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The Shrouded Weapon of Patriotic Correctness

July 21, 2020 by staff

August 22, 2020

Displaying his signature blend of victimhood and vitriol in a recent speech, President Trump accused political protesters of pushing a “cancel culture — driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees.” 

Put aside the hypocrisy of those words coming from a man who’s called for dozens of people to be fired for expressing opinions he dislikes. The more serious issue is the popular claim that “political correctness” presents a great threat to our freedom. In truth, its counterpart — patriotic correctness — suppresses dissent more widely and imposes greater consequences. 

Take the story of country music stars The Dixie Chicks. The three women band leaders never faced notable criticism of their Confederacy-friendly name. Yet the band downsized their name to The Chicks for their just-released album, Gaslighter, simply announcing, “we want to meet this moment.” 

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Contrast that to 2003, when the band stepped out of line with country music political orthodoxy.

Days before the invasion of Iraq, vocalist Natalie Maines told a London audience, “We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President [G.W. Bush] is from Texas.”

The backlash was immediate and savage as thousands of country music radio stations forbid DJs from playing The Chicks, slashing their record sales. Some groups staged events destroying recordings by The Chicks and band members received numerous death threats. 

The Chicks nearly vanished for years, but several multi-platinum albums granted them the wealth and power to resume their career years later. Their comeback single, “Not Ready to Make Nice,” defiantly rebuffed would-be suppressors. But less powerful country artists confirm the fear of getting “Dixie Chicked” influences everything from their lyrics to political engagement. That fear is just starting to ease nearly two decades later.

Performers identified as right-wing, like country star Toby Keith, may deter some invitations to perform with their stances, but face no such organized intimidation. Keith, However, took to projecting photos photos of Natalie Maines next to Saddam Hussein at his concerts (of course, they had never been in the same place) in an attempt to whip up hatred against her.

Patriotically correct doctrines include: American exceptionalism is unquestionable, even though we trail other wealthy nations in many key measures. Our military spending is untouchable. Service members should receive preferential treatment without regard to personal merit. And patriotism should be expressed with chest thumping and flag waving, not dissent that aims to illuminate and correct our biggest flaws.

The NFL is among the institutions enforcing those rules. When President Trump attacked Colin Kaepernick for this kneeling protest against police killings of Black people, the NFL didn’t merely fail to defend an employee, it effectively halted his career. Silencing one of the league’s most visible stars made it unnecessary to tell any athletes just trying to make a team to “shut up and play.” Message received.

And what is the playing of our national anthem at sporting events other than institutionalized patriotic correctness? In almost every other country, national anthems — sensibly — are played only for international sporting events.

Patriotic correctness is so omnipresent we rarely notice it and, like racial biases, practice it unconsciously. In an interview, liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave the patriotism police a gift by calling Kaepernick’s protest “dumb and disrespectful.” (Ginsburg later apologized after reflecting on her act.)

Meanwhile, right-wing grifters like Milo Yiannopoulos play the victim when they lose lucrative speaking gigs for business reasons, failing to fulfill contractual promises, or when college students organize to stop their fees from being transferred to such self-promoting provocateurs.

As Alex Nowrasteh of the libertarian Cato Institute says, “every group has implicit rules against certain opinions, actions and language as well as enforcement mechanisms — and the patriotically correct are no exception. [But] they are near-uniformly unaware of how they are hewing to a code of speech and conduct similar to the PC lefties they claim to oppose.”

To be clear, political correctness can do harm to the free exchange of ideas, and too many Americans are ready to judge others for a careless utterance, but the patriotic correctness unleashed on The Chicks is both more pervasive and severe than any progressive pressure.

The Chicks blacklisting yielded only a setback — one they had the power to overcome by virtue of their previous success, but their persecution silenced many more vulnerable people. 

The most powerful suppression of speech is accomplished through implied threat and voluntary compliance, not punishment.

Jeff Milchen (@JMilchen) founded Reclaim Democracy! and the American Independent Business Alliance.

