking and planning prior to acting, we will have a safer society in which to raise our children. It is for this reason that we deserve better leadership- that of John Kerry and John Edwards.

[PATRICK]

1. Comment on their real influence

Clinton demonstrated clearly the exact limits of how many and how much people swallowed from the Noise Machine. Clinton won his re-election handily. No more people today than then put 100% stock in the chortling likes of Rush and co.

Also, I think there is no real swing to liberalism as championed by The Nation, Chomsky or anyone else.

Nor is the vast in-between just a whopping two percent.

It's not the numbers or the ideology, it's the truth and the leadership.

[Moderator]

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