General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: As a member of what has become known as the "far left" those who attack me here don't anger me [View all]guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)designed to confuse people. The GOP has been successful at framing the argument on a variety of issues over the past 35 years. Ronald Reagan was the perfect President to do this because he seemed sincere. And we all know that when you can fake sincerity you can win the debate.
Anytime we allow the GOP to set the terms of the debate we will lose the debate. When the GOP decides the range of options the left has no options. That is how things work. When Bush the Lesser said: "you are either with us or you are with the terrorists" he was only following the GOP playbook. And it worked. Rather than discuss the "why" of September 11, many Democratic politicians fell all over themselves to declare that they were just as tough as the GOP when it came to fighting terrorists.
Same thing happens with Social Security. Rather than discuss how we can adjust benefits to preserve Social Security, discuss raising the ceiling on income subject to the tax.
When you wrote:
"Far left" is a conservative Republican meme that has been pumped into the national consciousness through quite literally thousands of radio stations and a full time 24/7/365 cable propaganda outlet. It's a phrase from Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich designed specifically to drive a wedge into the non-conservative Republican bloc in America.
you nailed it. Memes are great because they are easy to remember. Bumper sticker philosophy for the illiterate.