Filed Under: Activism, Civil Rights and Liberties, Education & Critical Thinking Curriculum Tagged With: free speech, trump

Campaigns

July 31, 2012 by staff

Revoking Corporate “Free Speech”

One of the core beliefs of Reclaim Democracy is that our Constitution’s Bill of Rights exists to protect the rights of living human beings and their voluntary associations exclusively. Yet since the late 1800s, federal judges have ignored the fact that corporations go unmentioned in our Constitution, and created a broad array of “corporate constitutional rights. Their arguments claim that corporations are legal “persons,” entitled to the protections of our Bill of Rights.

A decade before Citizens United v FEC launched the issue to the forefront, we established the web’s most comprehensive resource on corporate personhood to both explain, and lead to reversing, the process by which corporations seized the legal rights of human beings. This long-term struggle is a foundation of our work, and through Move To Amend, a national coalition of groups working toward this end.

In 2003, we used the Supreme Court case of Nike v. Kasky to challenge corporate “free speech” privileges and engage a national audience in rethinking such ill-gotten privileges. Now we’re building a campaign to erode and, ultimately, revoke the Supreme Court-created “right” of corporations to influence (and even run their own) ballot initiatives that dates to 1978’s First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti ruling.

We are using high-profile battles to broaden awareness of this outrageous usurpation of citizens’ power and build toward the long term goal of reversing Bellotti. Our campaign plans and many background materials are posted here. Our proposed constitutional amendments address this and other long-term goals.

Establish a Citizens’ Debate Commission

The nationally televised presidential debates are the single most influential forum for most Americans to inform their views on presidential candidates, and offer a rare opportunity to hear candidates’ ideas unedited and in context. To our national disgrace, these debates have been controlled since 1988 by a front group of the Democratic and Republican parties that lacks any public accountability — the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).

During the 2000 election cycle, we had considerable success in raising public awareness of the illegitimacy of the CPD. That campaign led us to the necessary work of displacing the CPD with real debates that will serve democracy. In 2004, ReclaimDemocracy.org catalyzed and co-founded the Citizens’ Debate Commission (CDC), now supported by dozens of civic organizations from all over the political spectrum. Our ultimate goal of replacing the CPD with genuinely democratic debates will take some years to accomplish, but even in the first year the CDC helped force important changes that have moved the events from the sound-bite battles of recent years to more substantive debate.

See Presidential Debates Should Serve Citizens and Democracy, Not Political Parties for an overview and links to our research, writing and outside resources on the issue.

Critical Thinking Curriculum Project

ReclaimDemocracy.org has raised awareness of commercialism and corporate propaganda encroaching into every pocket of daily life. In addition to our articles, primers, and presentations, we seek to bring such awareness in classrooms — to tomorrow’s citizens. Our Critical Thinking Curriculum (no new materials currently being produced until we find a new volunteer or obtain funding for staff time) helps teachers nurture critical thinking skills in students of all ages, beginning with media literacy.

By helping our kids to learn how to determine the source of the messages they receive through a variety of media, they become savvy media users. They learn to challenge ideas presented to them through news stories, advertisements, textbooks and more.

See Branded: Corporations in Our Schools for one example of why this project is needed.

Breaking New Perspectives into the Mass Media

Our ongoing efforts to bring our message to the masses have resulted in op-eds by ReclaimDemocracy.org staff appearing in the nation’s most prominent newspapers — papers like the Washington Post, Newsday, The Chicago Tribune, La Opinion (the nation’s largest Spanish language paper) and dozens more. We continue our success in reaching our target audience through insightful writing that gets to the democratic root of the issues making headlines. Our outreach also consistently involves talk radio and occasionally televised talk shows.

Examples include: forewarning the public of the corporate agenda for commercializing public lands; re-framing the debate on campaign finance and other electoral reforms; and calling for true accountability for corporate crime and criminals.We invite you to contact us regarding adapting these articles and others for use in your local or regional media outlets

Volunteer opportunities: We always seek to work with skilled writers and researchers interested in reaching a broad audience.

