'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
How To Write A Letter To The Editor, part 2
By Baron Dave Romm
Note: This is a repeat of a column from last year, the second in a series originally written for the 2000 election, slightly updated. This Independence Day more than ever, we need to have our voices heard. Original archived articles on my web site.
In the Illuminatus Trilogy, Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea (among other things, former editors of the letter column of Playboy) came up with the term fnord, which is a word put in a newspaper article that you can't see but instantly provoke a negative emotional reaction to the content of the article. While the Illuminatus Trilogy is fiction, mostly, the concept of words that provoke an emotional reaction to the rest of the content is legitimate. All words have connotative as well as denotative aspects, but some are deliberately used to color speech. On the right, a dittohead can mutter "political correctness" or "feminazi" or many many others and the actual facts presented don't mean anything. The point is already made just by repeating the word. The left has it's own terms (left as an exercise for the reader) as do many other ways to slice opinionated cognitive dissonance.
Establishing emotional associations to overlay factual discussion isn't a recent rhetorical trick. Any good writer knows how to use words to create emotional links (Shakespeare is especially good that this, and you often don't even notice). Ad campaigns rely on appeals to the emotions. Political spin is often just using emotion-laden words to justify an action that would otherwise be abhorrent (eg calling the procedure partial-birth abortion to justify putting the mother in danger), or is using emotion-neutral words to dampen what would otherwise cause your stomach to churn (eg collateral damage to refer to civilian casualties).
In the half-decade prior to 1978, the liberals were riding high here in the US. The good guys had just precipitated the first resignation of a president, the ever-slimy Richard Nixon; the War In Vietnam (excuse me, police action...) had just come to an inglorious end, yet an end nonetheless. We had elected Jimmy Carter, a moral man, as president, and he was appointing good people. The Clean Air and Water Act was finally making rivers safe to drink from again, and so on.
Then, as now, the far right couldn't stand it when they were out of power, and were determined to take the reigns of control no matter what the cost to America. The coalition of center-left movements that had coalesced around the anti-war movement was falling apart without the war. Enter Newt Gingrich, running for Congress in Georgia. His Ph.D. demonstrated that he had survived academia, which has it's own language set, and he wanted to bring that level of rhetorical manipulation to the political arena. Here is the list that Newt gave to all the Republicans/conservatives/hate radio/speech writers:
| Good Words according to Newt | Bad Words according to Newt |
|---|---|
| active(ly) activist building candid(ly) care(ing) challenge change children choice/choose citizen commitment common sense compete confident conflict control courage crusade debate dream duty eliminate good-time in prison empower(ment) fair family freedom hard work help humane incentive initiative lead learn legacy liberty light listen mobilize moral movement opportunity passionate peace pioneer precious premise preserve principle(d) pristine pro- (issue): flag, children, environment, reform prosperity protect proud/pride provide reform rights share strength success tough truth unique vision we/us/our |
abuse of power anti- (issue): flag, family, child, jobs betray bizarre bosses bureaucracy cheat coercion "compassion" is not enough collapse(ing) consequences corrupt corruption criminal rights crisis cynicism decay deeper destroy destructive devour disgrace endanger excuses failure (fail) greed hypocrisy ideological impose incompetent insecure insensitive intolerant liberal lie limit(s) machine mandate(s) obsolete pathetic patronage permissive attitude pessimistic punish (poor ...) radical red tape self-serving selfish sensationalists shallow shame sick spend(ing) stagnation status quo steal taxes they/them threaten traitors unionized urgent (cy) waste welfare |
Not precisely fnords ala bleeding heart, Newt and co. managed to turn the dialog in his direction. It took a while to mold a gullible public spending 3 1/2 hours a day listening to Rush and the rest of the day repeating Drudge over a beer and Newt didn't get to be Speaker of the House until 1994.
Meanwhile, here are some of my own additions and suggestions, augmented by similar arguments gleaned from Rackjite, bartcop, Joseph Duemer and so on.
One of the easiest things to do is simply reverse everything they say. Listen to the fnord they're using and turn the tables. You have the advantage of being factually correct as well as morally sound. If they start going on about "liberal news media" you can point out that lie, and simply append "conservative" and "Republican" to "news media" or "the local paper." Indeed, if they slip in the fnords (and I bet they can't even define most of them; ever ask a dittohead to define "liberal"? They would never have passed third grade...), do the same in reverse: append "conservative" to lots of the negative issues and "liberal" (or "center" or "bi-partisan" or "heroic liberal") to all the positive issues.
