We small d and large D Democrats need to neutralize the toxic propaganda of FauxNews, OANN, etc

[steve2470]

This is a recent example of their anti-democratic propaganda:

Link to tweet

Until FauxNews, OANN, and the RW propaganda-verse are neutralized, we are at grave risk of losing our democracy. The Republican Party is no longer a valid option to our party. They are the Trump Party. They want POWER. Yea yea, in public, they want lower taxes for the wealthy, conservative judges, yada yada.... they want POWER. THEY ARE ANTI-DEMOCRATIC now.

The propaganda outlets are the FUEL for this anti-democratic movement afoot in America. If they, miraculously, changed their tune to be old school Republican nonsense, I could relax. We can deal with that. However, now, THEY ONLY WANT POWER AND A ONE-PARTY GOVERNMENT. It's extremely obvious to me. They will deny it until the cows come home, but the BS they are pulling along with McConnell's nonsense proves it.

I didn't use to feel this way. I thought that, despite their BS, the Republicans were democratic. Nope.

[Binkie The Clown]

1. I've said it so many times I'm sick of saying it.

The Dems need to learn how to do messaging. And by now they should realize that cold, hard facts and figures DO NOT move people's choices. We Dems need to address our messages to the gut, not the head.

[steve2470]

3. amen, totally agree

We need to win elections. Period. Cold hard truth. If we do not win elections, we are fucked. Democracy is fucked. People, many times, respond to emotions and not to dry policy discussions. It's just the facts, no matter how much people hate that.

[Shermann]

4. I don't think we will ever crush the Republicans

Maybe the best we can hope for is to squeak out a win from time to time?

They are on the losing side at the moment, so I'm not going to spend time analyzing their losing strategies which they will soon be scrapping.

[steve2470]

5. totally crush them ? no

Win enough elections to force them, eventually, to be more democratic ? Yes.

[regnaD kciN]

6. You can't do messaging without a platform...

...and, more specifically, a platform that can act as a "gateway drug."

That's where radio comes in. Sure, conservatives have Fox News on cable. We have MSNBC on cable. But both of those are elective choices -- the news consumer has to decide to watch them, which indicates they're already predisposed to buy what that outlet is selling.

Radio is the perfect gateway drug, because people normally listen to it peripherally. They jump in the car, turn it on, and scan for a station that sounds vaguely interesting, then have it on in the background while paying attention to other things. As they're doing so, they're picking up the message subliminally. Repeat this for a couple of hours a day on while commuting or picking up kids and doing shopping, and, pretty soon, you've internalized that message, and start consciously seeking out that same message on cable, etc.

This is where the failure to establish Air America and several other progressive syndicated networks on radio has severely cost us. And, while AAR and other such ventures had their own weaknesses (primarily financial), said failure was more a matter of sabotage than anything else. Recall that progressive talk was getting a foothold between 2004 and 2006, and the mediasphere was talking about how it was the "rising new format." Then, the 2006 elections happened, and Democrats swept their way to control of both chambers of Congress. Suddenly, the plug was pulled. Most of the progressive talk stations were on affiliates of ClearChannel (now iHeartRadio), whose leadership was notably conservative and allied with Republicans. They were happy to have progressive stations on when they made them money and were relatively harmless. But, now that it looked like they might be playing a part in a Democratic resurgence, they started disappearing, as stations would suddenly announce a change in format, usually to "sports talk." And not just throughout the rural part of the country, but in major progressive cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle as well. Soon, the progressive talk shows that used to be carried on a major station were relegated to low-power stations in the nether regions of the broadcast band, when they were even carried at all. By 2009, the genre had virtually disappeared. Sure, the same shows have moved to podcasting and "Internet radio" sites like TuneIn, but those, like cable, are elective -- people have to seek them out because they want to hear those voices. Their ability to attract new brand listeners is practically nil. Meanwhile, right-wing talk continues to be found everywhere in the country, serving as a gateway drug every day.

[Mersky]

7. +1

[Ponietz]

2. Malcolm Turnbull confronting one of Murdoch's top lackeys

[link:

Link to tweet

[Mersky]

8. That is something to behold.

“I am lecturing you, yup.”

[appalachiablue]

9. How many more years & decades? What will it take?

Goebbels and Julius Streicher to reappear?

"You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs," Hermann Goring.