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babylonsister

(172,759 posts)
Sat Mar 30, 2013, 04:36 PM Mar 2013

The “Monsanto Protection Act”, and why you were duped [View all]

http://www.forwardprogressives.com/the-monsanto-protection-act-and-why-you-were-duped/?w3tc_note=flush_browser_cache

The “Monsanto Protection Act”, and why you were duped
March 30, 2013
By Manny Schewitz


snip//


I think there’s even more to it though. I recently suggested in an article “Poisoning the tree of progressive activism” that there is an effort to dumb down, divide and destroy the progressive movement. This “Monsanto Protection Act” is nothing more than Section 735 of the budget bill HR 933 but the uninformed response to it is proof to me that my suspicions are correct. This issue was only covered by hack sites like Natural News but rushed to prominence by a number of social media sites as if it was the gospel truth. There are things to be concerned about with Monsanto but repeating false stories and exaggerations does not further the anti-GMO cause. If you want to educate the public, who happens to be almost completely unaware of what Monsanto is about, you need to present facts, not fiction.

It’s a really simple, dirty and ingenious trick if you think about it. Create a fake outrage and blow it up, get the easily spooked to believe it and spread the misinformation. Convince your opponent’s supporters that their leader sold them out and your work is done, with minimal cost or effort on your part. Once that support is eroded, you can ram through legislation that actually gives real and dangerous protections to bad companies like Monsanto and others.

Just because we won in November 2012 doesn’t mean entities like A.L.E.C., the Heritage Foundation and shadow groups funded by the Koch brothers aren’t already working on 2014 and beyond. They’ve learned that their message sucks and no matter how much money they give a candidate, it doesn’t necessarily translate into votes.

So how do they cope with the fact that the demographic that supports them the most is dying off and they can’t convince the younger generation to support them? The strategy is to erode the base on the other side and that’s exactly what they’re doing right now. They’re doing everything to convince us that Obama sold us out and that the change we voted for turned out to be more of the same. They’d even have you believe that the President slipped section 735 in there himself. If you’re bright enough to put the pieces together, it’s pretty easy to see.

