Why Conservatives Only Speak in Slogans

Recently, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll noted that liberals read more books than conservatives. This combined with a poll noting that 1 in 4 adults in the US did not read any books in 2006 indicates a trend toward sound bites and slogans.
Pat Schroeder, head of the American Association of Publishers, has a theory as to why this is the case. Note: The following section may be considered offensive to our conservative readers. Fortunately, according to the AP-Ipsos study, no conservative readers will manage to read this far.
Says Schroeder:

"The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: 'No, don't raise my taxes, no new taxes. It's pretty hard to write a book saying, 'No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes' on every page."

Once again, we're stuck with a generation of voters on the right side of the aisle that don't want to actually be informed of the very issues that affect their lives. The Right packages up talking point slogans and bores them into the heads of the American people. "Terrorists hate our Freedom. Iraq is making Progress. Democrats want to 'cut and run.' We fight them there so we don't have to fight them here."
Without context, these slogans mean nothing. But through the miracle of incessant repetition, people start to buy into it. One poll I would love to see AP-Ipsos run would be applicable only to the population of Americans that still support the president and his war. There only has to be one question; multiple choice of course!
Question: Where do you obtain your information on the government and the war?
A. Newspapers
B. Newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch
C. The Internets
D. Television News Stations
E. Television News Stations owned by Rupert Murdoch
F. I read a book about it

See how many of these conservatives want to know more about the world than the sound bites they hear on Fox News.

Comments

[indiindgo]

I have noticed that the Republicans since about the mid-nineties have become a well-oiled (or just oily) propaganda machine. I think that it has been very effective for them in creating a divide.

[George]

I think the gist of this post has merit. I dont totally agree with the headline though because it's such a sweeping generalization.

My take is that these people who you call "conservatives" are not that at all. They are just ignorant people who have been told by partisan politicians and pundits to think that they are conservative.

[Justin]

Well George, let's give a breakdown then. If ignorant people can be told that they are conservative, then a sample of conservatives will show that they are ignorant. It's just a matter of raising the level of how many people in the US are informed. I'm quite certain that if 1000 voters in Ohio had gotten a bit more info on their President in 2004, they would have voted the other way and in essence, this site and my job would be moot. So, thanks illiteracy!

[Tony]

The one remark that republicans consistently use is "the democrats want to raise your taxes". First of all it was the republicans that put our country in the financial state it is in right now and we have to pay for it somehow. But all that aside, the additional taxes to the average American would most likely be a few hundred dollars a year, but for the republicans and conservatives it would (in many cases) be a substantial amount more because in many cases these people make and have more.

The ya have Romney saying "everyone can pay something" regarding healthcare. I'd love to take a tour of that Ivory Tower.

[Rufus]

You're just going to have to give up on that 23% that vote for Bush and don't read and get their news totally from Faux. Those moronic TV ads have to appeal to some part of America so does the sloganeering. Look at the Bell curve for perspective.

[Zee]

I heard the most pathetic slogan-think from a thuglican from PA on C-SPAN. First he tried to respond to another's comment on why the economy always did better under Dems and his answer to that was "liberal media spin." Huh? It's spin to report the facts as to whose administration is in the red or the black? Those are figures for all to see.
But the funniest was his reply to the notion that there are no good thug candidates running for prez in 2008. He said it didn't matter because the thugs would all come together to vote against Hillary! And the most jawdropping comment was how Obama and Edwards "scared" him because of their ....LACK OF EXPERIENCE. So the biggest moron in the states is running thing now...a moron so backwards he'd never even been abroad in his adult life and who failed in every undertaking his daddy procured for him...and this loon is worrying about two successful, erudite Senators and their supposed "lack of experience?" What scares me is how these morons "think."

[Ian]

The problem with the 23% is that 23% of 300 million is 69 million. That's a lot of people. And the wars being fought are SO far away.

