A Turd-Polisher Lacking Grit

Many bloggers have already expressed their feelings (mostly schadenfreude) regarding the profile of spinmeister Frank Luntz in The Atlantic, who looks morosely into a political atmosphere so bitterly divided that words can no longer reach the mass of people, yet seems a bit confused, I would say, about just how that came to be.  Political writers are a funny old lot--we think words matter, and I think more than a handful of us hate it when words are used to obfuscate rather than inform, and turn people off from discussion or even thinking rather than inviting them to engage.

He can imply that this is a problem that came in with the Age of Obama, but I don't think you can necessarily blame the President for being something of a polarizing symbol--he was made one by people who do what Luntz does. What offends his sensibilities I believe is that this symbol talks back and does engage people to think and invites them to react. Some people disagree with him. He won two elections on 1) enough people agreeing with him and 2) a complete meltdown of what once was a serviceable message machine on the right.

How Bullshit is Everything--Luntz on Defending Capitalism: "Don't"

What with the Occupy "scaring him to death" and the assault on "vulture capitalism" coming from Gingrich and Perry regarding Mitt Romney's Bain history--is "capitalism" going to be a dirty word to conservatives according to Frank Luntz?

Hear what he's saying at this point:

Conservatives should not be defending capitalism. They should be defending economic freedom. And there is a difference. The word "capitalism" was created by Karl Marx to demonize those people who make a profit. We’ve always talked about the free enterprise system or economic freedom. Suddenly, they’re trying to defend something that has only 18 percent support

We have always been at war with capitalism. We just want to be free to profit off of anything ever. 

I'm not sure how well this will work.  The argument isn't against capitalism per se, just certain egregious practices that result in people not, for example, getting a fair day's wage for a full day's work, or for the value of workers being so discounted that they are considered disposable, as well as the communities in which they live, or where businesses used to be an anchor for jobs and economic security but no longer have any ties to the community and are flight risks. Working people like profitable businesses and we like the jobs they make--we don't like when they are off-shored leaving us and our communities high and dry.

I don't think that needs spin--just the truth. But in Luntz-land, we can't handle the truth.

Frank Luntz contemplates the end of bullshit, inwardly weeping.

In a meeting for the Republican Governors' Association, Frank Luntz admitted that the Occupy Wall Street movement has him "frightened to death": but being Luntz, he offered some ways for the GOP to keep right on bullshitting:

– Don’t Mention Capitalism: Luntz said that his polling research found that “The public…still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we’re seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we’ve got a problem.”
– Empathize With The 99 Percent Protesters: Luntz instructed attendees to tell protesters that they “get it”: “First off, here are three words for you all: ‘I get it.’ … ‘I get that you’re. I get that you’ve seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system.”
– Don’t Say Bonus: Luntz told Republicans to re-frame the concept of the bonus payment — which bailed-out Wall Street doles out to its employees during holidays — as “pay for performance” instead.
– Don’t Mention The Middle Class Because Americans Don’t Trust Republicans To Defend It: “They cannot win if the fight is on hardworking taxpayers,” Luntz instructed the audience. “We can say we defend the ‘middle class’ and the public will say, I’m not sure about that. But defending ‘hardworking taxpayers’ and Republicans have the advantage.”
– Don’t Talk About Taxing The Rich: Luntz reminded Republicans that Americans actually do want to tax the rich, so he reccommended they instead say that the government “takes from the rich.”

I truly believe momma headlice check their babies' feet for signs of Luntz.

There is of course, another way for the Republican governors to go, such as, I dunno, listening to people and trying to govern fairly and in a way that actually isn't bullshit & buzzword based. But they don't believe they have to.