Election Season

Yin-Yang symbol courtesy of about.com

It’s about a month before the mid-term elections, and all political campaigns are in high gear. Here in Colorado, we have a contested race for a U. S. Senate seat. It features Ken Buck on the Republican side and Michael Bennet for the Democratic Party.

Negative ads are all over the airwaves. Here’s an example from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, promoting the candidacy of Mr. Buck:




In case the YouTube link is unavailable, here’s a transcript:

Sound bite from a Bennet ad: “I’ve been in Washington for only a year...”

Announcer voiceover: “And what’s Bennet done? He voted to gut Medicare, jeopardizing benefits for over 200,000 Colorado Seniors. Bennet’s scheme will raise premiums for hard-hit families. Bennet even raised taxes 525 billion dollars: a jobs killer. [He’s] gutting Medicare; Hurting Seniors; Killing Jobs.”

Sound bite from a Bennet ad: “Because I’m listening to Colorado.”

Announcer: “Oh really?”

Cynicism and scary music. That’s the ticket!

The ad feels deprecating and mean-spirited, and that is what Republicans reflexively do.

Contrast this with an ad for Michael Bennet from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee:



Mr. Buck has expressed his support for a ballot initiative in Colorado known as the “Personhood Amendment.” The idea before the voters is that an unborn child takes on legal protections prior to birth.

How is Mr. Buck’s support of this amendment characterized? Since Mr. Buck is a Republican, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is able to fathom his intent:

“Ken Buck wants to make common forms of birth control illegal… Ken Buck also wants to make a common fertility treatment illegal.” The point is punctuated with “on the street” quotes from concerned women:

--“This is ridiculous!”

--“I can’t believe that in 2010 Ken Buck wants to limit women’s access to birth control.”

--“This is reaching so far into people’s private lives.”

--“Who is he to make that choice?”

--“Ken Buck does not belong in my family planning.”

--“Women’s rights should not be taken backwards.”

The clear theme is that no woman in her right mind would vote for this person.

Why is it effective? It’s because of the use of characterization.

The individuals in the video tell us who Ken Buck is. They characterize him as a person who has no respect for privacy or personal dignity and who objectifies women. The announcer lets us know Mr. Buck’s intent: Ken Buck wants to make sure the actions of women are illegal.

It’s an important difference in our political culture. Republicans talk about issues. They tell you what a candidate did or is proposing to do. Democrats, on the other hand, highlight their perception of a candidate’s intent and tell us what we must believe about that candidate.

Republicans are fighting with “one hand tied behind their backs.” They (tragically) restrict themselves to “the issues.” Democrats are free to make accusations and characterizations that are directed at the emotional state of the target audience. Republicans are caught up in policy; Democrats “go for the gut!”

That’s why it is fun to see candidates like Tom Tancredo run for office. Mr. Tancredo is an iconoclast, breaking the established campaign rules of the Republican Party.

Mr. Tancredo may not win the election for Governor of Colorado, but he makes certain we enjoy the ride.

UPDATE 10/5/2010:
Left Coast Rebel has a post by RightKlik profiling an interesting development in this "negative ad" season.  It features an ad by Christine O'Donnell produced by Strategic Perception, Inc.  Is it possible that Republicans are becoming interested in the emotional component that drives voters?

UPDATE 10/15/2010:
Maybe Republicans are starting to "get it."  Here's a recent ad by Ken Buck.

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That Seems About Right

Representative Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee's 7th Congressional District

Peggy Noonan's article this morning (9/24/2010) is worth reading.  She characterizes the political mood in the United States as being "The Enraged vs. the Exhausted."

That's a clever way of recalling the sentiment expressed by Velma Hart at Monday's CNBC Town Hall for President Obama in Washington, DC.  Tony Norman at the Pittsburgh Gazette has a good description of the encounter.

But back to Ms. Noonan...

Peggy brings into her column the perspective of Representative Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee.  Rep. Blackburn has been on the campaign trail of late, and she says that the proper descriptor for the Republican base is not "enraged" but "livid."

That seems about right.

UPDATE 1/29/2013:
Representative Blackburn is in the news again.  I like her spunk.

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Brilliance

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, courtesy of Solar Navigator

Last year, I critiqued President Obama’s speech at West Point, saying his Afghanistan war strategy sounded more like a plea than a clear listing of objectives. Today, James Taranto shows how to properly characterize the President’s words.

Mr. Taranto delivers the goods in a segment from his daily WSJ Opinion Journal article, “Best of the Web Today.”

