I'm glad this is getting some focus. I hope it is filtering through to the Democratic Party.
As for the corruption, what I think is important is to contrast the things Trump is doing to enrich himself, and the policies which enrich billionaires, with the policies that hurt ordinary people. More for them, less for you.
Never let people forget about Elon.
The messaging approach is very important. I'm not an expert, but what I have come to learn is that repetition is key. The way this works is by fundamentally activating different parts of the brain, and more firmly establishing pathways, or reinforcing existing pathways. It is rewiring brains. The way you do that is with repetition.
Not surprisingly, there is a physiological explanation for why their approaches work.
So the Democrats can start with corruption, the contrast of their corruption with the Destruction of Government by Elon (DOGE) so that ordinary people are hurt, and then repeat it over and over again. Every new act of corruption and destruction needs to reinforce the frame. If it is reinforcing that frame (rewiring brains) then the tendency of Trump's chaos to put people off messages is neutralized.
You just reduce his actions to the same frames, and then the details reinforce one over arching narrative. Then you repeat those things that reinforce over and over.
Everyone has the corruption, selfish greedy billionaire pathway in their brains. The greedy, corrupt politician, greedy billionaire frame. It exists as a physical network in the brain. The messages need to link that strengthen that pathway, and bind it to Trump's GOP party.
You do that by beating the ever-loving hell out of it.
As a lifelong Dem I can't help but continually wonder, why is Democratic messaging always so tepid, late, and disorganized?
Is it deliberate? You'd think after having 45 years of being beaten like a $2 mule by the Republican unified communication system that they'd finally figure it out.
Thank you great podcast and informative. I am not sure if the right care much about the corruption because if you vote for a criminal fraudster, a man civilly liable for sexual assault or abuse, a supporter of the Jan 6 insurrectionists then what care are you going to exercise in the future if you “thought he was working for you”.
The key to it is the MAGAs are not being informed that what is happening IS corruption. They are being told that a $400 million dollar jet from Quatar is a GIFT TO THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT.
They don't know that it's a bribe to Dumpty directly.
Because the Dem messaging is so weak and disorganized, they are not getting their messaging out to where it matters. Same for the last 45 years.
Here is something that I have been pondering for a while. When we Democrats are bewildered about why the GOPMAGA seem always to vote against their own interest repeatedly, I realized that is the wrong PoV. The problem for us is, we actually have no idea what those people believe are their best interests. If their interests were the same as ours, they would vote as we do. What do these GOPMAGA actually consider are their best interests? Seriously, I have no idea. RE: Plain language, eh? OK, I will consider that. I speak as I speak, but - I am not a politician.
It’s really simple. As they often state, they want to “own the libs.” Think about those words. They rarely mention building a better world for their children, just that women (especially white women) should be having many children. They obviously care little for their own elder years as they show no concern for others’ older relatives. They absolutely hate the poor, homeless, mentally ill, and everyone not like them. They certainly don’t care about or understand the national economy and how important it is to their lives and comfort. What do they care about? Besides “owning the libs”? They about guns, spending all their supposedly hard money on cheap made in China gewgaws with Trump’s name on them. They care about inserting their own peculiar brand of Christianity that never follows the actual teachings of Jesus into every public school. They want a return to their own childhoods in places where, no matter how poor and uneducated they were, they still had more rights than others whose skins were darker in color.
It is tragic, and I say this in all sincerity, that more of them did not die of Covid. That is what they deserve.
Why am I so angry? Because I thought we had won years ago with laws protecting men, women, and children from the scourge of bigotry and racism. We obviously failed.
My sense of it is that they don't believe Democrats will help them. The GOP won't as well, I think they know that, but what the GOP does is give them some sense that they sit atop some kind of cultural hierarchy, and that that hierarchy will be preserved by curtailing immigration.
The reality is that the more people struggle economically, they more they look for other ways to claim their worth or position. So the GOP acting against their economic interests I think actually makes them more likely to cling to the hierarchy.
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
The issue of corruption has to be tied to the issue of the weakening of national security. Trump will make self-serving bargains with anyone if he profits from it and the damage done to our image and security means nothing to him. So if an authoritarian regime wants America's newest and most lethal weapons, and then passes them along to terrorists or uses them against someone else who is a friend, it won't bother him at all..
How do you cover Trump and his approved corruption by his minions and contributors? Daily commercials spelling it out (yesterday's corruption was...) and hammering it day after day. Getting it in to the Congressional Record seems to mean nothing to his followers.
Bingo ! Except half of the country and pretty much the rest of the world see Trump for what he is. He is a lying, stealing, cheating felon. He was still reelected after sending a rabid mob to steal an election! I don't think that framing corruption is going to move any needles. Forget that - they do not care! They do care about what hurts them, not what helps him. They care about costs, jobs, family and healthcare. Oh add guns into that mix.
Trump's ethercoin is likely being used to pay him for some of these pardons. Of course, with no regulation, it's impossible to know.
I'm glad this is getting some focus. I hope it is filtering through to the Democratic Party.
As for the corruption, what I think is important is to contrast the things Trump is doing to enrich himself, and the policies which enrich billionaires, with the policies that hurt ordinary people. More for them, less for you.