If you can’t get people to vote for you, the next best thing is to get the other side not to turn out. That’s their strategy, and that’s what this “Monsanto Protection Act” outrage is all about.
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And yet nothing here dispels the specifics about how Monsanto is indemnified against the havoc villager Mar 2013 #1
'If this had been a permanent grant of immunity elleng Mar 2013 #2
Sort of like the "temporary" Patriot Act, Guantanamo Bay detentions, tax cuts for the rich, etc.? villager Mar 2013 #10
He says it is attached to a bill which extends the budget by six months. DLnyc Mar 2013 #41
Yes, I think it does expire. elleng Mar 2013 #59
Oh, the message here is that we librul Obama-haters better vote for anything with djean111 Mar 2013 #3
That's the message you Cha Mar 2013 #5
Thanks Cha. elleng Mar 2013 #11
Unreal.. Cha Mar 2013 #14
We know it's BAD. We're informed. The fact is it was a temporary bill to keep the Cha Mar 2013 #6
That's it? He's helpless because he "doesn't have one item Veto Powers"? AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #52
+ 1 - this occult Act sucks for Americans, no matter what you call it Berlum Mar 2013 #42
At this point, Obama gets NO benefit of the doubt from me. MotherPetrie Mar 2013 #4
... SidDithers Mar 2013 #8
Keep laughing. The joke's on you. MotherPetrie Mar 2013 #71
I think Sid knows exactly who the joke is on and it isn't him. DevonRex Mar 2013 #90
What does that mean? MotherPetrie Mar 2013 #92
You must be a big fan of the History channel. jazzimov Mar 2013 #22
Take your pick MotherPetrie Mar 2013 #70
Kick and fucking Rec... SidDithers Mar 2013 #7
I got an email from Food Democracy Now Cha Mar 2013 #18
And some here wanted him to veto the entire bill to keep governent going past the 27th. freshwest Mar 2013 #25
Of course they did. Cha Mar 2013 #30
Gotta think two steps ahead. Panic eliminates reflection, turns it into reaction without reason. freshwest Mar 2013 #43
'Effort to dumb down, divide and destroy the progressive movement' Newsjock Mar 2013 #9
Thanks, jock. elleng Mar 2013 #12
The way you've done that twice on this thread (and more elsewhere that I can recall) Occulus Mar 2013 #13
My 'coworkers' have all retired, elleng Mar 2013 #19
I'm also part of the same conspiracy of retired anonymous posters who appreciate good posts. freshwest Mar 2013 #24
lol Cha Mar 2013 #32
Good to know, freshwest! sheshe2 Mar 2013 #44
'Thanks,' fresh! elleng Mar 2013 #68
Me too, elleng. I've Retired and my Cha Mar 2013 #31
I wish I could REC your post. jazzimov Mar 2013 #23
+1. I'll rec yours to send the word upthread. ^^^ freshwest Mar 2013 #26
It worked in 2010 and will work in 2014. The proof is in our faces. freshwest Mar 2013 #58
THIS. WilliamPitt Mar 2013 #15
It was the usual hyper-stupidity from the usual hyper-stupids alcibiades_mystery Mar 2013 #16
Blunt talk, but I try to not use it. Thanks. freshwest Mar 2013 #21
Nailed it... SidDithers Mar 2013 #27
yeah, reading over 300 pages on this issue means nothing Skittles Mar 2013 #66
Koch money used to erode the base and it works. 2010 = 2014. freshwest Mar 2013 #17
Strawman: "Defeatists say those who don't sneer at Obama are fools". Why isn't the truth good enough AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #54
So true! We have seen it right here many times. K&R jazzimov Mar 2013 #20
If the Obama Administration was not saturated with... bvar22 Mar 2013 #28
So Bernie Sanders is a right-wing shill? jeff47 Mar 2013 #38
Yeah, uh huh. a2liberal Mar 2013 #29
Well said. Thanks for saying it so clearly and forcefully. n/t AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #35
Let's completely ignore the fact... cheapdate Mar 2013 #36
"The battle over GMO is finished"? Really? Cha Mar 2013 #46
No. The battle over GMOs is not finished. cheapdate Mar 2013 #60
I was hoping you meant it that way, cheapdate. But, Cha Mar 2013 #63
+1 limpyhobbler Mar 2013 #37
So why'd Sanders vote for it? jeff47 Mar 2013 #39
The section in question prohibits Monsanto suing farmers from selling cross pollinated crops. freshwest Mar 2013 #48
To be fair, you didn't include a quote either. (nt) jeff47 Mar 2013 #49
I googled the hell out of this yesterday and there are numerous threads. Sorry. freshwest Mar 2013 #55
I know - but if I'm gonna complain about them not doing it, I'm gonna have to point that out. (nt) jeff47 Mar 2013 #85
This is important, if true. Do you have a link to that? A link to the actual language in the Act AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #53
I actually read the section a2liberal Mar 2013 #94
maybe they should ALL apologize Skittles Mar 2013 #69
If so, they should do so without Mikulski-type qualifications: AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #72
The OP is posting FACTS whether you can deal with them or not. n/t Cha Mar 2013 #47
Right a2liberal Mar 2013 #95
it is downright embarrassing Skittles Mar 2013 #61
I do support avoiding a government shutdown Mz Pip Mar 2013 #84
I like this guy. Buzz Clik Mar 2013 #33
Strawman: "They’d even have you believe that the President slipped section 735 in there himself." AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #34
Well, read this thread. jeff47 Mar 2013 #40
No, it's "Potato, because a vest has no sleeves." WilliamPitt Mar 2013 #50
Why don't you take your own advice and read the thread plus related information? AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #51
Reading comprehension fail. jeff47 Mar 2013 #86
STRAWMAN: Until someone other than you claims that Tayor and Vilsack wrote the bill, you are just AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #88
like arguing with table legs, AM Skittles Mar 2013 #67
Kick and Rec! sheshe2 Mar 2013 #45
K&R Whisp Mar 2013 #56
Leftist reactionaries are not friends to the Democratic party... Comrade_McKenzie Mar 2013 #57
LOL Skittles Mar 2013 #62
Who calls liberals leftists, "comrade"? whatchamacallit Mar 2013 #78
YUp... SidDithers Mar 2013 #79
Post removed Post removed Mar 2013 #80
I wasn't fooled! I immediately noticed it was just an appropriations bill. Honeycombe8 Mar 2013 #64
appropriations, right Skittles Mar 2013 #65
Please say this isn't so: AnotherMcIntosh Mar 2013 #73
Have you reviewed HR 933? You need to do that, instead of Honeycombe8 Mar 2013 #74
Oh,the irony Doctor_J Mar 2013 #76
These crap articles by stupid bloggers Rex Apr 2013 #98
You're right, I always loved Monsanto until just recently whatchamacallit Mar 2013 #75
Sounds like the author is pre-blaming "the left" for another disaster Doctor_J Mar 2013 #77
They play the same game as the Republicans Mnpaul Mar 2013 #82
Damn that reality and it's right-wing bias! jeff47 Mar 2013 #87
As usual Mnpaul Mar 2013 #91
And that strategy has been at work since the day Obama took office. JoePhilly Mar 2013 #81
K&R Jamaal510 Mar 2013 #83
You nailed it, nicely. babylonsister Mar 2013 #96
k&r... spanone Mar 2013 #89
Kick jazzimov Mar 2013 #93
So this uninformed blogger give no facts to back up his claims Rex Apr 2013 #97
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