Fighting the "Liberal Media"--a lesson from Gen. Wes (repost of earlier comment)
Submitted by Gloria on June 14, 2006 - 9:07pm.
which seemed to generate some interest....
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7010#comment-109254
Submitted by Gloria on June 14, 2006 - 6:23pm.
I just posted to a thread at DU about how Begala blew an
opportunity to counter an attack against Democrats.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1428725
Subject:Just a teensy example of what's gone wrong....CNN/Begala/Watts
The poster says, correctly, that this plays out over and over again in the media....that "our side" lets things go by unchallenged, in this case, that the differences in opinion about Iraq would, according to JC Watts, have meant that Saddam would still be in power killing people, etc etc..--and Begala just sat there and let it hang..
So I posted:
By contrast, and I'm not saying this just because I'm a
Clark supporter...
Last night Clark was on the the odious Hannity sh*t show with Ollie North (both remote)...
After getting through one question, Hannity went into "attack the Democrat" mode...and started on how the Democrats undermined the troops and Murtha said the troops were "murderers."
To make a long story short--Clark dropped any pretense of trying to have a decent discussion and swung back. He countered Hannity by saying it's about FACTS --basically, he said "You know Democrats support the troops 100%" and "You're spinning me, you're spinning me." He went on to say he wanted to see what the investigation (Haditha) said and that Murtha as an elected representative had a right to bring up anything he wanted that would push the investigation further.
This doesn't do justice to how fiercely Hannity went after him and the Democrats and how doggedly Clark resisted the bullsh*t. But he called out Hannity on 1) Facts 2) False accusations and 3) Spin. He not only deflected Hannity's false statements but ALSO WENT AFTER HANNITY'S TECHNIQUES.
Pointing out the manipulation in this instance was just as important as trying to straighten out the barrage of talking points that came his way.
*****
I encourage everyone to bring this sort of thing out whenever possible!!
Visit www.zianet.com/insightanalytical - Home of the World Media Watch M-W-F, also at Buzzflash.com
I really like your comparison, Gloria, and hope
that this might help other dems see how it should
be done! (And also, of course, show people
another reason why they should support
Wes Clark)
...of the "Democrats don't have a plan" and "no strategy" crap.
The tragedy is that the Dems are buying into this meme, propagated by the Republican message machine to slam the Dems.
Look...until the Dems have a nominee for '08, the Dems don't NEED to have a single message. Then by defaault the Dems' message would be that of the nominee.
Each Democratic politician, especially those running this year, should have his or her own plan and message. That's how they'll get elected. Their constituents want to know what the CANDIDATES will propose, not what they've been told to propose by some mythical great Democratic god somewhere.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
BE THE CHANGE you wish to see in the world.
If not us, WHO? If not now, WHEN?
...as did you Gloria! ;) I agree, 'hannityesque' tactics need to be called out every time...numbed between the ears with spin, the audience high-standard for t.v. news 'respectability' in the new century is Timmy Russert, author of book on "dad"...
All the while we are soooo missin' Uncle Walter.