[JAFO]

Living in one of this country's largest nursing homes (the state of Iowa--we've a LARGE population of the aging) I've noticed a couple of different things about these folks that have bought in to the whole repuglican thing.
The need for education has changed dramatically over the last several generations. Early on, you could get a good paying factory job with just an 8th grade education. As my parents came up, you needed a high school diploma to get that same type of pay. Now, if my kids are going to be able to live a middle class existence, they are REQUIRED to attend college (which has been mostly priced out for the kids here in the more rural and small town areas at least). The factory jobs are mostly gone, and retail and farming doesn't pay shit.
The less educated you are, the less likely it is you will read a book. The older you are, the less likely it is that you rec'vd an extended education (at least true here).
Sloganing and sound bite comments appear to appeal to older generations the way it was used as propaganda in WWII and beyond. Critical thinking skills don't come with a high school education. The importance and understanding of how our government is supposed to work isn't taught (and if it is it's taught by teachers who couldn't care less. The curriculum is dry and boring and never given the significance it should have). Add to that the total institution brainwashing of the military and many churches (and now we see it in the workplace and on the MSM as well) and you have an uninformed and unquestioning populace. Sheeple.
Now, bear in mind that the American population is aging rapidly (those boomers come to mind). I have noticed that as one grows older, one sometimes gets calcified in thinking and there is a certain sense of entitlement that comes with surviving for an extended period of time (think little old people driving huge cars at 2 miles an hour in the middle of two lanes).
If you don't think that the aging are significant in this political arena, think about those politicians like Strom Thurman, and Ted Stevens. Ted Stevens is in his 80's and has been in office since 1968. And if you're thinking that those aging boomers are going to be any better, remember that the boomers were one of the most selfish and short sighted groups of Americans ever born (think Michael Milken, George W. Bush, Karl Rove, et al). That's why they called the 70's the "Me" decade. In the 80's, it was those boomers learning to rape and pillage us under the Regan era.

[william]

i would have to agree with george's post and add a bit: not only is america filled with ignorant people who parrot propaganda (who goebbels called "the people" or "some poor slob"), but it also contains those who dont believe the propaganda because they understand what it's purpose is, which is to hide their real agendas. these are the dangerous and fascist authoritarians we should level our most potent political weapons towards....which of course is exposure and truth! those of us who pay attention and place it in proper historical context owe it to ourselves and our country to state teh truth often and unabashedly.

[CB]

The 23% (sad to say one of my brother's is one of them) will not listen to anything that goes against their spoon fed Republican view.

The Dems may not be perfect, but that is the only way to get rid of this corrupt out of touch with Americans current Republican Party.

[BushisLiar]

Most Fox "News" viewers are too clueless to even know who Rupert Murdoch is; they are useful idiots, dittoheads, that just parrot whatever propaganda they're feed.

[ToErr]

Bush's comparison of Iraq with Vietnam fits his constituency on the other side of the memory hole.
They could easily be led to believe was a real fighter pilot and get all Mann Coulter doe-eyed about him. My advice to him as for Iran is "Let's don't and say we did." It worked for him and his military "career."

[Creed]

The republicans who puzzle me most are the ones who are benefiting from Democrat programs, especially Social Security and Disability, and then vote for "conservatives".

Many of them would be without squat without this assistance, yet they continue to mouth the time-worn slogans of the Repugs!

[Mooser]

The only context Americans understand is that of popular entertainment, the melodrama.
Sure, maybe liberals, too. But I would sure as hell rather deal with people who find easy, sentimental reasons to help people, instead of kill people.

[MATTHEW]

Jafo hit the nail on the head about the boomers.I have worked in dealerships my whole life and when i first started out it was a pretty decent living.Then around the end of the 90s it started to suck and i could never figure out why.Then it came to me.The guys i was working for in the late 70s to early 90s were all older guys that new what it was like to have nothing because most had survived the depression and they took pretty good care of us.Now these places are owned by boomers that could care less if you live or die and its all about them and their pretty haircuts and trophy wives.What a joke this countries people have become,not the country but the people.They are filled with hatred and prejudice and have absolutlely no reason why they are like this and they don't care.

[Jimmy]

Conservatives prove again that too many idiots in country cause too much irreparable damage.

[Rosemary]

Wow - nice job of putting all people born between 1947 and 1962 into one group and labeling them "horrible, mean spirited, bad people". Maybe they should all be forced to sit in the back of the bus.

[Justin]

I'm Certain Jafo and MATTHEW are simply raising an evident frustration of the decedents of the "ME" generation. If the world revolves around those born between 1947 and 1962, (which includes my parents,) what in the hell are we supposed to do once they're gone. Generation issues are nothing new, but considering the fact that this particular generation's greed and hubris has caused "irreparable" damage to the planet, we're not quite sure how to feel about them. Granted, there are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, I have to side with Jafo and MATTHEW.