Some people think that Mel Gibson makes documentaries and Michael
Moore doesn't. These people are as crazy as the Taliban, and hate
American just as much.
Bush lied to our troops. Where is Bin Ladin? Where are the Weapons
of Mass Destruction?
Moral relativism (aka the double standard; the right likes to use
this one, and I love to shove it back in their face
bin Laden-loving (W's first major business partner was a brother of
Osama. His father has worked for bin Ladens in the Carlyle Group and
others)
slippery slope
heroic
Christian ("Jesus was a liberal. Why aren't you?")
of faith
family
Republicans are soft on crime... when it's theirs (I love to accuse
Republicans of being soft on crime, whenever they defend Nixon or try
to change the subject of Bush's scandals with an 'everyone does it'
argument).
Whining, right wing whining
George W. French (Bush lied to our troops! The French were right and
the oily Bush administration was lying... again.)
Corporate media, conservative news media, right-wing media elites
Deficit-loving Republicans, tax & spend Republicans. (eg, Republicans
cut their taxes and spend your money)
Fundamentalist social agenda, right-wing social agenda
The Taliban wing of the GOP
The Republican privatization plan for Social Security.
Income gap [Note: when Republicans respond by calling this "class
war," respond with, "the class war started in the boardroom."]
Massive corporate fraud
Lack of corporate governance (W was handling governance on the Harken
Board of Directors...)
The economic assault on ordinary families
off-shore corporate tax havens (one of those costs more than all the
welfare cheaters...)
Losing the war on terror. The same day we invaded Iraq for the
second time in 12 years, we invaded Afghanistan for the second time
in 18 months, and al Queda is still there.
A woman's right to choose
The discredited War on Drugs
And when they call you a liberal, repeat-after-me: "That's right! I'm
proud to be a liberal. Liberals stand for accounting reform, a
woman's right to choose, the sanctity of Social Security, responsible
and effective national security, working families . . ."
The shame of being a conservative has never been greater.
Rush Limbaugh is for people who aren't mature enough for Barney.
And so on. The arguments of the dittoheads have been honed by some of the highest paid hatemongers (eg spin control artists) over hours and hours of air time. It's time to take back the vocabulary, use fnords to our advantage, and force people to think about what they're talking about. They probably won't, at least not right away, but the effort is worth whether choosing your words carefully for a formal letter to the editor/web article/essay or more informally in a face to face discussion. You're at a disadvantage: You can be pursuaded by a reasonable argument. Your argument must be reasonable AND evocative.
"Torkild, you have never been forced from the safety of what you
perceive to be your reality. You are locked too deeply into your
concepts of you you think you are. You must step out of it and see
yourself from a different percpective."
Torkild laughed, "My reality serves me fine."
"Of course it does. Ignorance allows the belief in perfection. You
never need to question. At the same time, never to question is one
of the few real sins for which your soul can be damned."
-- The Web Of The Spider, W. Michael Gear, p537
One of the important things to remember about the extreme right: They hate you. Their world is soley defined in black and white terms (which is what makes them extremists in the first place) and any shade of gray makes you one of... Them. Most, even most conservatives, are not extremists, but too many are. The people who shielded and are proud of right-wing Christian terrorist Eric Rudolph are far too common. There is no reasoning with them, but at least you can show some gumption and stand up to them with facts. Failing that, use fnords. It won't change their mind, but you can have fun watching their faces turn red. And maybe you'll convince someone who's not so extreme as they'd like to believe. Slowly, perhaps, but we're the good guys, remember?
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here, you can order Shockwave Radio Theater CDs, and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio here (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air, and I'm continuing to collect extra-weird stuff.
--////
Anti-Bush CD Compilation
Protest Music
When you have a spare minute that you want to use against George W Bush,
visit www.sealionrecords.com/cd-compilation.htm
All 20 songs on the compilation are posted for everyone's listening
pleasure.
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Reader Link
Re: Bumper Stickers
You can create your own anti-Bush/Cheney bumper sticker here.
~ Bruce
Thanks, Bruce!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Bit warmer, but still nice.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton shakes hands of spectators in Berlin on Sunday, July 11, 2004. Clinton is in Berlin to promote his book.
Photo by Markus Schreiber
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Keith Richards Leads Tribute
Gram Parsons
For Keith Richards, it was "another goodbye to another good friend" as the Rolling Stones guitarist headlined a pair of Los Angeles-area tribute concerts over the weekend to Gram Parsons, the late country rock pioneer who was too much of a hellraiser even for the Stones.
Norah Jones, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam and John Doe were also among the performers at "Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons," which took place on Friday at the Santa Barbara Bowl and on Saturday the Universal Amphitheater near Hollywood.
