David Gelernter: How to talk to liars

David Gelernter is professor of computer science at Yale and the author, most recently, of America-Lite: How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture (and Ushered in the Obamacrats). He writes with a modest proposal on the topic of the day:

You can’t meet brazen liars with reasonable argument. Nor can you assume the public is getting the House Republican message when American journalists are mainly worshipers of Obama Nike, or more properly of their serene highnesses Obama and Omama (“Omybama, please grant me…”). If you’ve seen Mr Smith Goes to Washington, you recall that Jimmy Stewart filibusters his heart out on the Senate floor as a monstrous political machine suppresses all reports of what he is doing—like crushing eggshells–and the public turns against the lonely senator. For Jimmy Stewart, read House Republicans.

Congressional Republicans ought to memorize, and preface their every statement with, some simple formula. “One: Make Congress and the White House obey the same Obamacare rules you do. Two: Obama let business off for a year; we want workers to be let off for a year too. That’s the GOP plan. What part don’t you like?”

Only by hitting the nail on the head again and again and again will Republicans be heard. If you’re locked in a closet at the far end of a deep basement, you need to bang on the door and shout, and keep banging and keep shouting until someone hears you. Subtlety and nuance are not required—only simplicity and persistence. The guy locked in the closet has a strong message, and so does the House GOP. But if no one hears, no one cares.

Memorize and repeat! Memorize and repeat! Memorize and repeat!

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