Stories and Topics from Past Shows - Jan. - March 2011
January 24, 2011
USING HOLOCAUST ANALOGIES APROPRIATELY:
THE "BIG LIE" IS STILL A HISTORICAL PHENOMENA & WORTHY OF STUDY
Even though many people, like Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn), don't necessarily use the analogy well, the Holocaust remains one of History's greatest lessons about propaganda and the manipulation of people for political goals. It CAN be used without calling someone a Nazi and without people always thinking they are being called Nazis.
January 15, 2011
TURNING POINT IN THE DISCOURSE:
INTOLERANCE AND THE ARIZONA SHOOTINGS
From Matt Bai in the NY Times
What’s different about this moment is the emergence of a political culture — on blogs and Twitter and cable television — that so loudly and readily reinforces the dark visions of political extremists, often for profit or political gain.
It wasn’t clear Saturday whether the alleged shooter in Tucson was motivated by any real political philosophy or by voices in his head, or perhaps by both. But it’s hard not to think he was at least partly influenced by a debate that often seems to conflate philosophical disagreement with some kind of political Armageddon.
The problem here doesn’t lie with the activists like most of those who populate the Tea Parties, ordinary citizens who are doing what citizens are supposed to do — engaging in a conversation about the direction of the country. Rather, the problem would seem to rest with the political leaders who pander to the margins of the margins, employing whatever words seem likely to win them contributions or TV time, with little regard for the consequences.
It’s not that such leaders are necessarily trying to incite violence or hysteria; in fact, they’re not. It’s more that they are so caught up in a culture of hyperbole, so amused with their own verbal flourishes and the ensuing applause, that — like the bloggers and TV hosts to which they cater — they seem to lose their hold on the power of words.
It wasn’t clear Saturday whether the alleged shooter in Tucson was motivated by any real political philosophy or by voices in his head, or perhaps by both. But it’s hard not to think he was at least partly influenced by a debate that often seems to conflate philosophical disagreement with some kind of political Armageddon.
The problem here doesn’t lie with the activists like most of those who populate the Tea Parties, ordinary citizens who are doing what citizens are supposed to do — engaging in a conversation about the direction of the country. Rather, the problem would seem to rest with the political leaders who pander to the margins of the margins, employing whatever words seem likely to win them contributions or TV time, with little regard for the consequences.
It’s not that such leaders are necessarily trying to incite violence or hysteria; in fact, they’re not. It’s more that they are so caught up in a culture of hyperbole, so amused with their own verbal flourishes and the ensuing applause, that — like the bloggers and TV hosts to which they cater — they seem to lose their hold on the power of words.
What We're Talking about
This Week
- Democratic Dysfunction
- Rahm Emanuel's Departure
- Baker's Attacks on Patrick
- Abbas, Erkat and Settlements
Links/Videos/Quotes/Cartoons
of the Week
DYSFUNCTIONAL
DEMOCRATS
Tax Cuts and Backyard Meetings Just Won't Do
Backyard meetings? Really? Is that the best David Axelrod could come up with.
How could any strategist have actually thought these were a good idea? Talk about losing the "Presidential Voice." Obama seems to have been convinced that we want a best friend and not a comander in chief.
How could any strategist have actually thought these were a good idea? Talk about losing the "Presidential Voice." Obama seems to have been convinced that we want a best friend and not a comander in chief.
COLBERT P.R.
BETTER THAN DEMS
How Saving the Auto Industry Saved America
In response to many of my friends and colleagues on the right - who say we should have let GM and Chrysler fail - they need to watch this video clip that explains how, contrary to what they say over and over, we actually DO know what would have happened had we not intervened.
