Banana Republicans:

[HootieMcBoob]

How the Right Wing Is Turning America Into a One-Party State.


Has anybody heard of this? It looks good. The authors talk to "The Hill" here:

Explain the Republican view of politics as an art of war compared to the Democratic perspective.
The Republican view has been expressed in a pamphlet (later published in book form) by right-wing activist David Horowitz, titled The Art of Political War: How Republicans Can Fight to Win. True to its title, The Art of Political War argues that "Politics is war conducted by other means. In political warfare you do not fight just
to prevail in an argument, but to destroy the enemy's fighting ability. . . . In political wars, the aggressor usually prevails."

<snip>

A recent Pew Research Center survey reveals only 29 percent of the Republican audience believing all or most of Fox News. CNN, leader of cable ratings, NPR, and CBS hold strong in retaining Democratic viewers. Have Republicans really taken over "liberal media"?
Try this test: Conduct a poll of your friends, or walk into a neighborhood tavern and ask how many people there think that Al Gore claimed he invented the Internet. As we document in Banana Republicans, the Gore-invented-the-Internet trope is a
deliberately-constructed Republican myth that was created for the express purpose of convincing voters that Gore was a habitual liar.

<snip>

In Banana Republicans, we also strongly advise progressives against adopting the vitriolic rhetorical style of the right. The nation has become increasingly polarized during the past four years, and some figures on the left are starting to sound like left-wing versions of the Drudge Report or Rush Limbaugh. We think that is a mistake. It's unlikely to succeed, and even if it does, the result will lower rather than elevate political discourse.

On the other hand, we think a great deal can be learned from the right's organizing strategies. The right wing's philosophy of "politics is war" may have contributed to its ideological discipline and its political ascendency in the United States, but really its
main strength has been its success at marketing right-wing ideas, through a long-term strategy of networking, organizational development of conservative think tanks and grassroots organizations, and effective use both new and old media technologies to build an effective right-wing counterweight to the mainstream media. These are all areas where the left could be doing a much better job and where
perhaps they ought to be trying to learn some lessons from the right.

http://www.thehill.com/daily_features/062404.aspx