Never let people forget about Elon.
The messaging approach is very important. I'm not an expert, but what I have come to learn is that repetition is key. The way this works is by fundamentally activating different parts of the brain, and more firmly establishing pathways, or reinforcing existing pathways. It is rewiring brains. The way you do that is with repetition.
Not surprisingly, there is a physiological explanation for why their approaches work.
So the Democrats can start with corruption, the contrast of their corruption with the Destruction of Government by Elon (DOGE) so that ordinary people are hurt, and then repeat it over and over again. Every new act of corruption and destruction needs to reinforce the frame. If it is reinforcing that frame (rewiring brains) then the tendency of Trump's chaos to put people off messages is neutralized.
You just reduce his actions to the same frames, and then the details reinforce one over arching narrative. Then you repeat those things that reinforce over and over.
Everyone has the corruption, selfish greedy billionaire pathway in their brains. The greedy, corrupt politician, greedy billionaire frame. It exists as a physical network in the brain. The messages need to link that strengthen that pathway, and bind it to Trump's GOP party.
You do that by beating the ever-loving hell out of it.
Really nice post, Patrick. I love
D-estruction
O-f
G-overnment by
E-lon
Stolen. I got that I think on TheFrameLab.org
Yes, good discussion. Hit Trump's discussion over and over again. Thanks, Rick. Take care.
As a lifelong Dem I can't help but continually wonder, why is Democratic messaging always so tepid, late, and disorganized?
Is it deliberate? You'd think after having 45 years of being beaten like a $2 mule by the Republican unified communication system that they'd finally figure it out.
It hasn't happened yet. Why not?
Thank you great podcast and informative. I am not sure if the right care much about the corruption because if you vote for a criminal fraudster, a man civilly liable for sexual assault or abuse, a supporter of the Jan 6 insurrectionists then what care are you going to exercise in the future if you “thought he was working for you”.
The key to it is the MAGAs are not being informed that what is happening IS corruption. They are being told that a $400 million dollar jet from Quatar is a GIFT TO THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT.
They don't know that it's a bribe to Dumpty directly.
Because the Dem messaging is so weak and disorganized, they are not getting their messaging out to where it matters. Same for the last 45 years.
Here is something that I have been pondering for a while. When we Democrats are bewildered about why the GOPMAGA seem always to vote against their own interest repeatedly, I realized that is the wrong PoV. The problem for us is, we actually have no idea what those people believe are their best interests. If their interests were the same as ours, they would vote as we do. What do these GOPMAGA actually consider are their best interests? Seriously, I have no idea. RE: Plain language, eh? OK, I will consider that. I speak as I speak, but - I am not a politician.
It’s really simple. As they often state, they want to “own the libs.” Think about those words. They rarely mention building a better world for their children, just that women (especially white women) should be having many children. They obviously care little for their own elder years as they show no concern for others’ older relatives. They absolutely hate the poor, homeless, mentally ill, and everyone not like them. They certainly don’t care about or understand the national economy and how important it is to their lives and comfort. What do they care about? Besides “owning the libs”? They about guns, spending all their supposedly hard money on cheap made in China gewgaws with Trump’s name on them. They care about inserting their own peculiar brand of Christianity that never follows the actual teachings of Jesus into every public school. They want a return to their own childhoods in places where, no matter how poor and uneducated they were, they still had more rights than others whose skins were darker in color.
It is tragic, and I say this in all sincerity, that more of them did not die of Covid. That is what they deserve.
Why am I so angry? Because I thought we had won years ago with laws protecting men, women, and children from the scourge of bigotry and racism. We obviously failed.
My sense of it is that they don't believe Democrats will help them. The GOP won't as well, I think they know that, but what the GOP does is give them some sense that they sit atop some kind of cultural hierarchy, and that that hierarchy will be preserved by curtailing immigration.
The reality is that the more people struggle economically, they more they look for other ways to claim their worth or position. So the GOP acting against their economic interests I think actually makes them more likely to cling to the hierarchy.
As LBJ so perspicuously said:
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
Yeah I am familiar with that. It is integral in how I’ve developed my understanding over time.
Yep, I'm gonna write about this at the top of the thread.
Is it time?
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/04/general-strike-protest-trump-immigration-deportations-tariffs-unions.html
The issue of corruption has to be tied to the issue of the weakening of national security. Trump will make self-serving bargains with anyone if he profits from it and the damage done to our image and security means nothing to him. So if an authoritarian regime wants America's newest and most lethal weapons, and then passes them along to terrorists or uses them against someone else who is a friend, it won't bother him at all..
How do you cover Trump and his approved corruption by his minions and contributors? Daily commercials spelling it out (yesterday's corruption was...) and hammering it day after day. Getting it in to the Congressional Record seems to mean nothing to his followers.
Bingo ! Except half of the country and pretty much the rest of the world see Trump for what he is. He is a lying, stealing, cheating felon. He was still reelected after sending a rabid mob to steal an election! I don't think that framing corruption is going to move any needles. Forget that - they do not care! They do care about what hurts them, not what helps him. They care about costs, jobs, family and healthcare. Oh add guns into that mix.