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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

New Talking Point

It's so funny. (Or not). I've come to know the new talking points from the right as soon as I hear absolute bullshit coming from a pundit that I have never heard anyone say before which really only seems to divert from the narrative against their platform and does nothing to support their assertions or diminish ours. Last week, I believe, was the first time I heard their latest distraction from the anti-choice discussion. My warning sirens went off immediately when they insinuated that the Regressives were the ones who really respect women because they believe that women are capable of thinking about more than just one issue, abortion. Curious, right? You believe we are capable of deep, critical analysis about things but we still should have no capacity to determine how to build our own families or make decisions about our bodies. Brilliant. Please, tell me more. I have now heard it several times and I do not believe the idea of the new talking point was well enough defined as to enable clear or coherent retellings by those who offer them to us.

This evening Chris Matthews had a new pundit on, KellyAnne Conway, who I have seen around lately. In a conversation tonight about the Regressive Party having such despicable ideas about immigration, KellyAnne offers us this little nugget. Either she is too ignorant to realize where their new talking point is appropriate or she is too green to understand only the Fox audience would miss its unnecessary insertion into the conversation. Somehow she managed to get this in to distract from the fact that their candidates (who always demand it is the job of those on the right to defend the Constitution) are now suggesting we need to get rid of the 14th Amendment. She tells us that the candidates on the right can think above the waist and, "its not about women's health - that's breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and the rest of it..." I don't know ... when discussing the genuine importance of women's health and compelling the viewers to believe that you are the ones who care deeply, does 'and the rest of it' really suffice?

So this is their latest talking point. Of course it is ridiculous. Sometimes I honestly believe that they give them to us to leave us dumbfounded and unable to reply at all. This new one sets your brain spinning with so many arguments that you can't catch your brain quickly enough to counter their bullshit. Of course abortions and contraception are about women's health. We do not go see our mechanic for those issues. Of course candidates on the left don't believe that is all we care about. That is why they also talk to us about the environment and schools and societal struggles and the economy and the myriad other things we care about that the right would like to find ways to ignore or ruin altogether.

We all need to be mindful of the talking points as they come out. We all need to be ready with the thoughtful counter punch to ideas coming from the right which are utterly unimaginable and usually laughable. Otherwise whomever offers the bullshit gets to walk away having convinced themselves and anyone else paying attention that they were right by virtue of having left you dumbstruck. Christ they're awful.

We also need to be mindful of where these talking points are coming from. Start noticing the job titles of their pundits. KellyAnne's job title is "Republican Pollster." It would seem that a pollster would be getting statistical data and disseminating necessary information to the party and the candidate(s) paying for her services. But this pollster is on different shows giving us talking points on every issue imaginable, completely devoid of statistics or support of data offered. What is the point of having a pollster on the show who doesn't offer you statistics? I have recently come to find out a lot about the pundits on the right which has offered profound pause. I hope to write about it soon. They are crazy. And we, as a society, are assholes for allowing them to even have a voice.









6 comments:

  1. Even for a shrill grifter on the right, KellyAnne is a standout ignoramus, After all, conservatives' predicted a Romney victory in 2012 hours before he got crushed by the Obama voters, Data isn't the GOP's thing even it says otherwise on their business cards.

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    1. Valiant! I just laughed out loud for real. I had forgotten the beauty of election night 2012 where I was so tickled I switched channels to see what FOX was up to. They had convinced themselves they had it in the bag and just could not/would not accept the outcomes. Hahaha! Oh huh.... Good times.

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  2. I'm happy to see a new post from you Angie. I notice when you aren't writing and worry some about you. I'm glad that you enlightened me on this woman, I hadn't seen her. My TV used to be on MSNBC over 90% of the time but I stopped watching it because Chris Matthews literally disgusts me! He's so phony he makes me sick. He, along with his sidekick and complete buffoon, Chuck Todd are the rabid attack dogs that have been unleashed with the sole of destroying the Bernie Sanders campaign! When Chris Matthews calls Bernie a socialist in the condescending and slanderous way he does I truly want to slap him! I've seen Bernie two of the times he's been on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd and watched "Chuckles the Clown" try everything he could think of to take him down. Both times Bernie made him look like the fool he is and left him squirming! I watch Free Speech for my News now and try and catch the only show of any value left on MSNBC, the Rachel Maddow Show. Thanks for what you do Angie, you're voice is important!

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    1. Charles, you are so lovely. Thank you. Fear not, my computer (which I "saved" money on because it was refurbished) has given up on me and I'm down to typing with one finger on an IPad. New laptop will be delivered tomorrow! I sincerely appreciate your care. I, too, am sickened by Chuck Todd. Between his promotion, getting rid of Big Eddie and holding on to the nonsense at Morning Joe, I can only assume MSNBC doesn't want an audience. I will never miss Rachel, either. I'd love to see Alex Wagner get her own evening show. She's really smart about politics historically and always seems to add context I don't think others can/do.

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    2. Charles Carter, you are spot on. MSNBC is becoming Fox Lite. Rachel Maddow is the only one left worth listening to.

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  3. I try and proof read what I write but in a box this size it's almost impossible. In the 5th sentence down I intended to say "sole purpose" and left out purpose. I apologize!

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