IdeaLog
Why does the media repeat lies?
Posted on October 9, 2019
In 1997, legendary Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee gave a speech about truth and lies in politics. He explained that newspapers “don’t tell the truth” when they (a) don’t know the truth, (b) quote someone who is...
Only progressive values can defeat conservative arguments
Posted on September 25, 2019
Most Americans are progressive on most issues. By margins of at least two to one, our fellow citizens: believe corporations and upper-income people are paying too little in federal taxes; oppose repealing the federal...
Progressive values negate our negatives
Posted on September 11, 2019
Liberals, lefties, environmentalists, unionists, consumer advocates—all progressive types—suffer from negative stereotypes. Some of these stereotypes were invented by the right-wing messaging machine, and others are self-inflicted. By using progressive values, we address and reverse...
What is message framing, anyway?
Posted on August 27, 2019
Good question! Let’s start with a little quiz specially crafted for history buffs. When were these political slogans in vogue, and what were they about? (1) Tippecanoe and Tyler Too (2) Don’t swap horses...
It is time to ban assault weapons, again
Posted on August 15, 2019
We all know that some guns should be banned or severely restricted. Machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, silencers, grenades, and many other types of extremely dangerous weapons were essentially banned by the commonsense National Firearms Act (NFA)...
Brand-new edition of our advocacy manual, Preparing to Win
Posted on July 31, 2019
Here is the Introduction to our brand-new Second Edition of Preparing to Win: Why an advocacy manual now? We want change; that’s why we are progressive advocates. We seek to redirect and reform public...
Brand-new Fourth Edition of Voicing Our Values
Posted on July 17, 2019
This is the Introduction to our brand-new edition of Voicing Our Values: Politics is the art of persuasion. But persuasion is hard and getting harder. Today, facts are rationalized away and lies are ubiquitous....
Why we celebrate the Fourth of July
Posted on July 3, 2019
This year, Donald Trump is twisting the traditional nonpartisan “Capitol Fourth” celebration in Washington, D.C. into a grotesque partisan rally featuring himself and military weaponry. This is wrong on so many levels. The Fourth...
Avoid the passive voice
Posted on June 19, 2019
Richard Nixon and his press secretary were famously ridiculed for saying “mistakes were made.” And yet, the same phrase has been used by Democrats and Republicans ever since. To many people, the passive voice...
Don’t repeat the opponents’ frame
Posted on June 3, 2019
In his book Don’t Think of an Elephant, Professor George Lakoff provides the most basic principle of framing: “Do not use their language. Their language picks out a frame—and it won’t be the frame...