As Denis briefly mentioned in Good Morning News, Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster and framing guru responsible for such Orwellian phrases as “death tax” and “Contract with America,” admits to being spooked by the success of the Occupy movement:
“I’m so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I’m frightened to death,” Luntz said. “They’re having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism.”
In fact, he’s so scared about what the Occupiers have done to the “capitalism” brand, that he’s advising his fellow Republicans to stay the hell away from the word:
“I’m trying to get that word removed and we’re replacing it with either ‘economic freedom’ or ‘free market,’ ” Luntz said. “The public . . . still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we’re seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we’ve got a problem.”
THIS IS A BIG DEAL. You don’t have to like Luntz or his political agenda to recognize his genius; he’s been helping Republicans kick Democratic ass at the framing game for the better part of two decades. So I can’t help but take comfort in Luntz’s professed Occupyphobia.
So… um… you still think the Occupy movement isn’t achieving anything, simply because it doesn’t look anything like the kind of traditional political movements we’ve grown accustomed to?
Yeah, I’d still say they haven’t achieved anything yet.
Occupy semantics
You would say that, frankie. But you’d be wrong.
So, frankieb, the mere fact that you are still harping on them means they HAVE achieved something.
Point.
But nothing worthwile, as yet.
They’ve changed the tone of the debate and brought national media attention to an issue that’s been barely covered for the last two decades. They’ve also caused serious questions to be asked on our governments use of force against peaceful protests, concerns that were largely dismissed/non-existent just a few years ago for the protests leading up to the 2nd Iraq war and occupation. Now, a prominent republican is urging GOP members to not use the word capitalism during their campaign.
You may not agree with their politics or methods. But these are accomplishments. In fact, a game designer would award these as Achievements.