Thursday, January 06, 2011
MEAN MARKETING IN POLITICS
We have often heard the saying, “Sex sells.” Indeed, it appears that it does. Everything from toothpaste to automobiles is marketed with a direct or oblique appeal to the sexual motivation of people. But in politics, sex works mostly as a negative and against democrats. With some exceptions, republican peccadilloes are less damaging, even in that party touting “family and religious values.” Perhaps this is because their mean marketing is targeted toward their opposition.
It seems that we have turned full scale to “mean marketing” in selling our politics, particularly to the naïve, the uninformed, the ill-informed, and the gullible. Negative television advertisements are obvious examples. Attack ads could almost be understood without any verbal adds. The dark, foreboding images of the opponent depict that person in a manner usually reserved for 1930’s era gangsters and jail mug shots. Tainted words like “liberal,” “socialist,” or “death panels” appear, along with demonized party icons such as Obama or Pelosi.
Mean marketing may include fear mongering. Whatever voters with vulnerable minds might fear is used prominently in mean salesmanship. Pictures of Hitler and swastika emblems are shock provoking and employed frequently. Capitalism fears socialism, and capitalists pay for lots of ads, so socialist, communist, Nazi, death tax, and “socialized ____, “are often used. Of course, these are often used along with American flags, eagles, stars, and emblems of patriotism to depict themselves and those who are paying for the dirty ads.
But there are political movements that should generate genuine fear in thoughtful voters. These are the political rallies or “town meetings” with burly thugs standing around, guns strapped around their waists or in combat military gear carrying rifles. We have a right to be disturbed by people carrying flags turned upside down, or those carrying signs saying “take our country back” and demonizing our democratically elected government or our government officials.
There are those who speak at microphones, even candidates for public office, advocating a “second amendment solution,” obviously referring to guns and militias as a way of solving our democratic government’s shortcomings, real or imagined. These should be frightening to those of us who believe in civility in debate and peaceful transitions through regular democratic processes.
There is an e-mail currently circulating carrying the title “Ex-marine Stuns Crowd.” In this a middle-aged, partially-bald man takes the microphone at a tea party rally and sings the fourth verse of the Star Spangled Banner (as written in 18l4, used since 1916, and adopted by Congress in 1931). He does a marvelous rendition of this verse of the anthem. Unfortunately nobody identifies this singer as the unsuccessful southern tea party candidate who became a flaming evangel and icon for the most militant tea party people in the last election.
As memory best serves, this man advocated personal violence and property destruction as political tactics against incumbent congressmen and opposition candidates. These tactics included bricks through windows of homes, cars, and offices, advocated on the right wing airwaves and done. Other stations carried excerpts of incidents. Also, he referred to secession and taking up arms to achieve “political goals.” To many of us, this seemed beyond free speech and into the treasonous and criminal category. Certainly, this man does not seem one to be honored as a patriotic icon, when many think he belongs in jail instead.
We should also fear those who want to change our Constitution to suit their own political ideas. These people try to stimulate fear in us that unless we change the Constitution something bad is going to happen to us. God is going to be banned from the nation. The Muslims are taking over. Or, substitute black people or Mexicans for Muslims in that sentence. Better yet, just be fearful all three are taking over, accompanied by the secularists, atheists, Jews, gays, and intellectuals.
They say that if we don’t give up some of our liberty and our freedom, we will not be safe. Or, conversely, they say that the government is taking away our freedoms and must be stopped by making some kind of constitutional change. Or again, they may say that we must let them go beyond the Constitution and the courts to do things that will save us from our enigmatic enemies.
We have a good Constitution. It is the charter of our democracy. It protects our individual freedoms from the majority and the government itself. It has been constantly maintained and updated by decisions of the Supreme Court through interpretation of its words and its principles. There has been an ebb and flow in terms of political philosophies, and properly so, but in general the courts and the Constitution have stood the tests of time.
The last thing we should do is allow any lunatic political fringe activists to change even one word of our Constitution.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
It seems that we have turned full scale to “mean marketing” in selling our politics, particularly to the naïve, the uninformed, the ill-informed, and the gullible. Negative television advertisements are obvious examples. Attack ads could almost be understood without any verbal adds. The dark, foreboding images of the opponent depict that person in a manner usually reserved for 1930’s era gangsters and jail mug shots. Tainted words like “liberal,” “socialist,” or “death panels” appear, along with demonized party icons such as Obama or Pelosi.
Mean marketing may include fear mongering. Whatever voters with vulnerable minds might fear is used prominently in mean salesmanship. Pictures of Hitler and swastika emblems are shock provoking and employed frequently. Capitalism fears socialism, and capitalists pay for lots of ads, so socialist, communist, Nazi, death tax, and “socialized ____, “are often used. Of course, these are often used along with American flags, eagles, stars, and emblems of patriotism to depict themselves and those who are paying for the dirty ads.
But there are political movements that should generate genuine fear in thoughtful voters. These are the political rallies or “town meetings” with burly thugs standing around, guns strapped around their waists or in combat military gear carrying rifles. We have a right to be disturbed by people carrying flags turned upside down, or those carrying signs saying “take our country back” and demonizing our democratically elected government or our government officials.
There are those who speak at microphones, even candidates for public office, advocating a “second amendment solution,” obviously referring to guns and militias as a way of solving our democratic government’s shortcomings, real or imagined. These should be frightening to those of us who believe in civility in debate and peaceful transitions through regular democratic processes.
There is an e-mail currently circulating carrying the title “Ex-marine Stuns Crowd.” In this a middle-aged, partially-bald man takes the microphone at a tea party rally and sings the fourth verse of the Star Spangled Banner (as written in 18l4, used since 1916, and adopted by Congress in 1931). He does a marvelous rendition of this verse of the anthem. Unfortunately nobody identifies this singer as the unsuccessful southern tea party candidate who became a flaming evangel and icon for the most militant tea party people in the last election.
As memory best serves, this man advocated personal violence and property destruction as political tactics against incumbent congressmen and opposition candidates. These tactics included bricks through windows of homes, cars, and offices, advocated on the right wing airwaves and done. Other stations carried excerpts of incidents. Also, he referred to secession and taking up arms to achieve “political goals.” To many of us, this seemed beyond free speech and into the treasonous and criminal category. Certainly, this man does not seem one to be honored as a patriotic icon, when many think he belongs in jail instead.
We should also fear those who want to change our Constitution to suit their own political ideas. These people try to stimulate fear in us that unless we change the Constitution something bad is going to happen to us. God is going to be banned from the nation. The Muslims are taking over. Or, substitute black people or Mexicans for Muslims in that sentence. Better yet, just be fearful all three are taking over, accompanied by the secularists, atheists, Jews, gays, and intellectuals.
They say that if we don’t give up some of our liberty and our freedom, we will not be safe. Or, conversely, they say that the government is taking away our freedoms and must be stopped by making some kind of constitutional change. Or again, they may say that we must let them go beyond the Constitution and the courts to do things that will save us from our enigmatic enemies.
We have a good Constitution. It is the charter of our democracy. It protects our individual freedoms from the majority and the government itself. It has been constantly maintained and updated by decisions of the Supreme Court through interpretation of its words and its principles. There has been an ebb and flow in terms of political philosophies, and properly so, but in general the courts and the Constitution have stood the tests of time.
The last thing we should do is allow any lunatic political fringe activists to change even one word of our Constitution.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
