The GOP Bag 'o' Tricks
1. Deny. Alway, always, always.
2. Minimize/trivialize. Graphic sexual messages between a 52 year old congressman and a minor are described as "overly friendly," and "naughty."
3. Turn the accusation on its head. The GOP under Karl Rove always accuses its opponents of precisely the behavior it is guilty of. As in: "Dems had knowledge of this information and chose this time, weeks before an election to release it. We deplore their shameful decision to politicize of this important issue."
4. Change your story. Oh, deny didn't work? "Well, that's not really what I said."
5. Blame someone else, especially the liberal media.
- "The parents didn't want us to look into it."
- "My staff never told me."
- "I told ____, and I assumed he handled it."
- "The liberal media mis-quoted and mischaracterized what I said, and it doesn't pursue the other side of this story, because of its well-known liberal bias."
6. Straw man. Indignantly deny something you haven't been accused of. "The suggestion that I personally bought cases of wine coolers for pages while on my way to attend a rave with Osama Bin Laden is just offensive."
7. Accept responsibility without any accountability. "The buck stops here, it's my responsibility. But I won't resign, because then the Democrats' dirty trick will have worked, and the terrorists will have won."
8. Conflate ideas that have nothing to do with each other. For instance, inappropriate communications between a congressman and a (male) minor is part of the "gay lifestyle." Read: Foley was gay, so obviously, he's not a *real* Republican, and so... not our fault.
Or the classic:
Dem: "Please adhere to the Fisa law and get warrants for your wiretaps."
GOP: "Don't you want us to be able to hear of terrorists are planning an attack? Why do you hate America?"
9. Appeal to fear. "If I cave in to these calls for my resignation, then I can't protect you against terror attacks." (I resign = you are less safe. You want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.)
I'm sure there are more.
2. Minimize/trivialize. Graphic sexual messages between a 52 year old congressman and a minor are described as "overly friendly," and "naughty."
3. Turn the accusation on its head. The GOP under Karl Rove always accuses its opponents of precisely the behavior it is guilty of. As in: "Dems had knowledge of this information and chose this time, weeks before an election to release it. We deplore their shameful decision to politicize of this important issue."
4. Change your story. Oh, deny didn't work? "Well, that's not really what I said."
5. Blame someone else, especially the liberal media.
- "The parents didn't want us to look into it."
- "My staff never told me."
- "I told ____, and I assumed he handled it."
- "The liberal media mis-quoted and mischaracterized what I said, and it doesn't pursue the other side of this story, because of its well-known liberal bias."
6. Straw man. Indignantly deny something you haven't been accused of. "The suggestion that I personally bought cases of wine coolers for pages while on my way to attend a rave with Osama Bin Laden is just offensive."
7. Accept responsibility without any accountability. "The buck stops here, it's my responsibility. But I won't resign, because then the Democrats' dirty trick will have worked, and the terrorists will have won."
8. Conflate ideas that have nothing to do with each other. For instance, inappropriate communications between a congressman and a (male) minor is part of the "gay lifestyle." Read: Foley was gay, so obviously, he's not a *real* Republican, and so... not our fault.
Or the classic:
Dem: "Please adhere to the Fisa law and get warrants for your wiretaps."
GOP: "Don't you want us to be able to hear of terrorists are planning an attack? Why do you hate America?"
9. Appeal to fear. "If I cave in to these calls for my resignation, then I can't protect you against terror attacks." (I resign = you are less safe. You want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.)
I'm sure there are more.
posted by Ish at 12:01 PM
3 Comments:
The most basic GOP trick -- put the fox in charge of the henhouse:
Legislation to protect minors from internet predators spearheaded by internet predator!
El G said: "Legislation to protect minors from internet predators spearheaded by internet predator!"
how else would they know who to look for?
i like republicans cause they're more clever than democrats.
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