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Octafish

(55,745 posts)
181. ''Liberal Media'' - ''Liberal Mind''... So...
Sun Jun 21, 2015, 11:24 AM
Jun 2015
A Good Week for Science (Or, What Eating Worms Reveals About Politics)

by George Lakoff
Huffington Post, 04/22/2010

EXCERPT...

Conservative Populism and Tea Partiers

After the Goldwater defeat of 1964, conservatism was a dirty word and most Americans wanted to be liberals, especially working people, who were highly unionized. Lee Atwater and colleagues, working for the 1968 Nixon campaign, had a problem: How to get a significant number of working people to become conservative enough to vote for Nixon.

They intuited what I have since called "biconceptualism" (see The Political Mind) -- the fact that many Americans have both conservative and progressive views, but in different contexts and on different issues. Mutual inhibition in brain circuitry means the strengthening of one weakens the other. They found a way to both strengthen conservative views and weaken liberal views, creating a conservative populism. Here's how they did it.

They realized that by the late 60's many working people were disturbed by the anti-war demonstrations; so Nixon ran on anti-communism. They noticed that many working men were upset by radical feminists. So they pushed traditional family values. And they realized that, after the civil rights legislation, many working men, especially in the South, were threatened by blacks. So they ran Nixon on law and order. At the same time, they created the concept of "the liberal elite" -- the tax and spend liberals, the liberal media, the Hollywood liberals, the limousine liberals, and so on. They created language for all these ideas and have been repeating it ever since.

Even though liberals have worked tirelessly for the material benefit of working people, the repetition of conservative populist frames over more than 40 years has had an effect. Conservative ideas have spread in the brains of conservative populists. The current Tea Party movement is an attempt to spread conservative populism further.

Sarah Palin may not know history or economics, but she does know strict father morality and conservative populist frames. Frank Rich, in his February 14 NY Times column, denied David Broder's description of Palin as "pitch-perfect populism" and called it "deceptive faux populism" and a "populist masquerade." What Rich is missing is that Palin has a perfect pitch for conservative populism -- which is very different from liberal populism. What she can do is strengthen the conservative side of bi-conceptual undecided populists, helping to move them to conservative populists. She is dangerous that way.

Frank Rich, another of my heroes, is a pitch-perfect liberal. He assumes that nurturant values (empathy; social and personal responsibility; making yourself and the world better) are the only objective values. I think they are right values, values that define democracy, but unfortunately far from the only values. Starting with those values, Rich correctly points out that Palin's views contradict liberal populism and that her conservative positions won't materially help the poor and middle class. All true, but ... that does not contradict conservative populism or conservatism in general.

This is a grand liberal mistake. The highest value in the conservative moral system (see Moral Politics, Chapter 9) is the perpetuation and strengthening of the conservative moral system itself!! This is not liberal materialism. Liberals decry it as "ideology," and it is. But it is real, it has the structure of moral system, and it is physically part of the brains of both Washington conservatives and conservative populists. The conservative surge is not merely electoral. It is an idea surge. It is an attempt to spread conservatism via the spread of conservative populism. That is what the Tea Party movement is doing.

SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/a-good-week-for-science_b_470500.html

