Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Why is GOP & Conservative "Message" Delivered by such a Tiny Media "Fringe"?

roachboy · 04-27-2007, 10:50 AM

well, there are a number of ways to look at this.
the right has developed it own media apparatus over the past 20 years. its parameters have remained fairly constant: what has changed is the convergence of conservativeland's internal chatter with more mainstream political discourse--at its most appalling over the 2-3 years after 9/12/2001 (the digit is changed deliberately)--at this point, one way of seeing what has happened is that the discourse particular to conservative-land has lost any contact it once had with mainstream political discourse and so has effectively collapsed back onto its institutional infrastructure.

the linking of contact information to conservative mediasites is probably a residuum of the telemarketing innovation that was crucial in the rise of the xtian coalition as a political force across the 90s: generating the illusion of a grassroots movement by cold calling people, solliciting their opinions on a given issue and then offering to connect them directly to their congressman's office. which they did. it worked pretty well for them. they should thank ralph reed more often.

another way of approaching the question in the op is to consider the centrality of identity politics in the way the discourse of conservativeland operates. since so much of the discourse is rooted in identification, it would follow that the politics based on that discourse is more about identification than other types of argument. if that is the case, it follows that logical coherence, descriptive capaciousness, clear linkages between policy proposals and reliable data about the world are all secondary. on other words, i am not convinced that conservativeland is an evangelical sector when it comes to it own politics--it is more about the structuring of affect.

i put these up as ways to not see the op as tautological: this despite the fact that i see why loquitor would react as he did.

04-27-2007, 10:50 AM	#4 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	well, there are a number of ways to look at this. the right has developed it own media apparatus over the past 20 years. its parameters have remained fairly constant: what has changed is the convergence of conservativeland's internal chatter with more mainstream political discourse--at its most appalling over the 2-3 years after 9/12/2001 (the digit is changed deliberately)--at this point, one way of seeing what has happened is that the discourse particular to conservative-land has lost any contact it once had with mainstream political discourse and so has effectively collapsed back onto its institutional infrastructure. the linking of contact information to conservative mediasites is probably a residuum of the telemarketing innovation that was crucial in the rise of the xtian coalition as a political force across the 90s: generating the illusion of a grassroots movement by cold calling people, solliciting their opinions on a given issue and then offering to connect them directly to their congressman's office. which they did. it worked pretty well for them. they should thank ralph reed more often. another way of approaching the question in the op is to consider the centrality of identity politics in the way the discourse of conservativeland operates. since so much of the discourse is rooted in identification, it would follow that the politics based on that discourse is more about identification than other types of argument. if that is the case, it follows that logical coherence, descriptive capaciousness, clear linkages between policy proposals and reliable data about the world are all secondary. on other words, i am not convinced that conservativeland is an evangelical sector when it comes to it own politics--it is more about the structuring of affect. i put these up as ways to not see the op as tautological: this despite the fact that i see why loquitor would react as he did. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite