One huge recent success of the Democrats in the arena of creating coherent narratives was the centrality of the concept of the War on Women for the most recent presidential election. Whoever came up with this idea practically handed the victory over to Obama.
13 responses to “More on the War of Narratives”
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Well they would have won anyway. Romney’s 47% comment and unlikable milquetoast behavior meant that he was sunk from the very beginning, and his connections to Clear Channel didn’t help either. There were even allegations going around that Romney was this “vulture capitalist” among other things. I even saw a story about how he allegedly tied his dog on top of the roof of his car a very long time ago, though I’m not sure how true that story is.
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He told that story himself. The dog was in a carrier that was strapped to the roof for a trip with the family and ended up having diarrhea that seeped into the car.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/romney/dog.aspLikeLike
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I find the outrage over that story to be incomprehensible. This fixation on dogs must be a carry-over from the times of the British Empire.
I hate dogs with a passion that I can’t even express in words. But that doesn’t prevent me from being a very peaceful, quiet person. The idea that liking dogs somehow is a sign that one is a good person is completely misplaced. Stalin filled the room where he died with pictures of cuddly pets. That happened just as he was planning World war III.
Dogs are a very painful topic that becomes more painful every day.
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// This fixation on dogs must be a carry-over from the times of the British Empire.
Could you explain the connection between the Empire and the dogs? Why the fixation? Why dogs and not cats f.e. ?
// I hate dogs with a passion that I can’t even express in words.
Want to write a post about it? 🙂
Why? Because they jump on people? But it’s the owners’ fault for not training the animals. What do you think about cats? I have always liked cats, but am afraid of dogs for some reason. Probably because of never being near them, so I feel that barking = “I’ll bite you now” despite intellectually understanding otherwise.
// Stalin filled the room where he died with pictures of cuddly pets.
But he wasn’t near them in practice, so he may not really like the real, alive pets. 🙂
I am serious, btw. There is an essential difference between
– genuinely loving the animals. F.e. that veterinarian, who wrote books about his job and became famous because of it.
– liking to see TV programs & read books about them, but not wanting to interact otherwise
– liking to see “cute” sentimental picturesI read his late daughter’s “12 letters to a friend” and she never mentions having any animals in the house. Thus my bet is on the last option.
// becomes more painful every day.
Why? Do you have a pitbull problem in your area? Those dogs were bred for dog fighting and are the top breed to kill & maul people, according to US statistics, even their owners. I saw some articles about them before, and they are the most overpopulated breed in US. In Israel they are among 8 dangerous dog breeds and are required to be muzzled in public. However, I have often seen otherwise. 😦
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“Could you explain the connection between the Empire and the dogs? Why the fixation? Why dogs and not cats f.e. ?”
– The British are notorious for venerating dogs to the point of obsessiveness. They are also well-known for valuing dogs more than children (in the XIXth century.) The reason is probably the importance of hunting, although I’m not entirely sure.
“Why? Because they jump on people? But it’s the owners’ fault for not training the animals. What do you think about cats? I have always liked cats, but am afraid of dogs for some reason.”
– I can’t walk because of them!! This is making me physically ill because I’m stuck at home all day and there is no place to walk! I once saw a show about Canadian customs and there was a dog called Whiskey who worked sniffing out drug shipments. That was the only dog I ever saw that didn’t make me hate it passionately and wish it all sorts of harm. This dog worked for its living, made itself useful, and didn’t bark like an idiot.
Cats don’t get in my way, so I have no feelings about them. Although, I find people’s obsession with kitty pictures to be extremely bizarre.
“liking to see “cute” sentimental pictures”
– In my experience, the most sentimental people, the ones who get misty-eyed over cute puppies. etc., are the cruelest, most heartless people of all.
“Why? Do you have a pitbull problem in your area? ”
– Not pitbulls specifically, but really horrible, aggressive, untrained dogs. In every house! And they all roam around. Even if people want to let their children play outside, I don’t know how they can risk it. And imagine people with infants. They wouldn’t even be able to take the infants out for a walk in a pram. And how healthy is it to have an infant stuck at home for months without any fresh air?
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// I find the outrage over that story to be incomprehensible.
Wanted to add that loving dogs vs being against their abuse are different things. How a man treats his inferiors does show a lot about his character. And an “inferior” doesn’t have to be human.
Amanda Marcotte wrote once that most abusers abuse pets too, and one of reasons women had difficulty to leave was fearing for beloved pet’s life. It is so widespread that some shelters for abused women began accepting pets too, iirc.
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“Wanted to add that loving dogs vs being against their abuse are different things. How a man treats his inferiors does show a lot about his character. And an “inferior” doesn’t have to be human.”
