19 Comments
User's avatar
⭠ Return to thread
Ellie Kona's avatar

Another reader also asked when will Republicans learn the definition of socialism.

The far right purveyors of “socialism” and “CRT” as derogatory terms do not care what they really mean. They are co-opting these terms for the purpose of “driving up negative perceptions” and emotionalizing their base. It is a continuation of what Newt Gingrich started in 1990 with the assistance of pollster Frank Luntz: a memo for Republicans titled "Language, a Key Mechanism of Control.”

https://twitter.com/strongrob12/status/1455261168747036677?s=21

Expand full comment
Gus Koch (GA)'s avatar

I remember when Newt was teaching at Kennesaw College here in Georgia, when my daughter attended there. So sorry we let him loose on the country....

Expand full comment
Jim Carmichael's avatar

Remember, he was a transplant, not a native Georgian.

Expand full comment
Jim Carmichael's avatar

Unlike Larry McDonald, another force we unleashed for a while.

Expand full comment
MLMinET's avatar

I remember him (I lived in GA for three years). A John Bircher.

Expand full comment
Gus Koch (GA)'s avatar

Yes, but it's little relief. He called by here and we let him go....

Expand full comment
Kathleen Allen's avatar

"BIG GOVERNMENT SOCIALISTS ... are a secular religious movement;

They can't deal with reality;

They can't cope with facts;

If it doesn't fit their narrative,

they just shrug it off and refuse to pay attention to it."

(Newt Gingrich - 10/14/21)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=207&v=OD-PTG4A-wk&feature=emb_logo

\\

Expand full comment
JDinTX's avatar

Newt is the virus that attacks the brain and makes it unable to compute

Expand full comment
Kathleen Allen's avatar

... also, a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae ...

Expand full comment
Gus Koch (GA)'s avatar

Well, now you're getting technical....

Expand full comment
Gus Koch (GA)'s avatar

So that's what's wrong with me. I thought it was a brain injury or something....

Expand full comment
Kathleen Allen's avatar

... self portrait ...

Expand full comment
Sharon B in ATL's avatar

100% agree, Ellie. The Rs know exactly what socialism means and they profit from intentionally mislabeling it and lying to their constituents.

Expand full comment
Kim's avatar

That's why it's an important part of the GOP agenda to keep people uneducated, so they keep falling for these buzzwords that have been co-opted by the party and turned into different things entirely.

Expand full comment
JDinTX's avatar

Exactly, I remember this in the election for Tx Governor in 1994. I thought people wouldn’t be that stupid, I was so wrong…

Expand full comment
JDinTX's avatar

100% true. Frank has done more damage than most.

Expand full comment