Thank you for taking the time to put your thoughts into words, Liberal_Stalwart71. Very much appreciate your insight.
Well, I knew who you were talking about before I opened your post... Hissyspit Jun 2015 #1
''Pruneface.'' Octafish Jun 2015 #2
Mayor Young was refreshingly honest navarth Jun 2015 #51
+1 nt Quayblue Jun 2015 #58
Amen! 'The legacy of Saint Reagan is one of treachery, malfeasance and treason IMO.' Surya Gayatri Jun 2015 #162
Murdered thousands of Gay people too randys1 Jun 2015 #201
Yep. n/t Gormy Cuss Jun 2015 #120
Lee Atwater, Rove's role model developed the "Southern Strategy" merrily Jun 2015 #3
ATWATER: “You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger'" 66 dmhlt Jun 2015 #5
then they said "crack, crack, crack" mopinko Jun 2015 #41
And then they fell to their knees, lit the incense, and prayed "Yes, Yes, YES!!!" calimary Jun 2015 #64
And when that story was told, they killed the messenger. Octafish Jun 2015 #97
well, it could be. mopinko Jun 2015 #145
I'll say what Prof. McCoy says. Octafish Jun 2015 #164
Big gitter player Octafish Jun 2015 #9
Good grief. What are they doing with their faces and why are they doing it? merrily Jun 2015 #14
There ws an extra $10 prize... bvar22 Jun 2015 #74
I recall seeing that live (or on the news the next day) during GHWB's inauguration Chiyo-chichi Jun 2015 #88
He certainly doesn't look African American when he does that. merrily Jun 2015 #92
Of course not. Chiyo-chichi Jun 2015 #98
Looks like the "duckface" that seems to be so popular on FB & Instagram today 7962 Jun 2015 #174
Me neither, but I guess that was obvious. merrily Jun 2015 #178
posted by MohRokTah napkinz Jun 2015 #17
Chilling. It sounds so current. SunSeeker Jun 2015 #167
Atwater got EXACTLY the karma hifiguy Jun 2015 #47
So it is fine with you for people to suffer for their crimes? Excellent.... MicaelS Jun 2015 #153
it wasn't inflicted by any outside force. hifiguy Jun 2015 #154
Of so it can't be an "Outside Force" huh? MicaelS Jun 2015 #155
I'm perfectly fine with it! He's the perfect candidate for the DP. 7962 Jun 2015 #175
I agree completely. MicaelS Jun 2015 #176
Hey, you've been here before!! 7962 Jun 2015 #179
I hear Atwater repented before he died. madfloridian Jun 2015 #151
Converted to Catholicism, too. Octafish Jun 2015 #180
That's the right answer. But on DU it's tricky to criticize Reagan, many here voted for him and Bluenorthwest Jun 2015 #4
In addition to defending Reagan, they defend Bush I, II and the rest of the Crime Family Octafish Jun 2015 #10
Huge +1! Enthusiast Jun 2015 #13
this post says it all heaven05 Jun 2015 #33
"Many here voted for him." Somehow, I doubt that. Comrade Grumpy Jun 2015 #63
I agree with you. pacalo Jun 2015 #90
Can't speak for others Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jun 2015 #184
+1 Bobbie Jo Jun 2015 #100
I've never found it tricky. LWolf Jun 2015 #182
He was a horrible man gollygee Jun 2015 #6
If there are such things as historians in the future deutsey Jun 2015 #18
Reagan could not have pulled it off without the willing acquiescence of many who should have known KingCharlemagne Jun 2015 #31
and still think heaven05 Jun 2015 #34
Reagan was a fascist piece of shit, going back to his days as Gov. of California when he threatened KingCharlemagne Jun 2015 #35
I remember that, even though I was a student in the UK at the time GCP Jun 2015 #57
Reagan called in the National Guard over 4 "dirty words" in The Berkely Barb stuffmatters Jun 2015 #137
No question deutsey Jun 2015 #37
The roots go all the way back to the First Gilded Age. hifiguy Jun 2015 #87
Yes, and the break between Taft and Roosevelt deutsey Jun 2015 #91
I am not so sure about that. hifiguy Jun 2015 #94
Give the interview a listen deutsey Jun 2015 #99
The thing to remember about RWR is that he started as a Cold War Dem. He's the missing link leveymg Jun 2015 #80
