A Strategy For 2017
Where appropriate and possible, remind people…
Trump Is A Fake: A fraud, a phony, a proven liar, a con man who always cheats workers and employees and partners and investors, a stooge for banks and billionaires, and Putin’s puppet.
Republicans Wreck America: They vote against the best interests of the people who voted for them in order to serve their billionaire donors, cutting programs that their voters want for veterans, the sick, the elderly, and children.
The Far Right Always Lies: They accuse others of what they are guilty of, they deny real problems, they smear people who point out those problems, they promise much but deliver nothing, they protect those who rob this country.
That’s the short version, here’s the full explanation: There’s a long struggle ahead of us, a generation long crisis that’s not going to be solved in a single election cycle. It needs to be resisted consistently and constantly, but in a manner that does not wear out its welcome among those who can be persuaded.
Don’t introduce these points in venues or conversations where the discussion is about something else; wait until somebody makes a statement favoring the things we oppose.
Counter that statement and that statement only. Be polite but firm. Don’t stoop to insults, but a careful measured response can be humiliating without being insulting.
Try to avoid more than two responses if on public forums. After you make your point, post something to the effect of “let’s not spoil this thread for others by continuing this further” and let them have the last word.
That makes them the jerks.
If the venue or conversation is one appropriate for lengthy discussion (say an ongoing discussion on politics), stay and keep up the fight, but again strive to remain courteous in all responses and don’t rise to their bait.
If they meltdown, let them. Be the adult and walk away.
We are not going to win back the deplorables, but we can wake up the deluded.
The three main points to keep repeating are: Trump Is A Fake + Republicans Wreck America + The Far Right Always Lies Don’t go outside those three topics; the message needs to stay clear and easily definable so everybody can grasp them.
A general observation among preachers / teachers / salesmen / public speakers is that most audiences won’t / can’t / don’t want to remember more than three points, and the more arcane or nuanced those points, the harder they are to remember.
So keep the basic message simple: Trump Is A Fake + Republicans Wreck America + The Far Right Always Lies
Under each of those headings above, note the highlighted words. These are short / clear / precise / easily grasped words and phrases that reinforce each central thesis.
Do not introduce those words unless or until challenged. Don’t try to lay out a long / lengthy / nuanced / detailed case -- K.I.S.S. Keep It Simply Simple.
(You’ll notice I didn’t use “Keep It Simple, Stupid” which was the original phrase. That’s because as much fun as it is to kick cripples down stairs or abuse those who aren’t as smart, it makes the person doing it look bad, and by extension undermines their argument. So stay relentlessly polite, even when taunted and insulted.)
Use those words & phrases or similar to convey the basic points in each paragraph. Always present them as undeniable facts in the initial post or conversation, don’t elaborate / equivocate / explain.
However, if challenged or asked, have data ready to back you up. If you haven’t already, start a list of news items / essays / blog posts that back up and elaborate each of the smaller points. CAUTION: Do not -- repeat, not -- use fake news or partisan sites that have not backed up their posts with verifiable facts. DO YOUR RESEARCH and keep the list on your phone / tablet / desktop so you can respond quickly to a challenge or an inquiry.
I repeat, this is going to be a long struggle and we are not going to win it any time soon BUT WE WILL WIN IN THE END.
Right now there are millions of anxious people who have foolishly listened to the slickee boiz, ignoring all the bad things said and done because those voters are afraid for their families and their futures.
Those voters -- even the ones who are registered as Republicans and involved in local politics -- are not the deplorables (i.e., the flat out overt racists / sexists / religious bigots who flocked to trump and the GOP this election). They are basically common, decent, ordinary folks who are very realistically worried about where things are heading but who unfortunately have been badly served by those who did not get the progressive message across effectively and by slickee boiz who capitalized on their fears to rob them blind.
Those voters are not our enemy; those voters are our potential allies and when things go south for the slicksters, those voters will be the ones most susceptible to changing their minds and changing their votes --
-- but only if we don’t demonize them in the process.
That is going to be a challenge for many of us, particularly those in minority or outlier groups who are being specifically targeted by the deplorables.
It is, however, a fact we are going to have to take in account for the next twenty-plus years.
(Remember Italy started WWII on the Axis side but, as they realized Mussolini was being used by Hitler and the Italian people were suffering because of it, overthrew the fascist regime and switched sides to join the Allies. So instead of having to subdue three enemies, the Allies only had to subdue two and could use their new Italian ally as a staging area for the war against the Nazis.)
I publish this strategy openly because it is based on one great weapon: The Truth.
The only way they can counter this is with lies, but their lies are of such a nature that they eventually blow up in their faces.
Three simple main points -- Trump Is A Fake + Republicans Wreck America + The Far Right Always Lies -- repeated long enough and straight forwardly enough will, like a constant drip of water, produce the desired result.
To mash two Mark Twain quotes together, a lie may get around the world while the truth is still getting its shoes on, but the truth has the great advantage of having fewer things to remember.
And while we are not sitting in a strategically good position on this, the first day of January 2017, remember also what Lt. Gen. Chesty Puller said when he and his Marines were surrounded by ten divisions of Chinese infantry at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War:
