They lost but they aren't going away; the propaganda war endures

By Lee Russ

Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 08:43 AM

So the propaganda battles are in full swing, while most Americans gently snooze the day away or, at best, hoist a glass or three in celebration of the Republican defeat.

Propaganda, you say?  About what?

They're trying to frame the debate over all the issues, especially the ones that Republicans don't want to see addressed and corrected by a Democratic congress that is somewhat less beholden to the corporations and the wealthy.

Right now, already, you can see that they are trying to:

1. Box the Democrats into retaining the insane tax cuts for the wealthy.  All the "business" oriented shows on television are running "debates" about how likely it is that the new Democratic congress will make the "mistake" or rolling back the tax cuts that have "rejuvenated our economy.   If only they can stir up enough fear over the issue, they hope the Dems will be afraid to take the common sense actions they need to take on taxes, and, ultimately, the many social programs that need to be restored and/or repaired.

2. Forestall any Democratic attempts to address the constant drain of jobs to other countries where laborers make peanuts.  The same business shows that are trying to immunize the tax cuts from the Dems are also trying to stir up public opinion that will make it harder  for Dems to reverse or even stop the job drain, by railing long and loud (very loud) about the evils and dangers of "protectionist" legislation.

3.  Forestall any efforts by the Dems to rein in the unchecked power of the President, as by insisting that the NSA surveillance program operate with the oversight of a court, through some form of warrant system, as the Constitution intended, or repealing the most odious parts of the Patriot Act.  Pat Buchanan is among the many leading lights of the blighted right making these noises as loudly as they can, hoping that they can scare the Dems off by equating all attempts to restore our constitutional rights as indications that we are "soft on terrorism."

4.  Box the Democrats into "acting tough" on Iraq, so they will be more likely to support the president's policies and our continued presence there.  Interestingly, this propaganda effort is a joint one, being carried out by pro-war Republicans, and by al Qaeda, with its press releases extolling the election of the Democrats.  Both al Qaeda and the pro-war Republicans have a strong interest in seeing the U.S. remain in Iraq, the former because they see this as bad for the U.S. & good for them, the latter because they see this as good for the U.S and bad for terrorists.