Good points all. Simply add a little astrology to the mix and, voila, you've got KingCharlemagne Jun 2015 #84
I've been saying that for twenty years. nt hifiguy Jun 2015 #48
Agreed. CrispyQ Jun 2015 #69
Racism is going to get worse as competition for the few good jobs that are still Baitball Blogger Jun 2015 #7
Yep. And the GOP messaging that tells white people that PoC are the "takers" cui bono Jun 2015 #72
I was thinking that while he was still in office. Boomerproud Jun 2015 #8
Meh...Reagan was as phony as a 3 dollar bill... Wounded Bear Jun 2015 #11
...because of Reagan, bvar22 Jun 2015 #75
K&R! This post deserves hundreds of recommendations! Enthusiast Jun 2015 #12
Bingo deutsey Jun 2015 #15
Racism has always been acceptable in the U.S. sufrommich Jun 2015 #16
+1 gollygee Jun 2015 #21
So you're saying whathehell Jun 2015 #38
I said nothing like what you're claiming I said. nt sufrommich Jun 2015 #39
I didn't claim anything, I asked a question to clarify your statement. whathehell Jun 2015 #40
+1 zappaman Jun 2015 #81
+1. This country was built by African slave labor and the extermination of indigenous peoples YoungDemCA Jun 2015 #103
Maybe that's why Republicans love him so much. He made hate fashionable again. Initech Jun 2015 #19
Bigotry, stupidity and greed. hifiguy Jun 2015 #89
How Ronald Reagan used coded racial appeals to galvanize white voters and gut the middle class Octafish Jun 2015 #191
Rick Perlstein's books recount the entire story in painstaking detail. hifiguy Jun 2015 #205
And that is true, from my own experience. zeemike Jun 2015 #20
So black people were the Pet Rocks of the '70s? sufrommich Jun 2015 #30
Well if that is how you want to spin it. zeemike Jun 2015 #52
To be fair MountCleaners Jun 2015 #206
the Reagan Library is in Simi Valley olddots Jun 2015 #22
the devil incarnate heaven05 Jun 2015 #23
# underpants Jun 2015 #24
Uh....yeah... ileus Jun 2015 #25
Hate radio has also played a huge role in ramping up racial hatred riderinthestorm Jun 2015 #26
He is responsible for much of the backward movement in this country etherealtruth Jun 2015 #27
It was always acceptable JustAnotherGen Jun 2015 #28
President John F. Kennedy found racism unacceptable. Octafish Jun 2015 #83
If you are talking Presidents - that's one thing JustAnotherGen Jun 2015 #85
+1 YoungDemCA Jun 2015 #106
We were in Alabama when Kennedy was shot, and Dad was working in Huntsville (Apollo program stuff) hatrack Jun 2015 #123
Yeah JustAnotherGen Jun 2015 #134
Bolden's story is one far more people should know. hifiguy Jun 2015 #96
Abraham Bolden gets no mention in the history books for a reason. Octafish Jun 2015 #124
Yep. hifiguy Jun 2015 #125
''He called me, 'Mr. Bolden.''' Octafish Jun 2015 #128
Lee Atwater had an army of racists and supremacists he used to political advantage. blm Jun 2015 #29
Do tell! MountCleaners Jun 2015 #207
Lee Atwater had SC wired with his racist hit squad including a group from Bob Jones Univ. blm Jun 2015 #210
And yet in an interview with Mike Wallace in 1988, Ronny couldn't understand why so many muntrv Jun 2015 #32
Yes he did. MuseRider Jun 2015 #36
His mouthpiece: marions ghost Jun 2015 #42
Yup. Octafish Jun 2015 #146
The Powell Memo. calimary Jun 2015 #157
YEAH...this guy yuiyoshida Jun 2015 #161
Actually, the Dixiecrats who revolted against Civil Rights gains in the 60s and became Southern Liberal_Stalwart71 Jun 2015 #43
This needs to be a Separate Post All On It's Own..... LovingA2andMI Jun 2015 #169
''Liberal Media'' - ''Liberal Mind''... So... Octafish Jun 2015 #181
RACISM has always been around and never went out of style. There never was a time when Liberal_Stalwart71 Jun 2015 #44
What's a bullshit argument? navarth Jun 2015 #55