The title of the segment is “We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack” and it references a Washington Post news story about Bob Woodward’s new book, “Obama’s Wars.” Mr. Taranto relates the news story to the Ground Zero Mosque controversy with this quote:

The more terrorist attacks we absorb, after all, the more Ground Zeros we'll have to build mosques on.

That’s an insightful comment, worthy of discussion on its own. But it’s not what caught my attention. Further down in the segment is this:

More on the new book:

According to Woodward's meeting-by-meeting, memo-by-memo account of the 2009 Afghan strategy review, the president avoided talk of victory as he described his objectives.

"This needs to be a plan about how we're going to hand it off and get out of Afghanistan," Obama is quoted as telling White House aides as he laid out his reasons for adding 30,000 troops in a short-term escalation. "Everything we're doing has to be focused on how we're going to get to the point where we can reduce our footprint. It's in our national security interest. There cannot be any wiggle room."

As Winston Churchill told the House of Commons on May 13, 1940 [NOTE TO SELF: CHECK THIS QUOTE]:

You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one gerundive phrase with a subordinate clause: It is getting to the point where we can reduce our footprint, getting to the point where we can reduce our footprint at all costs, getting to the point where we can reduce our footprint in spite of all terror (which we can absorb anyway), however long and hard the road may be; for without getting to the point where we can reduce our footprint, there is no wiggle room.

In case you miss the absolute genius of the parenthetical note to “check this quote,” here is the referenced text from Sir Winston Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech to the House of Commons:

You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.

You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs - Victory in spite of all terrors - Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

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Devastating!

For those of you who have yet to give the Internet "its due," here is a post from Professor William A. Jacobson at Cornell.

It shows how you can deliver well-documented analysis to a large group of people in a short time frame.  Before the Internet, it was impossible to have this kind of impact.

Power to the people!
(and bloggers)

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Nefarious

“Post Mortem” by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge

My previous post about the stories the Denver Post carries in its printed version versus its online version needs an update. I had attributed the difference in content to a nefarious weekend editor. As it turns out, that was my own fantasy.

Associated Press writers will release a story and then update it over time. What appeared in the printed version of the Denver Post was associated with this version of the AP story. Here is what was printed:

Beck, Palin draw crowds
Some paid to see the Tea Party favorites as others protested in Anchorage
By Rachel D’Oro
The Associated Press

Anchorage, Alaska

An event featuring former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and conservative commentator Glenn Beck on Saturday night brought out two very different crowds.

Thousands of fans who paid $73.75 to $225 for tickets gathered inside the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center to see Beck introduced by Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee and a potential 2012 presidential candidate. The two are Tea Party favorites.

Outside the downtown center, about 60 protesters waved signs and denounced Palin and Beck as intolerant fearmongers spreading divisiveness across the country.

"We feel that they are inciting racism in what they do and what they say and how they go about it," said Lynette Moreno-Hinz, an Alaska Native who helped organize the protest.

Holding a sign that said "Freedom isn't just for zealots," Brian MacMillan of Anchorage wondered where all the passion from the right was during George W. Bush's presidency, when the U.S. economy began its downward slide.

MacMillan also urged Palin and Beck supporters to ease up on President Barack Obama.

“Give the man in charge his due,” he said. “He’s doing the best he can.”

Beck, a Fox News personality, will donate his speaking fee from the event, and Palin is not being paid for her appearance, according to Christopher Balfe, president of Beck’s media company. The amount of the fee is not being disclosed, and will go to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides scholarships and services to families of military members.

The event initially featured only Beck, according to Christopher Cox of Northern Stage Co. in Anchorage. Only later did Cox think of adding Palin, and she agreed to participate.

Earlier this week, Palin promoted the event on her Facebook page, saying Beck could be counted on to make for an interesting and inspiring night.

“I can think of no better way to commemorate 9/11 than to gather with patriots who will ‘never forget,’” Palin wrote.

The date of the event is a coincidence Cox said. He didn’t know what Beck planned to talk about during the show.

All but 700 of 4,500 tickets have been sold, said Therin Ferrin, with a private contractor that operates the city’s convention centers.

Other than the differences in the headline and subhead, the AP story and the Denver Post print version are quite similar.

So what is the lesson? When sourcing a newspaper article, you’ve got to reference whether it comes from the printed version or the online version. But that’s not all…

In The Cat in the Bag, I talk about the anti-Republican themes that appear in our news coverage, and make the point that you’ve got to catch the earlier reports if you want to see the themes portrayed in the greatest relief. In the case of the Rachel D’oro story, we see that evolution: the prominence of the anti-Republican coverage in the first version, and the softening of the theme in the later version.