Past/Ongoing Accomplishments

As Citizens United v FEC made its way to the Supreme Court, Reclaim Democracy principals teamed up with representatives of many other pro-democracy organizations to lay plans for exploiting the opportunity, win our lose, to launch corporate personhood into public awareness.

The result was Move To Amend, a nationwide coalition of grassroots organizations working toward the common goal of amending the Constitution to make clear the Constitutional rights are for living beings and that spending money to influence elections is subject to limitations needed to allow all citizens’ voices to be heard.

Before Reclaim Democracy.org was staffed, our director launched a first-of-kind model in Colorado, the Boulder Independent Business Alliance. BIBA helped locally owned, independently operated businesses to succeed, ensure continued opportunities for entrepreneurs, and strove to reverse the trend of losing such businesses to national chains.

We subsequently helped spread the successful model until, much like the Citizens’ Debate Commission, we teamed with others to help spawn the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) to fill a role that merited a singularly-focused organization. AMIBA has since helped seed more than eighty more local alliances and maintains a vital communication network among these community-level efforts, while working to enhance national consciousness of the importance of community-based businesses.

Notably, AMIBA also is the leading grassroots business organization making clear that enshrining corporations with human rights is anti-business and anti-market. See AMIBA.net

 

Filed Under: Activism, Corporate Personhood, Education & Critical Thinking Curriculum, Independent Business, Media, Transforming Politics

Tips for Effective Calls to Talk Radio

July 17, 2012 by staff

Talk radio is a great venue for groups to shift public opinion and where everyone can learn effective communication. To deliver your message clearly and powerfully:

  • Familiarize yourself with the program before calling, especially if the host holds opposing views to the one you’re delivering. If you think the host may be antagonistic, learn points of agreement you can use as a “launching pad”
  • Cater to the audience: speak their language and know their perspective
  • Focus on one main message and make the messages consistent across the members of your group
  • Stories/emotion + facts/reason = persuasion; integrate an element of each, especially if your audience is not already on your side. In that situation especially, a compelling story is powerful
  • Know your sources; be prepared cite to a source that’s respected by that show’s audience
  • Be concise and direct; make your case quickly (most callers get less than one minute), but speak in real sentences and not just sound bites. Skip any greetings or pleasantries (e.g., “how are you doing?”) and go straight to the topic
  • Practice your 30-50 second pitch out loud, and repeat until you can do it smoothly and comfortably; keep a few bullet points (not a script) in front of you if that helps (no one will see you looking!)
  • Be prepared for the screener. If the show is open to all views or the host is sympathetic, just make your quick pitch. If you don’t normally hear views that dissent from the hosts’, be aware that you may need to bluff to get on the air. In this case, starting with a point of agreement with host can be critical
  • Make sure you have time to wait and turn off your radio when cued by the screener
  • Listen to the show from the start, when you plan to call and get in the queue early. If possible, plan with an ally to tag-team with calls during the same hour to reinforce the first call.
  • Direct people to your preferred source for more information and action; articulate it clearly and repeat it if possible
  • Close with a clear call to action, if applicable

Also…

  • Try humor and modesty when communicating with others
  • Use a calm, confident voice; a positive tone attracts people to your ideas
  • Avoid long pauses; hosts hate dead air
  • Remember your real target: the listeners; don’t try to “win” an argument with the host. Focus on the message you want listeners to take away or the action you want them to take
  • Befriend the host; even host with starkly differing views may come to appreciate a respectful and well-prepared antagonist; pay them a genuine compliment when possible and let them know you listen
  • Take notes a soon as you hang up to improve your performance next time. You often can stream recent episodes on a show’s website.

Have fun!

Contact us for information on media trainings.

Other Tools for Activism

Writing Effective Letters to the Editor

Write Effective Op-eds & Get Them Published

Filed Under: Activism, Education & Critical Thinking Curriculum

Writing Effective Letters to the Editor

July 16, 2012 by staff

By Jeff Milchen

Letters in newspapers and magazines are prime forums for getting your message to a wide audience. These tips will help increase the likelihood of your letters to the editor (LTEs) published and maximize their impact.