Saying that racism is "acceptable again" implies that there was a time when racism Liberal_Stalwart71 Jun 2015 #188
Don't you find it odd when a president leads the racist resurgence? Octafish Jun 2015 #190
Wrong. Nixon led the resurgence. Read again. The Southern Strategy was Nixon's agenda. Liberal_Stalwart71 Jun 2015 #199
That shows how something can be wrong and right at the same time. Octafish Jun 2015 #208
You simply won't admit your mistake. The assertion you made, "Reagan was responsible for racism's Liberal_Stalwart71 Jun 2015 #211
No, I wrote Reagan was the key figure in its resurgence. Octafish Jun 2015 #212
Yeah, you'd *better* say Reagan ... eppur_se_muova Jun 2015 #45
Reagan was one of the worst Presidents for the poor, the marginalized, the historically oppressed YoungDemCA Jun 2015 #118
Ronald Reagan was crack cocaine for America ... eppur_se_muova Jun 2015 #131
YES!!!! One of the most practically RACIST presidents in US history!! uponit7771 Jun 2015 #46
The Reagan administration was a stain on our country. bigwillq Jun 2015 #49
Reagan did so much to hurt the USA, the mean-spirited asshole. kr PufPuf23 Jun 2015 #50
Well there you go again... liberal N proud Jun 2015 #53
I hate very few people I have never met. 99Forever Jun 2015 #54
I remember it all too well. byronius Jun 2015 #56
good reminder! Fast Walker 52 Jun 2015 #59
My guess ... GeorgeGist Jun 2015 #172
It's always been acceptable. Solly Mack Jun 2015 #60
It stopped -- for a time, anyway -- in the Oval Office during the Kennedy Administration. Octafish Jun 2015 #193
So what? SpartanDem Jun 2015 #195
So what? Lyndon Johnson was a civil rights hero. But also a racist Octafish Jun 2015 #198
I'm sorry, Octafish. Racism never stopped being acceptable. Solly Mack Jun 2015 #200
Cause George Wallace was really a PussyCat? One_Life_To_Give Jun 2015 #61
George Wallace had a lot of help from his friends. Octafish Jun 2015 #78
Nat'l assoc of Governors meeting One_Life_To_Give Jun 2015 #95
Really? The AP says 1983. Octafish Jun 2015 #112
July 30th, 1983 One_Life_To_Give Jun 2015 #116
Thanks! Good times. Octafish Jun 2015 #117
I am SOOOOOO bookmarking this thread. Several different ways. calimary Jun 2015 #62
Bookmarked. Octafish Jun 2015 #82
A truly righesous rant, calimary. hifiguy Jun 2015 #108
+++Gold Star Post+++ Agony Jun 2015 #132
Absofrigginlutely! shadowmayor Jun 2015 #140
Welcome to DU, shadowmayor! calimary Jun 2015 #156
Stunning reply shadowmayor Jun 2015 #163
another thing I think he is at fault for d_r Jun 2015 #202
I have a web site on Reagan's racism scoobiedavis Jun 2015 #65
Outstanding Resource! Thank You! Octafish Jun 2015 #186
Thom Harrmann is referencing this right now n/t phylny Jun 2015 #66
"Ronnie Raygun vs. the Welfare Queens From Outer Space!" LongTomH Jun 2015 #67
Thanks for your great posts. nm rhett o rick Jun 2015 #68
He is called Ray-GUN for a reason. lark Jun 2015 #70
Woodstock had a song about Ronald Raygunzap. Octafish Jun 2015 #76
And Roselyn Carter KT2000 Jun 2015 #71
And he raised greed to sacrament status. calimary Jun 2015 #130
It was never not acceptable. iandhr Jun 2015 #73
Yep, the war on welfare (now conflated with SSI) is code for racism daredtowork Jun 2015 #77
Let's hope whatever it was never returns. Zorra Jun 2015 #79
Jayzus riding a unicycle and juggling fish. hifiguy Jun 2015 #110
As horrendous as the senile old fraud was, he was the symptom and the carrier, hifiguy Jun 2015 #86
Brilliant! Let's make this go viral. nt Damansarajaya Jun 2015 #93
Not to mention he kicked off his Presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi as a symbol of Hoyt Jun 2015 #101
Thanks. I did mention that, though. Octafish Jun 2015 #102
Sorry, I missed that. It's always the first thing I think of when people fawn Hoyt Jun 2015 #104
I am sorry I sound so pedantic...lots of history being rewritten when it comes to fascism. Octafish Jun 2015 #107
