You don't know Orwellian until you know Frank Luntz

[Jefferson23]

Wednesday, Apr 21, 2010

The guy who told the GOP to brand financial reform a "bailout"? Every word he speaks seems to be a lie
By Gabriel Winant
Fools these days just fling around the word "Orwellian" like it doesn’t mean anything. Please, guys. Despite what some people would have you think, not everyone out there is some budding totalitarian. Let's try to keep the word meaningful and useful for later.

But that doesn't mean we can never take note of modern practitioners of Newspeak. I'm thinking here of pollster and GOP image guru Frank Luntz. If we're holding on to "Orwellian" for when we really need it, well, this guy represents a downright special occasion, so let's splurge.

It was Luntz who suggested, in a now-infamous memo, that Republicans mask their assiduous service of Wall Street in the fight over financial reform by accusing the Democrats of assiduously serving Wall Street. The ceaseless claims that the proposed bill would authorize a new "bailout" come directly from Luntz’s playbook. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for example, warned, "We cannot allow endless taxpayer-funded bailouts for big Wall Street banks."

Here's what Luntz advised: " vote in favor of creating a permanent bailout fund of private companies is like committing political hari-kari. Frankly, the single best way to kill any legislation is to link it to the Big Bank Bailout."

in full: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/04/21/frank_luntz_bailout/index.html

[ShortnFiery]

1. The M$M and the Pentagon's Public Affairs - all venues - runs a close second to Mr. Luntz. eom

[ClassWarrior]

2. Every word he speaks HAS to be a lie. He knows damn well that Rape-Publicanism would be...

...in history's political dustbin if that lot spoke the truth about their positions. It's only Luntz's Orwellian language that keeps the mask on these freaks.

NGU.

[Newest Reality]

3. Managing the masses is an important industry

It seems the masses don't mind that much, generally speaking. It works well.

[tom_paine]

4. Luntz is one of the more creepy monsters produced by the rise of authoritarianism

Or should I say it's persistent recurrence, for it never goes truly away.

Authoritarians, no matter what side of the political spectrum they rationalize from, always need their Luntzes, their Julius Streichers, their Goebbels', their Molotovs, because the purpose of authoritarianism is to subjugate and stupify people.

http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/jaspers02.htm

Nothing really changes. Luntz is the latest in a long line of PR grotesques throughout history. His chief unique advantage is that the sciences of physchology, PR, marketing, and the rest of the sciences of lying and manipulation are so advanced now, many MANY times more powerful than anything the Nazis or Soviets had.