By Gary R. Casselman
Pick your contrived leftist issue. Contraception? Privacy? The 1 percent? Wall Street? Fair share? Anti-women? Anti-granny? Racism? Immigration? Voter fraud? And on and on the list goes.
These "issues" are just some of the ways the left expresses the use of one of their favorite psychological tactics to control the national narrative. In so doing, they are able to foster big government, with its control of every aspect of our lives, to create voter blocks that are dependent on big government and therefore are disposed to vote for those in power that continue that dependency, and to create chaos and confusion among the electorate.
By controlling the national narrative via these non-issue "issues," the left very cleverly and very effectively keeps the narrative off of what they do not want people discussing – Mr. Obama's relentless drive to bankrupt this country and to create an insurmountable power base to ensure his second term, so that he can continue his socialist policies.
What is that psychological tactic? Here's how it works: The left identifies a class of people in our society and paints them as victims; victims of those "evil persecutors" – Republicans – who, according the left's propaganda, "hate" minorities, grandmothers, all women and the poor. Take your pick. As the psychosocial dynamic goes, if there is a group of people who are being taken advantage of, abused, or discriminated against, then the left can now justify riding in on their proverbial white stallion and "rescue" the "poor disenfranchised" from those "evil" Republicans. As a result, the "victims" are beholden to the "rescuer," i.e., they are so indebted to being rescued that they will vote for their rescuer in the next election.
We call this social dynamic "Karpman's Triangle," and it is seen throughout our society – even in Saturday morning cartoons for our kids. Remember Dudley Do-right, who saved poor Nell, because she couldn't pay her rent, from that evil Snidely Whiplash, who demanded in a most evil tone of voice, "You must pay the rent!"?
Well, the left has done an exemplary job of painting Republicans (conservatives) as Snidely Whiplash, while painting whatever demographic group the left wishes to create as the poor victim (grandmothers, women, etc.) as Nell, and of course big-government Democrats (leftists) as the rescuer.
Recently, out of a desire to turn women voters against Republicans and secure them in Mr. Obama's camp, and under the guise of concern for women's health, the left contrived an issue by claiming that Republicans want to outlaw contraceptives and therefore are not concerned with women's health. In turn, Republicans are painted as anti-women. As such, the left positions women as victims of those evil, nasty Republican persecutors. But fear not! To complete this social dynamic triangle, the left is here to rescue those poor helpless women the Republicans hate (according to the left).
Wow! Where did that come from? This is so insidiously Machiavellian, it is amazing that the group being manipulated isn't outraged at the insult to them.
It is out of absolute desperation to keep the national attention off of the economy that the left was impelled to make use of this subtle psychological manipulation. The left needed to fabricate this ridiculous attack, which taps into liberals' self-righteous indignation regarding "fairness." As a result, this purported "unfair" attack on women from the right has dominated the national narrative for weeks.
So it worked. It worked because we allowed it to work, instead of recognizing this tactic for what it is and calling the left on it.
Rarely does one see conservative talking heads doing anything but defending the Republican Party from these absurd attacks from the left. Shame on them for repeatedly falling for the same old trick from the left.
One feels compelled to shout at the left that famous quote from James Carville, who was so instrumental in getting Bill Clinton elected: "It's the economy, stupid!" Yes, indeed it is Mr. Carville. It IS the economy; the worst we have seen since the Great Depression, which Mr. Obama and the left have created.
Take any one of those lead-in issues at the beginning of this article, and one can see how the left has manipulated that issue to play out Karpman's Triangle. And they always win with that tactic; but only because we let them win.
Wise up, conservatives! Recognize what the left is really doing and call them on it! Stop the knee-jerk reaction of defending against their outrageous attacks. Reframe the attack for what it really is – a diversionary tactic. Refocus on the real issue: the incredible mess this president has made of the economy and how it is killing our country.
If we don't stop this president and his leftist cronies, we will lose the America that we were given by our ancestors. For the first time in the history of this country, we will pass on to our descendants a country that is less prosperous, less stable, less secure and with less opportunity for all of our citizens.
How can we feel good about that?
Gary R. Casselman, Ph.D., is president of Concord Bridge Consulting and co-author of "Waking The Sleeping Giant: How Mainstream Americans Can Beat Liberals At Their Own Game."