false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166553234m/13455.jpg 13455 7 In the first of his three debates with George W. Bush, 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry argued against the war in Iraq not by directly condemning it but by citing the various ways in which airport and commercial shipping security had been jeopardized due to the war's sizable price tag. In so doing, he re-framed the war issue to his advantage while avoiding discussing it in the global terrorism terms favored by President Bush. One possible reason for this tactic could have been that Kerry familiarized himself with the influential linguist George Lakoff, who argues in <I>Don't Think of an Elephant</I> that much of the success the Republican Party can be attributed to a persistent ability to control the language of key issues and thus position themselves in favorable terms to voters. While Democrats may have valid arguments, Lakoff points out they are destined to lose when they and the news media accept such nomenclature as "pro-life," "tax relief," and "family values," since to argue against such inherently positive terminology necessarily casts the arguer in a negative light. Lakoff offers recommendations for how the progressive movement can regain semantic equity by repositioning their arguments, such as countering the conservative call for "Strong Defense" with a call for "A Stronger America" (curiously, one of the key slogans of the Kerry camp). Since the book was published during the height of the presidential campaign, Lakoff was unable to provide an analytical perspective on that race. He does, however, apply the notion of rhetorical framing devices to the 2003 California recall election in an insightful analysis of the Schwarzenegger victory. <I>Don't Think of an Elephant</I> is a bit rambling, overexplaining some concepts while leaving others underexplored, but it provides a compelling linguistic analysis of political campaigning. <I>--John Moe</I> 2187692 1905 Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives total:862|5:238|4:339|3:225|2:50|1:10| 862 3331 1217 162 1 2 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Apr 04 20:45:55 -0700 2007 Sat Apr 14 15:04:35 -0700 2007
Lakoff has some reasonable claims to make about conservatives manipulating language, but his positive proposals for how the Democrats should revise language are preposterous and the cognitive sci...more...]]> 5 2 false false Wed Mar 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 28 18:17:38 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 19 20:11:25 -0700 2008 Personally, I've always wondered how any teacher in a public school could ever support any conservative nut....more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 15:24:45 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 20 04:53:16 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Nov 26 07:20:06 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 07:20:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 07:23:48 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 28 00:16:06 -0800 2008
Lakoff argues, and demonstrates with numerous examples that conservatives have been very sucessful in shaping t...more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Jul 08 16:26:03 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 13:54:15 -0700 2009
Our country was born from the a...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 06 14:04:13 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 06 14:19:13 -0800 2008
George Lakoff, a Berkeley linguistics professor has applied his linguistic work to politics and gives a valuable and insightful POV on how p...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Feb 13 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Mar 20 13:38:59 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 20 13:40:17 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Fri Feb 27 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 18:28:46 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 18:40:40 -0800 2009
Both parts...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Jan 28 00:31:48 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 01:51:57 -0800 2009 The question this book poses is a very good one. In the US, Democrats and Republicans disagree on almost everything. Why is that?

Lakoff's answer is that it all goes back to different ways of thinking about the concept of the family. Republicans assume that people are fundamentally ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Aug 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 17:08:59 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 17:19:11 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Wed Jul 23 16:26:11 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 11 13:13:29 -0700 2008
George Lakoff's recent history is interesting. This book was a temporary cult phenomenon in progressive communities, and Lakoff was in demand in the inner sanctum of D...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sun May 04 08:40:01 -0700 2008 Sun May 04 08:59:09 -0700 2008 Moral Politics. It's stated purpose is to explain to the progressive side of the aisle how to effectively frame the debate in order to win hearts and minds. I am not sure that Lakoff is able to tear himself away from his incre...more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sat Feb 02 16:07:42 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 02 16:09:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Wed Apr 18 12:09:27 -0700 2007 Sun Mar 23 15:21:50 -0700 2008 framing--providing the context and comparisons by which a subject is evaluated--in politics and the notion that the conservative and liberal wings of American politics differ in th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Feb 04 06:34:10 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 11:22:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Fri Aug 22 18:54:18 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 18:54:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jun 20 02:33:35 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 02:40:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Aug 26 21:15:37 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 11 11:36:34 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Mar 12 01:52:55 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 01:54:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=13455