Do:

  • For most publications, respond directly to a recently published article or commentary. Follow the target publication’s norm, but a typical response format is: Re “Talking With the Taxman,” (news, Jan. 13). Your report neglected one key fact… Small local papers may allow writers to raise an issue without responding directly to something published.
  • Focus on one important point and don’t try to address multiple issues in one letter. Be sure to follow the publication’s guidelines and word count limit (up to 250 words is common for local papers, but some larger publications demand shorter letters).
  • Maximize your chance of being published by removing every non-essential word. For example, don’t say, “I think…” It’s obvious. This also minimizes the chance of editors changing the letter.
  • Use verified facts. Take the time to check original sources rather than repeating a “fact” cited in another media outlet.
  • Create immediacy by indicating how readers will be impacted by the issue you’re addressing.
  • Balance criticism with a positive call to action. This includes your elected representatives — by including their names in the letter and asking for action, you can get their attention. Point people to a source for information or to engage when practical.
  • Speak in the language and literacy level of the publication’s readers. Envision a person you seek to influence when writing. This will help focus your message better than writing for “everyone.”
  • When writing to your local newspaper in smaller towns or cities, follow up with a polite phone inquiry about its status if it doesn’t appear within a few days.
  • E-mail your letter in the body of the email (never send unsolicited attachments) and put “Letter re: your topic or article name” in the subject line. If you wish to copy others or submit to more than one publication, do so in a separate email. Include your address and phone for verification.
  • Pay attention to letters and comments by others. Note effective and ineffective approaches (especially letters that argue a position you oppose), style, length, etc.
  • Don’t limit yourself to critiquing articles. A story that reports favorably on your group or issue presents a great opportunity to repeat a key point while adding one of your own. This also helps build the perception of being a positively-focused group.
  • If your target publication includes links in letters published online, seize the opportunity to expose readers to preferred sources or your organization.
  • Use quotation marks to indicate the title of an article. Most newspapers don’t use italics or bold in the body (and never all caps).
  • Have someone proofread your letter before submitting it— ideally before reading the original article. Why? Many readers won’t recall the original or never read it, so your letter should stand on its own.
  • Magazines: Acceptable lengths for letters in magazines vary widely, so look for guidelines and observe the magazine’s range and style. Many magazines tend to be read by like-minded people, rather than the broader cross-sections of newspaper readers. Consider the typical reader and keep her in mind.
  • Use active, concise language. Strong writing uses descriptive nouns and active, informative verbs. Activating language eliminates almost every instance of “to be” (has, have, is, was, be, been, were) Each time you find one of these words in your draft, reword your sentence with active verbs. Similarly, the word “that” is rarely necessary. The Elements of Style is an excellent guide to clear, concise writing.
  • Include a title of 3-8 words. Editors will rarely use your exact wording, but your suggestion makes it more likely they’ll choose a framing you like.

Avoid:

  • Don’t overstate/exaggerate your points. One overstatement makes every following point suspect.
  • Don’t name-call or insult your opponents.
  • Avoid jargon or acronyms (spell out any name the first time you use it, followed by the acronym in parentheses).

Don’t consider your effort a failure if your letter to the editor isn’t used in large publications, even the best letters face long odds. Each LTE is read and plays a role in molding the thinking and selection of the editors.

Other Resources

  • Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style, a great writers guide
  • Tips for Effective Calls to Talk Radio
  • Write Effective Op-eds & Get Them Published

The creator of this primer, Jeff Milchen, previously directed Reclaim Democracy!

Filed Under: Activism, Education & Critical Thinking Curriculum

Primers

July 16, 2012 by staff

Reclaim Democracy’s  primers contain many additional resource references as well as concise, focused introductions to issues we address. They’re great education/outreach tools and all may be freely copied and distributed in their unaltered form.

Note: all these items are pdfs (portable document format) to enable you to print flyers of distribution quality. We’re happy to send a top-quality master if you plan to distribute large quantities (we can insert your local contact information). Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these flyers.

What You Can Do (To Revive Democracy and Revoke Corporate Power)
a collection of ideas and resource references for both individual and group action.