[trank]

you forgot talk radio- that's the only medium that allows the kind of uncontested repetition to tens of millions every day required to inject the distortions, lies, excuses, propaganda, and talking points into the mainstream.

since reagan killed teh Fairness Doctrine 20 years ago the GOP has relied on their talk radio monopoly more than any other medium to sell this catastrophe to Americans. true conservatives can thank talk radio for allowing the GOP to be taken over by a minority who don't believe in democracy.

[Rosemary]

Interesting. You just never know when you're going to bump into bigots.

[cal1942]

"why the economy always did better under Dems and his answer to that was "liberal media spin."

That's because facts are biased against Conservatives.

[cal1942]

Jafo it was the 80s that were called the 'Me' decade.

That was when it all turned to crap.

Ronald Reagan and the 'Conservative Movement' began drilling the idea that government was the problem and that people owed nothing to their communities. Cut taxes, cut government, more for me and screw everyone else.

They appealed to the selfish side of people.

The 80s were the beginning of the buyout, the consolidation of large corporations (including the media) that benefited stockholders but ruined communities. Greed is good, etc.

Reagan's 'Morning in America' rotted the soul of the nation.

I'm a pre-boomer (born in 1942) and I have to say the condemnation of all boomers is a bit out of line. It should be remembered that it was pre-boomers and the early boomers who got their heads caved in advocating civil rights, opposing the Vietnam War and were early advocates of protecting the environment.

I've often heard this from late boomers 'I didn't build up all this public debt why should I pay for it.'

There is a failure among some late boomers to realize that the magnificent public infrastructure that existed on the day they were born was built over many decades by preceding generations. That public infrastructure has benefited them immeasurably.

But I wouldn't be too harsh on this group because I believe that at a certain point in the story of all great nations, people forget the massive public investment required on an ongoing basis to support a civilized society. It's simply taken for granted.

The Conservative Movement's culpability in rotting the soul of the nation has hastened this process and is coincident with the maturity of late boomers.

[Jafo]

Just to clarify...

I don't think all boomers are responsible for the evils I wrote of previously. I do believe that there are many great Americans that came out of that generation. Many are the days that I wished for a voice from some of the greats of that era of protest to come forward and speak truth to power again. Where are my generation's Joan Baez and Bob Dylan (as an example)? My mom is a boomer, and my dad came just before the boom. Truly two of the greatest people ever born, in my humble opinion.
However, if you have lived a certain number of years, it is easy to recall how marketing, media, and anything that had to do with making money became directed at that largest group of spenders--the boomers. In the early and mid 80's, all the news stories were about how pissed off the boomers were about the generation before them using up all the Social Security money. I have yet to encounter a boomer on the street that has shown the same concern for my generation or beyond (in fact, I hear many who curse GenXers--the children THEY reared), who genuinely face the extinction of the program--but we're great for paying in to keep the boomers afloat. I've met many who have absolutely no intention of leaving anything to their own children. "It's not my problem! Let them make their own money!". Not bearing in mind that the boomers benefited the most from the social programs put in place that they now are against and trying to dismantle. And yes, it's the boomers. Not all of the boomers, but a LOT of boomers nonetheless.
Lastly, let me say that I only wax philosophically on this subject of boomers because someone should point out that they are not the "greatest" generation that they and all of the commercials that Dennis Hopper do suggest that they are. As they used to say "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem". And as a majority, they are not working toward a solution and the open hostility many of the group display says so. Those of the next generation and beyond have not yet secured the positions that the boomers are currently entrenched in, and I don't hold out a lot of hope, but I do think that by having this discussion maybe we can escape that kind of self-entitlement and hostility toward our children and theirs.

[Phil]

The 70's was the Me Decade, not the 80's. Don't take my word for it, google it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s

I lean right politically but actually I view the conservatives as the lesser of 2 evils. I am not offended by the post or the comments; the competitive side of me is encouraged, but overall I am dismayed that american politics have become so win/lose in nature rather than centered on the common good. Demonizing the other side disempowers you in my view. Ideas should win. If liberal ideas were better, there'd be no need to heap vitriol on those with whom you disagree.

It is suicide to underestimate the opponent. The National Review, for instance, is hardly a 3 word mantra of redundant cliche'd ideas restated over and over to a neanderthal readership. To think so reduces what liberals bring to the table. Your opponents are worthy opponnents. Act that way and bring your best game. That way, the public wins and not just one political ideology.