This is another posting from 2011 added here as I refill this newer version of the blog with posts since 2008 to 2019. Hope you find these “historical artifacts” interesting.
September 29, 2012
Where and how did Homer Simpson learn to call Mr. Montgomery Burns, his well-known boss, a “job creator”? It’s interesting. Springfield Hospital’s maternity ward reports that Burns, early this summer, emerged “reborn” as a new man, a job creator. Since then, rather than being known as merely a miserable conniving rat bastard nuclear power purveyor and destroyer of lives, Springfielders have had to reassess him. Warily, they’ve not yet embraced the new Mr. Burns, nonetheless, attempts on his life are no longer routine. Burns likes this. A lot. He can cut his security staff by 40%. “Excellent. Unloading the creeps during a recession adds unbounded joy to a procedure normally quite unextraordinary.”
Today, I was reminded of how this transformation came to be. It required no changes whatever to Monty’s wretched behavior. His unmatched disdain for people, puppies, and philanthropy? Intact. Disgust with slack-jawed troglodyte union organizers? Better than ever. Yet, reborn, Monty became a “Job Creator.” Sounds almost like a hale fellow well met. What happened? The explanation is all around us. Today, an email from former Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL), reminded me how easy this was to accomplish, and not just for Monty Burns.
The Bonfire of Poli-Speak. I get Alan Grayson. Most Democrats do not. Most Dems are now utterly centrist, which in the recent pre-Tea Party past was considered “right-leaning,” and “blue dog.” Alan Grayson is not centrist. His bona fides: he earned a 2.00 rating out of a possible 100.00 from Conservative.org for his voting record. Yes, a “2.” In November’s midterms, Grayson fell to GOP right winger Daniel Webster. Among his bona fides? In 2005, while serving in the Florida Senate, the gallant Webster fought to keep Terry Schiavo in a persistent vegetative state. Today, in GOP circles, that is considered centrist.
Being in the D.C. area, I’m far distant from his district. As a fan, though, I and thousands of others get emails from time to time with his pithy (he puts the pith in pithy) observations of the current scene. His email today reminded me of a political communications consultant named Frank Luntz. He’s beloved by the GOP for his ability to manufacture dishonest but strangely pleasing phrases that hide what’s really going on underneath. The method is particularly effective when arrayed against the less well-informed, but even seasoned Democratic party boosters and wonks are routinely fooled. So, Luntz’s output is more than lying, and it’s also . . . less. That enigma makes his work for the GOP dangerous.
And that makes it a story worth telling. Monty Burns – and the Koch brothers – would prefer I not do so. . . So, let’s do!
You Say “Toe-MAY-toe,” I Say “Shut Up!“ I hadn’t thought much lately about Frank Luntz, the GOP’s de facto syntax professor and Minister of Truth & Public Enlightenment. His wordsmithery has impacted national political discussion by successfully redefining words and phrases used to discuss policy issues. The GOP, more than any others, has used Luntz’s sleight-of-hand to stake out their radical positions by literally changing the language used to debate them.
That, of course, is what’s meant by “framing” an issue. We all try it. Wives and husbands. Teenagers justifying almost anything. Progressives. Labor unions. Socialists. Tea Partiers. And so too the Democratic party, but without skill or persistence. Now here’s a discouraging truth: No group distorts language to their advantage better than the Luntz-inspired GOP. Democrats are late to the game on this, rarely understanding the national impact of the GOP’s expertly crafted assault on voters’ sense of personal responsibility and public morality, especially their commitment to neighbors, near and far. The result is deadly to Democratic party principles, with a pivotal election approaching.
Some say, “So what? Politicians lie. When not lying they’re thinking about lying.” Well, Luntz’s approach is not precisely a renewed dedication to downright lying, it’s not a prescription for lavish bullsh*tting either. None of this gambling with political language, of course, is new, either. The reigning method, though, is highly refined for the telecommunications-driven 21st Century. As never before, disguised untruth can be pushed to the media outlets in all its forms, 24/7. Beware Frank Luntz while praying for the Democrats to discover their own.