Corporate History Primer
our surprising history of citizens wielding authority over corporations holds many keys to progress.

Inherent Rules of Corporate Behavior
Understanding the nature of corporations a prerequisite for effective strategy development and action. This primer is an excellent starting point.

Recommended Reading List
suggests books, periodicals, and videos for information on corporations and democracy

Resources Available from Reclaim Democracy
lists of all of the materials available on this page + books and action kits we distribute (includes ordering coupon). Legal size document.

What Would Democratic Elections Look Like?
offers an overview of eleven core changes needed to realize democracy

Issues and Legal Precedent in State Campaign Finance Reform
a five-page introduction to developing local and state campaign reform, with a model state initiative.

Establishing Debates to Serve Democracy
the why and how of our campaign to establish the Citizens’ Debate Commission

Popular Articles Formatted as Fliers

From Protest to Rebellion
Our most frequently requested article analyzes the scope of challenges we face to revitalize democracy and draws both inspirationand strategies from the American independence movement.

A Missing Foundation for Democracy: The Right to Vote
A great American myth exposed!

Branded: Corporations in Our Schools
Documents the dangers of corporations in our schools and tools for resistance

Environmentalists: Let’s Stop Wasting Our Time
Effective environmentalists are tackling corporate power at the roots. Here’s why.

Antitrust, Books and Ideas
Are chain bookstores a threat to democracy? Read some surprising facts about the book publishing and retailing businesses.

Killing for Capital–and Going Unpunished
Ford and Firestone executives knew their products were killings people, yet continued to sell the deadly products while concealing the dangers. So where are the indictments?

The Benefits of Doing Business Locally
Promote political democracy by practicing economic democracy.

Building a Culture of Freedom
Defending liberty at a dangerous time for the Bill of Rights

Is This Land our Land?
“Fee Demo” and the Threat to Corporatize Public Lands.

Filed Under: Activism, Education & Critical Thinking Curriculum

Critical Thinking Curriculum

July 16, 2012 by staff

Here are some hands-on, practical ideas to get teachers and students started. We’ve only just launched this project, so visit often — you’ll see the list grow. We welcome your own ideas to add to the possibilities for helping our children become savvy media users!

Most of these activities are appropriate for grades 7-12. Feel free to adapt them to your students’ grades and ability levels.

Science and Health

  • Eat More Beef?
  • Is it Healthy to be Vegetarian?
  • Phony Science
  • Verifying scientific claims
  • Tobacco Advertising
  • Greenwashing

Math

  • Media statistics
  • Graphs and Charts in Advertising

History

  • What if they’d had TV back then?
  • Historical posters
  • Eisenhower TV Campaign
  • Railroad Advertising and Westward Expansion

Economics

  • Basic Economics and Advertising

Government

  • Political cartoons
  • Wag the Dog
  • Making a Political TV Commercial

English/Language Arts

  • Adjectives in the news
  • Sound Bites
  • Limited space
  • Channel One
  • Evaluating web sites for a report

Read about our philosophy on critical thinking and education

Other Critical Thinking Resources

  • Media Awareness Network
  • New Mexico Media Literacy Project
  • Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
  • Center for Media and Democracy
  • Corpwatch.org 
  • The Center For a New American Dream

We accept NO government or corporate money or advertising. We rely on individual donations for more than 90% of our funding. Our success depends on you!

If you value our work to build American democracy and the resources we offer, please make a tax-deductible investment today.

DONATE

ReclaimDemocracy.org is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization

ReclaimDemocracy.org
222 South Black Ave.
Bozeman, MT 59715
email: info ‘at’
ReclaimDemocracy.org

Filed Under: Education & Critical Thinking Curriculum

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Reclaim Democracy! works toward a more democratic republic, where citizens play an active role in shaping our communities, states, and nation. We believe a person’s influence should be based on the quality of their ideas, skills, and energy, and not based on wealth, race, gender, or orientation.

We believe every citizen should enjoy an affirmative right to vote and have their vote count equally.

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