– I eat a lot of meat. Meat that is grown and slaughtered in really horrifying conditions. And so does the absolute majority of people in the developed world. Let’s drop the pretense, OK?
“Amanda Marcotte wrote once that most abusers abuse pets too, and one of reasons women had difficulty to leave was fearing for beloved pet’s life.”
– She does have a tendency to come out with really bizarre statements.
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What’s funny is that they still think their ideas are good, just that they’ve been unfairly portrayed by the media. I mean, they have a whole news network devoted entirely to their message, so the portrayal alone is not the problem. Obama basically won by airing clips of Mitt being Mitt. If you say the rape guy lost and the reply is ‘Which one?’ there is something fundamentally wrong with your party and your ideas.
But yeah, marketing works. The republican brand is now associated with anti-intellectualism, anti-women, anti-minorities, and anti-science. When you think of a Republican the most prominent image that comes to mind is of a gun-toting, bible-thumping tea party moron. Are these the kind of people fit to lead this country in the 21st century?
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” If you say the rape guy lost and the reply is ‘Which one?’ there is something fundamentally wrong with your party and your ideas.”
– I know I shouldn’t be laughing but this is funny. Although it’s also disturbing that this is still possible.
” Are these the kind of people fit to lead this country in the 21st century?”
– Exactly! They are beginning to realize that there is no way in hell they can sell this image to the young people. Maybe if you manage to keep a small minority of kids out of college and permanently moored at home. Otherwise, there is no chance they will identify with this image.
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I want to mention another War of Narratives, which is raging, among other places in Britain:
CASE 1
Left-wing MP George Galloway storms out of Oxford University discussion because of student’s nationality
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As he reached the door, he added: ‘I don’t recognise Israel, and I don’t debate with Israelis,’ before storming out of the room.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2282261/George-Galloway-storms-Oxford-University-I-dont-recognise-Israel-I-dont-debate-Israelis.htmlHe doesn’t recognize Israel? What? He is a member of Parliament of a country that does, so he must too, or not be a PM. I think he must apologize for this comment. He can debate or not with whoever he wishes, but this?
CASE 2
Israel’s deputy ambassador to Britain was forced to flee from a university campus after protesters caused a lecture on the Middle East to be abandoned.
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After attempts to calm the situation failed, university officials split the students into two groups and took Mr Roth-Snir to a smaller room to continue his discussions with those not involved in the protests.
But the disruption from the main lecture theatre was so substantial that security officers decided to evacuate the deputy ambassador.There are more interesting things in the link. F.e.
A university spokeswoman said that although the university did not believe there had been a threat of violence to Mr Roth-Snir, a decision had been taken “quickly” to move him from the campus as the protests escalated.
Of course, “no threat of violence”. That’s what he would say. “quickly”, “escalated” (in Israeli newspaper is written the protesters beat smaller room’s doors and windows, and threatened to force their way in). But “no threat”.
CASE 3
Israeli ambassador to Britain Daniel Taub visited at least three universities this week. At the University of Ulster, in northern Ireland, he was greeted by demonstrators and had to be protected by heavy security, while in Queens University in Belfast, Taub’s audience was limited 12 staff members. At a third university, in northern England, his identity was kept secret from the audience until minutes before he spoke in order to prevent protests.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-british-student-had-earlier-run-in-with-boycotting-mp/
(A good link)RE “Taub’s audience was limited 12 staff members” – Israeli newspaper mentions that initially he was supposed to give a talk to students, but because of threats of disorder from students, university changed it to 12 staff members at the last moment.
I wonder how Israelis, who f.e. do their third degrees in England, feel in this environment. Disgusting and very cowardly, anti-democratic behavior from administration too.
— el
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– I eat a lot of meat. Meat that is grown and slaughtered in really horrifying conditions. And so does the absolute majority of people in the developed world. Let’s drop the pretense, OK?
I meant animals that are kept as pets: dogs and cats. It is not a pretense to say *both* that “the absolute majority of people” indeed eat meat and that those of them that abuse pets or f.e. are dog fighters tend to be not the best , to say the least. There is no contradiction.
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These dog owners abuse me by letting their freakish beasts assault me. Two days ago a neighbor stood there laughing as his German shepherd almost toppled me over. And a couple of weeks ago, a middle-aged lady was laughing her head off as her disgusting mutt was chasing around a small kid. The kid was screaming in terror. So, please, spare me the stories of how kind and nice these idiots are.
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I didn’t mean those people are nice, of course. The stories are indeed horrible. I would have been very frightened.
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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