To research the various versions, we can turn to Google (or Bing) and search for distinctive strings of text that appear only in the desired version. As an example, to find the earlier version of this story, I searched for “Therin Ferrin”, a name that appeared only in the print version of the story.

Of course, if the story no longer exists, you can try the Wayback Machine and search for prior deleted content.

Isn’t the Internet great?

Well, Maybe.

I also received this note from a person in Woodland Hills, California in response to my post…

You forgot one important thing.... you're an idiot!

You are one of those human beings that has a defective brain gene and you believe all the nonsense someone else tells you!

You believe in organized religion, you are a racist because... well why not?, you are unable to think for yourself and come to a logical conclusion, you believe the country was founded by white men for white men and the constitution only applies to white men. You believe america is the supreme voice in the world and somehow for some reason every other country is trying to destroy our way of life when in fact it is the year 2010 and nothing could possibly be expected to be the same as it was in 1776!

You don't like that! And yes, you probably are secretly gay because you protest WAY too much!

Typical republican hypocrisy. You believe the lucky rich should be able to keep all their hard earned investment money because after all they worked hard for it! or At least they were smart enough to find a good accountant who worked hard FOR them. There's no way a rich person works any harder than me or any other average american! The lazy rich can afford to pay FAR more taxes than they are currently paying and I personally do not understand why they would not welcome increased taxes as their civic duty!?? Raising taxes on the poor is certainly not the answer, but as a republican asshole you feel it's the only answer.

Some people on this planet have evolved (that's right... the earth is actually 4.56 billion years old!!) to survive by listening to others. Just because some idiot at FOX Snooze lies to you about Obama or about taxes, or about destroying the country or says shit like "...next thing you know" or "...pretty soon we'll all be..." or "...kenyan anti-colonialism..." or some other nonsensical bullshit, why not look at that idiot with a little skepticism? Remeber "the emperor's new clothes"?

Sheep need a leader.... and you sir a fucking sheep for sure!!!!!!!!!

In the words of my favorite FOX Snooze asshole..... "...I'm just sayin'!"

Our anti-Republican culture emboldens people in ways that almost make you want to weep.



UPDATE 6/4/2011:
Jay Nordlinger at National Review Online highlights the same issue in a lighthearted fashion.  News agencies modify their stories, and represent that doing so is without malice.  The "assumption of intent" of the news agencies is what makes analysis of their modifications so interesting.

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Edited for Space

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army

by Spc. Jennifer J. Eidson

This past Sunday (9/12/2010), the Denver Post printed a story on page 3A that told of an event in Anchorage Alaska. The story is interesting because the printed version is quite different from the version shown on the paper’s Web site. Here’s a taste of the printed version (first seven paragraphs)…

Beck, Palin draw crowds
Some paid to see the Tea Party favorites as others protested in Anchorage

          By Rachel D’Oro

The Associated Press

Anchorage, Alaska
An event featuring former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and conservative commentator Glenn Beck on Saturday night brought out two very different crowds.

Thousands of fans who paid $73.75 to $225 for tickets gathered inside the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center to see Beck introduced by Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee and a potential 2012 presidential candidate. The two are Tea Party favorites.

Outside the downtown center, about 60 protesters waved signs and denounced Palin and Beck as intolerant fearmongers spreading divisiveness across the country.

"We feel that they are inciting racism in what they do and what they say and how they go about it," said Lynette Moreno-Hinz, an Alaska Native who helped organize the protest.

Holding a sign that said "Freedom isn't just for zealots," Brian MacMillan of Anchorage wondered where all the passion from the right was during George W. Bush's presidency, when the U.S. economy began its downward slide.

MacMillan also urged Palin and Beck supporters to ease up on President Barack Obama.

"Give the man in charge his due," he said. "He's doing the best he can."

Contrast this with the online version of the AP story. Here are the first few paragraphs…

Beck, Palin draw divergent crowds at Alaska event
Some paid to see the Tea Party favorites as others protested in Anchorage.

By Rachel D'oro
The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin introduced Glenn Beck at an event in her home state Saturday night, telling several thousand roaring fans that the conservative commentator has inspired millions.

Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee and a potential 2012 presidential candidate, told Beck that he represents why so many citizens never have to apologize for being American. She criticized the mainstream media, then asked "what would we do without Fox News?"

Palin and Beck, a popular Fox News Channel personality, took turns recalling what they were doing when they heard of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Palin, who was mayor of Wasilla at the time, said she got a call from the town's police chief about the attacks, then turned on her television.

"It looked unreal that this was happening to our country," she said.

She said she shut down city hall, then went over to her church to pray for the country.

