More Palin Rumors
Or:
Rope-A-Dope
So some people are now talking about a new Palin rumor, concerning an extra-marital affair in her family. This is not only largely irrelevant to anything of any importance, but it will also probably turn out to be false. And when it does, Republicans will point to this as more evidence of media bias, and more evidence of some kind of anti-Palin hysteria. Chasing and discussing such stories not only distracts us from the real problems with Palin, it strengthens the GOP's rhetorical shields against serious criticism of her.
If I were the McCain camp right now--and if I were as dishonest and cynical--I would be manufacturing scurrilous personal charges against Palin as fast as possible. The some Dems and some members of the press will continue to fall for the trick, wasting energy and undermining their credibility each time.
This is not, of course, to say that it's the GOP that is actually generating the allegations. Rather it's just to point out how much such allegations help them out--it'd be a winning political strategy for anyone cynical enough to employ it.
So nice job to all the folks to echoed the lunatic charges I alluded to earlier, and nice job to those who are echoing the more recent ones. They're using a rope-a-dope strategy, and you guys are the dopes. Unfortunately, all Democrats and, in fact, the entire country may have to pay for your dopiness.
Or:
Rope-A-Dope
So some people are now talking about a new Palin rumor, concerning an extra-marital affair in her family. This is not only largely irrelevant to anything of any importance, but it will also probably turn out to be false. And when it does, Republicans will point to this as more evidence of media bias, and more evidence of some kind of anti-Palin hysteria. Chasing and discussing such stories not only distracts us from the real problems with Palin, it strengthens the GOP's rhetorical shields against serious criticism of her.
If I were the McCain camp right now--and if I were as dishonest and cynical--I would be manufacturing scurrilous personal charges against Palin as fast as possible. The some Dems and some members of the press will continue to fall for the trick, wasting energy and undermining their credibility each time.
This is not, of course, to say that it's the GOP that is actually generating the allegations. Rather it's just to point out how much such allegations help them out--it'd be a winning political strategy for anyone cynical enough to employ it.
So nice job to all the folks to echoed the lunatic charges I alluded to earlier, and nice job to those who are echoing the more recent ones. They're using a rope-a-dope strategy, and you guys are the dopes. Unfortunately, all Democrats and, in fact, the entire country may have to pay for your dopiness.
posted by Winston Smith at
12:52 PM
1 Comments:
Winston,
Speaking STRICTLY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF UTILITY, I think the danger from the potential falsity of the charges lies in conservative media bias. Let me explain.
If you agree with the following three premises:
1. The Swiftboat attacks against John Kerry were, if not completely untrue, mostly untrue and at least a severe distortion of his service record.
2. The media failed to adequately expose the total falsity of these attacks, or at least the extent to which they distorted Kerry's record.
3. Those attacks damaged Kerry and his candidacy.,
then there's no reason not to believe one of the following conclusions are true:
4a. The media will not make sufficient effort to rebut the scurrilous charges against Governor Palin and these attacks, even if untrue, will damage her candidacy.
or
4b. The media will loudly and auspiciously point out the falsity of the charges and how Governor Palin has been the victim of unfair treatment, thus making the original charges redound to her benefit by generating sympathy for an honorable public servant being smeared.
I submit that if the charges against Palin are false, then the fairness (or maybe more accurately, the consistency) of the media will determine whether 4a or 4b is the true conclusion.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home