Earworms and probes in the nether regions
by digby
I used to write a lot about something I think of as political ear worms back in the day. Here's an excerpt from one in 2006 called "Using our Religion" :
The Republicans have figured out something that the Democrats refuse to understand. All political messages can be useful, no matter which side has created it. You use them all situationally. The Republicans have been adopting our slogans and memes for years. They get that the way people often hear this stuff is not necessarily in a partisan sense. They just hear it, as a sort of disembodied phrase. Over time they become comfortable with it and it can be exploited for many different reasons.
In this instance, there has been a steady underground rumbling about stolen elections since 2000. Now, we know that it's the Republicans who have been doing the stealing ---- and the complaining has been coming from our side. But all most people hear is "stolen election" and many are just as likely to paste that charge onto us as they are onto them. It's like an ear worm. You don't know the song its from, necessarily, but you can't get it out of your head.
We have created an ear worm that the Republicans are appropriating --- and they will probably use it much more aggressively and effectively than our side did. They are already gearing up for it. As I mentioned a month or so ago, Karl Rove was at the Republican Lawyers Association talking about how the Democrats are stealing elections
It's galling, of course, to have them project their own transgressions onto others. But it's very effective. Still, I've rarely seen them do it so blatantly as they're doing it in these ads trying to get young people to "opt out" of buying health insurance.
That's right. The people who brought you government mandated vaginal probes, which reproductive rights advocates used successfully to frame the controversy, are using that same imagery to persuade young people not to buy health insurance.
And just so the boys get the message too, they made do with one with their own obsessions.(When they aren't going on about things being "shoved down their throats" the forced anal probe is one of their favorites):
Who's doing this? Surprise:
Generation Opportunity, a Virginia-based group that is part of a coalition of right-leaning organizations with financial ties to billionaire businessmen and political activists Charles and David Koch, will launch a six-figure campaign aimed at convincing young people to “opt-out” of the Obamacare exchanges. Later this month, the group will begin a tour of 20 college campuses, where they plan to set up shop alongside pro-Obamacare activists such as Enroll America that are working to sign people up for the insurance exchanges..
That's as low as it gets. Not only is the message itself completely false, the goal is downright murderous. They are encouraging young people to go without health insurance, which if you follow their logic, mean that they should just be left on the street to die (or have their friends beg for charity on Facebook or something) if something happens. That's because they refused to take responsibility for themselves ... by buying insurance. (Well, unless they had the good fortune to be born into wealth which is what all smart Americans should do. Then they're just fine.)
They're not being subtle about it:
The campaign is one part of a larger network of conservative groups that are shifting attention away from the battle in Washington to the ground game in the states. In one recently announced campaign, the tea party-organizing group FreedomWorks called on its activists to “burn your Obamacare card.” (The act is symbolic more than it is literal, of course, since there isn’t any such card.) Another group, Americans for Prosperity, plans to host events at sporting events, festivals and town fairs around the country to urge people away from the exchanges.
Organizers behind these efforts know that the law relies on young people. After several failed attempts by conservatives to repeal it in Congress, they have determined that this is their best shot at killing it, or at least give it a knee-capping.
“If young people do opt out en mass, it will put the law in a bind, for sure,” said Feinberg, who insists the main goal is not to get rid of the law. “If it means they have to repeal it because it doesn’t work and that ends up crippling the law, well fine. Then they have to make some changes or repeal the law to make it work.”
Remember what their plan to "make it work" is: allow insurance companies to sell insurance across state lines and deny people the right to sue quacks. That's all it will take to make everyone live happily ever after in their minds. Meanwhile if a few more uninsured young people have to destroy their lives to make it happen, it's a small price to pay for freedom. Freedom to die or lose everything you have due to one accident or illness.
Who are these twisted people?
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