Beck said he was getting ready for work when he learned of what had happened in New York and at the Pentagon.

"Here we are so many years later, and I fear we are forgetting," he said.

In the printed version, we are told that about 4,000 tickets were sold for the event and that Mr. Beck was donating his speaking fee to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The online version has the additional quotes cited above, and increases the count of protestors from 60 to 100.

Other than these substantive changes, there is a definitive style difference between the two stories. It’s as if the text of the online version was selectively extracted to create the distinctive tone of the printed version.

The printed version lets us know that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin were featured at an event in Alaska (paragraphs one and two) but then focuses on the protestors. We are told of the strong feelings of the protestors, and their passionate belief that Republicans are:

--Promoting freedom just for themselves
--Being intolerant fear mongers
--Spreading divisiveness across the country
--Inciting racism
--Being intolerant of President Obama
--Failing to blame President Bush for starting the current economic crisis.

Why the difference in tone between the two pieces? It could be an example of newspaper editing at its finest; an attempt to convey the AP writer’s actual intent.

Then again, it might be an example of the finer points of our anti-Republican culture. Here’s what I’m getting at:

Anti-Republican Culture organizes its posts into four classifications, depending on the situation being covered…

The Themes – Any of the six themes of the Democratic Party

The Ministry of Truth – Stressing anti-Republican perceptions

“So Right and Natural” – Outrageous anti-Republican behavior portrayed as being normal

Republicans Under Siege – News stories of Republicans being assaulted, jeered, or censured.

The printed version of the Denver Post hits all four of the categories. The protestors emphasize the theme that Republicans are bad people and must be fought with vigorous counter-demonstrations. What is “right and natural” is that concerned Americans (the protestors) are expressing their distinctive moral authority and exercising their First Amendment rights. The Ministry of Truth comes into play when the story devolves into another opportunity to point out the failings of Republicans.

Newspaper editors have the power to shape a story to fit their style and narrative. I think the story on page 3A is a good example of the weekend editors of the Denver Post doing their part to quietly foster anti-Republican culture in our Rocky Mountain region.

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Cultural Persecution

NBC file photo courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle

I was contacted recently by Elizabeth Docent about the various posts I have done on Sarah Palin. I agreed to do another interview. Here’s the transcript…

Libby: What’s up with you and Sarah Palin?

Howard: What do you mean?

Libby: I searched your site using the string “Sarah” and almost 10% of your posts have a reference to Governor Palin.

Howard: I guess I just find her fascinating?

Libby: Tell me more.

Howard: She is a cultural lightning rod. Our culture has an obsession with her.

Libby: Why do you think that is?

Howard: She is currently the “chief promoter” of the principles of our Constitution, and our culture sees that as a threat.

Libby: You are starting to get weird on me. Explain that.

Howard: Look at events in the Middle East during the time of Christ. He was promoting a set of principles that resonated with the people being governed by the Romans. The Roman culture saw him as a threat to its authority and took action. You probably remember the headline:

FINALLY! Rabble-Rousing Carpenter Put To Death

Libby: So you see Sarah Palin as a “Second Coming?”

Howard: Now it’s YOU getting weird on me! No, this doesn’t have a religious context, but Governor Palin is living a modern-day cultural persecution, just as was documented some 2,000 years ago. We are watching that same dynamic play out here in the United States.

Libby: OK, I’m going to need an example.

Howard: Did you see my post about American Dhimmitude?

Libby: Yes, that came up in the “Sarah” search.

Howard: It had Kathleen Gustafson, a professed teacher, displaying a large banner proclaiming Sarah Palin as the “WORST GOVERNOR EVER.” Sarah confronted Ms. Gustafson, and the story was covered by the press.

Was the story about this person who apparently knows how to rank governors? Ms. Gustafson knows that governors like George Wallace of Alabama promoted segregation of people with dark skin tone. She knows that governors like Rod Blagojevich of Illinois have been convicted of crimes. Yet she sees them as being much better than Governor Palin. Governor Palin is the WORST GOVERNOR EVER!

Ms. Gustafson has the power to indoctrinate young people with her system of values and beliefs. Is the story about her? No, the story is that Governor Palin rolled her eyes when listening to the accusations of Ms. Gustafson. It is Governor Palin’s reaction that is the story, and our culture takes her to task.

Libby: That’s just one example.

Howard: See my post about the Family Guy episode. It documents the same effect. It happens over and over. It’s a form of persecution.

Libby: OK, but you also had a recent post on Todd Palin, Sarah’s husband.

