GOP Slogans (not posted to FB because it isn’t quite right)

I’ve been reading analyses saying that progressive politicians did not fare as well as hoped in the 2020 election in part because of the language they used. The phrase that seems to have actually frightened people is “Defund the police.” I have the impression that the slogan is sometimes not intended to be taken literally, and that “BLM” doesn’t mean that other lives do not matter in spite of the fact that it can be heard to mean that. And when big signs in Miami say that the GOP opposes “socialism”, it’s clearly not a word that’s very conducive to winning.

But that’s not why I’m posting. I need help imagining what an even bolder, more fascist GOP would say that they support. They talk of freedom and liberty (as we Dems should also), a strong military, tax relief, family, etc. But they seem to be very clever at finding effective slogans against good policies (“Green New Deal” sounds good to me but they’ve managed to make it sound bad.) (Even our use of the word “Progressive” proves that the GOP has beaten the word “liberal”.)

Think ahead to 2024 when a bunch of mouth-breathing Trump wannabees compete with each other for the base’s love (assuming that Trump is in jail or Moscow and not running). What slogans would they use, slogans that would sound good to them and as scary to decent Americans as some of the progressive slogans apparently are?

I somehow doubt that we’ll be able to come up with much. Even “forced birther”, while very effective, is negative and unlikely to be parroted with approval by Tom Cotton. Is there a more positive way to say it?

• Forced birther
• Catholic and Baptist schools of your choice only
• Pay your own way
• Let non-achievers pay
• Top down
• Private water and air
• Petroleum transportation
• Father knows best
• Woman’s freedom to stay home and have children
• Let ’em die (we even have the video of this)
• Obedient children

2020-11-12 Progressive Dems of OC zoom meeting

These are notes that I made during a Zoom meeting.

Saying that Cal Cunningham was a weak candidate seems to assume that we could have found a stronger one. I doubt that that woman (Smith?) would have been stronger.

Rebecca - we got a big FU from establishment Dems. Really?

The Clintons and Obama and David Price have become our enemies? Faisal Khan even said that David Price called ICE the “gestapo”. What does Price have to do to win PDOC approval or at least respect? Price hatred feels like group think, but then I don’t know the history.

Questions for Faisal Khan

Khan spoke at length, saying, for example, that he will no longer vote for anyone with whom he doesn’t agree 100%.

He proposed that PDOC and allies should have a press conference.

He wants to have one-on-one deep outreach with voters. His enthusiasm seems to stem from a video of Bernie Sanders successfully convincing someone of Medicare for All in a five minute talk.

• What if we talk, and you don’t convince me that Medicare for All is what I want? Do I become an enemy?

Khan stated that Pelosi won’t talk about progressive policies. How does he know?

• At least you seem to think that saying “Defund the police” is not the best way to talk to people.

• At least you seem to realize that David Price has called ICE the gestapo.

• Need to have unity in Dems in NC.

• Bring Omar to NC to unite people?

Policies I agree on

• immediate direct cash relief (temporary)
• universal basic income
• universal health care
• reduction of corporate subsidies
• adjustment of the tax code so that corporations and the very rich pay their fair share
• wealth tax
• transition away from fossil fuels
• ban dangerous pesticides and chemical additives
• end racial disparity in criminal sentencing
• improve police training and practices
• cancellation of college loan debts
• a moral foreign policy
• reparations for slavery

I suggest not saying

• “neo-liberal”
• “establishment”

I don’t really understand intuitively the term neo-liberal. Could we say instead, unregulated capitalism? That seems to fit the definition.

Maple Osterbrink

• It’s about language

Rebecca Cerese

• Cunningham refused to meet with Medicare for All (that’s bad all right)

Unformed

A policy idea

Us versus Them

Maureen Kurtz

“White people are our enemy.”

• Holy shit!
• We can at least keep on assuming patronizingly that they are simply misled.

Jamie Harrison’s creative email

I donated to the campaign of Jamie Harrison, hoping that he could rid us of Lindsey Graham, Senator from South Carolina.

Harrison raised a record amount of money and I swear he used most of it to send me email requests for donations!

I’m posting this because I’m genuinely impressed at the creativity of the person writing his email messages. I’ve tried to collect some of the different names he uses (they are all from info@jamieharison.com):

I was most impressed with this email:

Notice that they’ve made the name field look as if there are two conversations, the first one from me to Harrison: me, Jaime (2). This successfully tricked me into wondering, “Did I send email to Jaime Harrison? Let me go look.”

Very, very clever trick. You can see a similar trick highlighted in the first image above. Granted, I’m not U.S. (sorry for the pun).

How I accidentally voted for a Republican and spoiled my Absentee ballot

I got my Orange County, NC, absentee ballot in the mail and diligently filled all the little ovals. Then I asked my wife to witness by signing the envelope. While she was doing that, I went to the back of the house.

Suddenly I heard my wife shout, “George!!! You voted for a Republican!!”

I hurried back and found that, sure enough, I had voted for a Bad Guy!

How did this happen?

Do you see it? The order, switched from bad guy - good guy to good guy - bad guy when it got to Ronnie Chatterji, who is an actual good guy, BTW!! I must have gotten into a rhythm.

I am old, but working as a Poll Greeter for the good guys during early voting, I met a 19 year-old who had a friend who had made the same mistake.

So, friends, if you haven’t voted yet, be sure to vote on Tuesday and be very careful!

Rob Anderson sends photos from near Calhoon Hall, UT Austin

Where Robert E Lee statue used to be

I went into Calhoon almost every weekday for almost 8 years and don’t even remember the statue.

I still think we need both a statue and protesters for anyone to learn anything. That’s certainly the way it worked for me.

The third case is rather rare, I think.

2020-10-13 Bad Political Thinking

medical insurance is not the same as medical service

capitalism is not one thing corporations are not small businesses

capitalism’s inventiveness is not the same as delivering the goods

e.g., we can no longer see all tv shows, movies, etc.

capitalism’s inventiveness is confusing and often siloed

Tried to send a text message lately?

regulations are not all bad

they can set a level playing field.