The event was organized by Parsons' daughter, Polly, who said she hoped to raise between $50,000 and $70,000 for the Musicians' Assistance Program (MAP), which helps people in the music industry get treatment for drug and alcohol problems.
For a lot more, Gram Parsons
U.S. folk music legend Joan Baez performs in Bucharest, July 11, 2004 during a concert promoting her album 'Dark Chords On A Big Guitar.'
Photo by Bogdan Cristel
Afraid of Fines
PBS Bleeps Words
Three foul words, including the F-word, have been bleeped from a new PBS drama, much to the chagrin of Richard Dreyfuss, its star and executive producer.
Dreyfuss and fellow executive producer David Black, a veteran TV writer, said that they reluctantly agreed to abide by new Federal Communications Commission language standards, but only to keep PBS, producing station KCET/Hollywood and other public TV stations from being slapped with onerous fines.
The drama, "Cop Shop," which also stars Blair Brown, Rosie Perez, Rita Moreno and Jay Thomas, is to air Oct. 6 as the latest edition of the "PBS Hollywood Presents" series.
Dreyfuss and Black spelled out their reasons for the compliance in statements read at the outset of a session Friday at the TV critics' summer press tour in Century City. Each also criticized the political pressures that led to the bleeps in the two-part, 90-minute program.
"The new FCC regulations represent an unacceptable assault on our First Amendment rights, on everyone's First Amendment rights, an act unworthy of a free country, an act of censorship," Black told the critics. To underscore the irony of the required bleeping, Black added: "As for the word 'f---,' I stand with Vice President (Dick) Cheney, who recently used the word on the Senate floor and who said sometimes you have to use it unapologetically because it makes you feel better afterwards."
PBS Bleeps Words
Chileans Celebrate Centennial
Pablo Neruda
Chileans threw a giant poetry fest on Sunday for the 100th birthday of Nobel prize-winning poet, Pablo Neruda, in celebrations that attracted some unlikely admirers of the communist poet.
Neruda, who died of prostate cancer at age 69 shortly after Augusto Pinochet's 1973 military coup, was one of Chile's most prolific and internationally acclaimed authors but his work was suppressed during the 17-year military rule following his death.
But even the military has joined in the week-long festivities leading up to his centennial on Monday, which is the first official tribute to the artist and diplomat organized by the left-leaning government.
Right-wing mayors, business groups, the chamber of commerce and prison convicts have also joined the Neruda madness.
Pablo Neruda
'Jeopardy!' Champ
Ken Jennings
If the answer is Ken Jennings and his record $920,960 so far in "Jeopardy!" winnings, the question must be, how does he do it? A curious mind, good memory and astute buzzer technique, said Jennings, a Utah software engineer who will make an unprecedented 29th appearance on the syndicated quiz show Monday night.
Playing "Jeopardy!" fulfills a longtime dream, said Jennings, 30, although he concedes the cash prize is a bit dreamy, too.
A Seattle native who grew up in South Korea - his father works for an international law firm in Seoul - Jennings watched "Jeopardy!" on the U.S. Armed Forces TV network and thought to himself, "Hey, maybe you could go on 'Jeopardy!'. You're not half bad at it."
Ken Jennings
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Wins Battle With Todd McFarlane
Tony Twist
Former pro hockey player Tony Twist has been awarded $15 million by a jury that found a comic strip used his name without permission. Comic book artist Todd McFarlane used the name Antonio "Tony Twist" Twistelli for a violent New York mob boss character in "Spawn" comic books in the early 1990s.
A St. Louis jury decided Friday that McFarlane and his comic book company, Todd McFarlane Productions Inc., infringed on Twist's publicity rights and ordered them to pay $15 million.
McFarlane claimed his use of the name was protected under the First Amendment. Twist disagreed, saying McFarlane had gone outside the bounds of free speech rights.
Twist was initially awarded more than $24.5 million by a jury in 2000, but the judge overruled that decision. The Missouri Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by McFarlane without comment.
Tony Twist
Ice sculptors show off their skills during an annual ice sculpture contest in Tokyo, July 11, 2004. One hundred ice sculptors throughout Japan took part in the competition, which requires them to create their artwork from a block of ice weighing 135 kg (297 lb) with measurements of one meter (3.28 feet) in height, 50 cm (19.69 inches) in width and 25 cm (9.8 inches) in depth, within 40 minutes.