Howard: Yes! Here is the person closest to Governor Palin, and he has insights nobody else shares. Going back to the earlier comparison, it’s like being able to interview Mary and Joseph during the time of Christ. Wouldn’t you want to know about their hopes and fears? Did they have any sense of destiny? Our culture downplays this type of reporting, but it offers a perspective that may be of great interest, depending on how events turn out over the next few years.

Libby: I think you are a bit overwrought with all of this.

Howard: As I said, I find it fascinating. Our culture is working overtime to get the narrative properly established on Governor Palin. Here’s one more for you to watch:

Sarah was apparently pregnant when she and Todd were married. (Less than eight months elapsed between their elopement and the birth of Track.) Have you read anything about that? Could it be that our culture is trying to figure out how to manufacture a “Sarah is not a true feminist” narrative, and the pre-marital sex issue is hard to fit in?

Libby: Hmmm.

Howard: A cultural persecution only comes along every millennium or two, and it’s fascinating to watch!

Libby: We’ll stay tuned.

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Meeting Mr. Palin

Todd Palin and Trig

Stacy McCain has an unbelievable scoop over at his site and at The American Spectator, titled "Meeting Mr. Palin."  It's an interview in Wasilla, Alaska with Todd Palin at his home.  It should not be missed.

Need some encouragement?  Check this out:

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Bad Optics!

Classic Poster from Les Miserables

Have you ever used the terminology, “bad optics?” It is meant to describe well-meaning people inadvertently delivering a bad visual message. The context is normally that of political insiders referencing a political indiscretion.

An example from early last month (August, 2010) was First Lady Michelle Obama taking her coterie on a lavish vacation in Spain. Because the United States is currently dealing with major unemployment problems, it brought to mind images of Marie Antoinette. Another recent example was Senator John Kerry attempting to avoid Massachusetts taxes by docking his yacht at a slip in Rhode Island.

Senator Kerry is in the news again. This time it’s about being named the richest man in the United States Senate.

And here’s something that might also be newsworthy: Senator Kerry has just written an appeal for donations on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). His 8/31/2010 e-mail, titled “Smear”, tells us about Karl Rove’s involvement in a “shadowy new smear factory:”

Rove and a group of secret donors are building a $50 million war chest to finance what they call - get this! - "hard-hitting issue advocacy." That sounds like a fancy way of saying they'll be doing to good people like Russ Feingold and Barbara Boxer what they did to me in 2004: lie, smear, distort, and deceive. Remember those ads? I sure do - and now it's my friends who are in the crosshairs.

Senator Kerry casts Mr. Rove as a person we must fear, letting us know that “the stakes could not be higher.” He asks that we “stand together and fight back” by sending at least $5 to the DSCC.

This is certainly a different approach than what might be called the “classic appeal” described by the novelist Charles Dickens. His “street urchin” character, Oliver Twist, would beg for food in London. That appeal worked because Oliver clearly could use some help.

Senator Kerry, the richest man in Congress, is asking us to send him $5. For some reason, it doesn’t have quite the same “zing.”

It works in our anti-Republican culture, but somehow doesn't it seem grating?

UPDATE 9/5/2010:
Linked by Left Coast Rebel!  Tim is looking for any inside scoop on the California Senate race.  If you have something, please let him know.

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The Emmys

The 2010 Emmy Awards were held this past Sunday (8/29/2010) and 13.5 million viewers watched the live show. It was a vindication of sorts for script writers, as “Modern Family”, “Mad Men”, and “Breaking Bad” all won Emmys.

“Modern Family” covers close family relationships with great comedic style while “Mad Men” depicts American life in the1960s with amazing veracity. “Breaking Bad” is a one-of-a-kind drama created by Vince Gilligan that focuses on the consequences of involvement in our drug culture.

In each case, the writing is exceptional. If you’ve watched any of these shows, you know there is astonishing creativity coming out of Hollywood these days.

The award for “Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series” went to Jon Stewart for “The Daily Show.” The Emmys featured a clip of Mr. Stewart doing a sketch dissecting the word “liberals.” Jon uses his comedic license to show how the word can be written as “Li – be – RALs” to convey the “Lies” and the “Radical Anti-social Leftists” associated with the group.

OK, that’s not what really happened. Here’s a link to a video that includes the actual sketch (first 30 seconds of the clip).

The segment provides the obligatory anti-Republican sentiment we’ve come to expect in the award ceremonies of our entertainment industry. Jon Stewart certainly deserves his award, but must we be instructed on the “lies” spouted by Republicans and the hidden links to “Aryan” groups?

The producers of the Emmy Awards chose this segment as emblematic of Mr. Stewart’s talent. I’m guessing they know our anti-Republican culture approves.

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