I have to admit, I'm on my phone and pretty much just looked at the photo. Just went back Hoyt Jun 2015 #111
Racism has always been acceptable in the US YoungDemCA Jun 2015 #105
Except Reagan worked to reverse the progress other presidents had made. Octafish Jun 2015 #109
Presidents can't do anything progressive without masses of ordinary people demanding that they do it YoungDemCA Jun 2015 #114
That is one cruel and awful person. Guatemala and all the others... SaranchaIsWaiting Jun 2015 #113
Reagan was one of the worst since Andrew Jackson. Admiral Loinpresser Jun 2015 #149
Well, in all fairness to Ronnie the Empty Suit, Tricky Dick was really pretty bad too: struggle4progress Jun 2015 #115
The difference is that Nixon was caught doing criminal acts YoungDemCA Jun 2015 #119
Ronnie was caught too, but the House decided not to pursue impeachment struggle4progress Jun 2015 #121
Which is to their eternal shame and discredit YoungDemCA Jun 2015 #122
Had Reagan been impeached, his forced testimony would have outed his alzheimers stuffmatters Jun 2015 #141
Would've outted Poppy Bush's treason, too. Octafish Jun 2015 #194
Thom Hartmann referred to your post this morning on his radio show. Cleita Jun 2015 #126
Great thread. K&R (eom) CanSocDem Jun 2015 #127
FTR: Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner were more than "marchers"; WinkyDink Jun 2015 #129
Thank you. That is an important distinction: ''Workers.'' Octafish Jun 2015 #139
I totally agree gopiscrap Jun 2015 #133
What a monster! Also, for what he was responsible for in South America.... Joe Chi Minh Jun 2015 #135
K&R myrna minx Jun 2015 #136
Don't forget the site of Reagan's first speech after receiving gthe 1980 Republican nomination. bulloney Jun 2015 #138
+1,000 n/t Admiral Loinpresser Jun 2015 #152
Philadelphia, Mississippi had a population of about 5,000 and had no significance whatsoever aint_no_life_nowhere Jun 2015 #183
Great thread, many thanks, big bookmark! stuffmatters Jun 2015 #142
Sometimes actors come across as pretty superficial, but I often think Joe Chi Minh Jun 2015 #143
A lot of retrograde thinking keeps.... wolfie001 Jun 2015 #144
Reagan also killed sulphurdunn Jun 2015 #147
K&R! I thought it was going to be Poppy Bush refering to Jeb's kids as his "little brown babies".... Ghost in the Machine Jun 2015 #148
Bush Defends 'Little Brown Ones' Term for Grandchildren, Tells 'Pride and Love' Octafish Jun 2015 #185
Thanks for the background and links, Octafish! Ghost in the Machine Jun 2015 #187
Yes, following in the footsteps of Richard Nixon. Blue_In_AK Jun 2015 #150
Bookmarked and K & R. Thanks for restoring some historical perspective to the debate. Surya Gayatri Jun 2015 #158
R#255 & K!1 n/t UTUSN Jun 2015 #159
UTUSN! Octafish Jun 2015 #166
Racism has always been acceptable in the United States. man4allcats Jun 2015 #160
That's why I find it odd for the PRESIDENT to lead its resurgence. Octafish Jun 2015 #165
It was screamed in the 80's, and it was 100% true: Reagan was a god damned puppet. C Moon Jun 2015 #168
Octafish, I can always count on you to cut through the crap. silvershadow Jun 2015 #170
Wow! I so agree..... bobGandolf Jun 2015 #171
Reagan Rafale Jun 2015 #173
I don't think racism has ever acceptable davidpdx Jun 2015 #177
Sec. of Education Terrel H. Bell spoke up. Ask Ed Meese. Octafish Jun 2015 #192
I commend him for that davidpdx Jun 2015 #204
Today in 1964 MinM Jun 2015 #189
Only the most pollyannaish white liberal could ever believe this BS SpartanDem Jun 2015 #196
Hey! That's EXACTLY what my Republican neighbor said! Octafish Jun 2015 #197
don't forget this d_r Jun 2015 #203
Yes.........k and r.. he validated racism for those who need that...nt Stuart G Jun 2015 #209
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