Photo by Yuriko Nakao
Seeks Donor for Daughter
Martin Milner
Actor Martin Milner is seeking the public's help in finding a bone marrow donor for his leukemia-stricken daughter. Milner, who starred in the TV series "Route 66" and "Adam 12," said a marrow transplant may be the only hope for 45-year-old Amy Milner, and no suitable donor has been found among family members or on the national registry.
"There's a good likelihood that somebody else could be saved, somebody not related to us at all. ... There are a lot of people waiting for good news," Milner said.
Blood drives to find a match are scheduled in San Diego and Carlsbad this month and one is set for the Screen Actors Guild in Los Angeles on July 16. Kent McCord, Milner's friend and "Adam 12" co-star, is heading the SAG drive.
Martin Milner
'Party In The Park'
The Prince's Trust
Prince Charles hosted a party Sunday in Hyde Park for thousands of revelers, entertained by stars including Lenny Kravitz and Avril Lavigne.
Other acts at the outdoor benefit for The Prince's Trust charity included Jamelia, Alanis Morisette, Nelly Furtado, The Corrs and Lionel Richie.
The Prince's Trust helps troubled young people gain skills and begin to work. Last year's Party in the Park raised more than $1.8 million for the group.
The Prince's Trust
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Cruise Line Gets Key West Welcome
Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell's new cruise line is getting a warm welcome in sunny Key West. O'Donnell will receive the key to the city this week when her cruise, billed as the first that caters to gay and lesbian families, stops at the popular island port Wednesday on its inaugural voyage, officials said.
The Norwegian Dawn's seven-day trip departs New York on Sunday and is the first cruise of R Family Vacations, the O'Donnell-backed company that promotes family-friendly vacations for gays and lesbians.
Rosie O'Donnell
A tourist stops to take a night time photo of the provincial Parliament in Victoria, British Columbia late July 10, 2004. The building is outlined with lights and illuminates the downtown waterfront nightly throughout the year.
Photo by Andy Clark
Former HQ Fumigated for Anthrax
National Enquirer
Workers began pumping a potent chemical into the former headquarters of a supermarket tabloid Sunday to clean up the first target in a series of deadly anthrax attacks in 2001.
The cleanup is being led by BioONE, a company established by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Sabre Technical Services, which decontaminated other buildings hit by anthrax attacks.
BioONE then plans to occupy the space as the headquarters for its new crisis management venture. The company hopes to move in by the end of the year.
The arrival of anthrax in the mail at the building was the first in a series of still-unsolved attacks that killed five people, among them photo editor Bob Stevens of AMI's tabloid, the Sun. The attacks emptied Senate offices and a major mail processing center in the Washington area, rattling a nation shaken by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks a month earlier.
AMI, which also publishes The National Enquirer, hurriedly abandoned the three-story office after the anthrax was found.
National Enquirer
Normally thousands of White Pelicans nest on this peninsula at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Medina, N.D., photographed here on Wednesday, July 7, 2004. In late May and early June of 2004, about 28,000 pelicans abandoned their nests and left the area, leaving their chicks and eggs behind.
Photo by Will Kincaid)
PeopleSoft Founder Buys Park
'Bonanza'
A theme park based on the 1960s television show "Bonanza" has been sold to PeopleSoft founder David Duffield for an undisclosed sum.
Duffield, who became a residential real estate developer after leaving as president and CEO of the software maker in 1999, was vague about his plans for the 570-acre Ponderosa Ranch.
The ranch, on Lake Tahoe's north shore, opened in 1967 based on the NBC show Bonanza, which aired from 1959 to 1973. The park includes a mockup old West town, a shooting gallery and stunt performers.
'Bonanza'
Weekend Box Office
'Spider-Man 2'
Spider-Man fended off an anchorman and a king at the weekend box office to hold on to its supremacy. "Spider-Man 2" took in $46 million in its second weekend, pushing its total to $257.3 million after just 12 days, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Will Ferrell's broadcast-news comedy "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" premiered a strong No. 2 with $28 million, but "King Arthur," starring Clive Owen, had a so-so opening of $15.2 million to come in third.
Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" was a healthy holdover in its third weekend, at No. 4 with $11 million and raising its total to $80.1 million. Moore's assault on resident Bush over the Sept. 11 attacks, "Fahrenheit 9/11" appears headed beyond $100 million, which would make it the first documentary to cross that mark.
for the rest, 'Spider-Man 2'
A baby wolf yawns next to his mother Ursina, Friday, July 9, 2004 in the animal park of Mont d' Orzeires, located close to Vallorbe, Switzerland. At the end of May three wolves were born in the animal park and these days the well protected cubs can be seen for the first time.
Photo by Fabrice Coffrini
'The Osbournes'
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