Perhaps the increasingly popular premise, that to air a belief is to normalize it, renders a society least able to contest wrongheaded ideas precisely when it is most vital.
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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In the News
THERE ARE SOME good reasons to believe Russians had something to do with the breaches into email accounts belonging to members of the Democratic party, which proved varyingly embarrassing or disruptive for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. But “good” doesn’t necessarily mean good enough to indict Russia’s head of state for sabotaging our democracy.
There's a special place in hell...
Hillary's warmongering was a prob - wanton bombing of civilians in a historic city, not so much. Hey, we're doing gas pipelines in Indian territory this year - maybe we can get you on next year's agenda, though hurry, it's stacking up. Meanwhile, apparently Assad and Putin were just joking about letting civilians leave.
Aleppo's now looking like Warsaw in The Pianist. But hey, Hillary's emails... and Nuland said "Fuck the EU"!!! And American imperialism!!!!!!!
You see, in order to sell the legitimacy of Il Douche and his entourage of madmen, Russian dupes and plutocrats, it has now become necessary for the American Fascist Party to pivot 180 degrees, completely unremember the last eight years, and roll out a new and wholly false narrative about the Obama Administration....
Watch the video, read the summary below from Nabell Azeez, figure out how Trump is manipulating things - not how we want politicians to behave or think he's winning (or think he's losing). (PS - this was all stuff from 10 months ago.)
11 Persuasion tips you can learn from Donald Trump and apply to your copywriting
Here are the 11 persuasion techniques Trump uses most often.
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #1: Sell Benefits, Not Features
Trump follows the cardinal rule of sales.
He’s not selling you a product.
He’s selling you a better version of yourself.
We’re going to make America great again.
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #2: Keep it Simple
According to the Flesch-Kincaid readability score, Trump speaks at a 4th grade level.
Image credit – Daniel Zidek/Globe Staff
He uses small words and short sentences.
He speaks in very black-and-white terms.
He uses words that invoke powerful mental imagery (huge, terrible, low-energy.)
Don’t mistake this simplicity with a lack of effectiveness.
According to several experts, inspiring, persuasive speech is often very simple.
Watch this in action.
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #3: Perception is Reality
Trump constantly reframes events to fit his narrative and shift public perception in his favor.
Last July for example, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, called Trump and asked him to tone down his rhetoric.
The next day, however, Trump reframed the call as ‘congratulatory.’
Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Totally false reporting on my call with @Reince Priebus. He called me, ten minutes, said I hit a “nerve", doing well, end!
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #4: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
Trump gains acceptance for his ideas through simple repetition.
This is a classic, scientifically proven sales technique.
Trump takes this to the next level:
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #5: Be Relatable
Have you wondered why Trump has so much support among the masses of middle America?
Here’s a privileged white guy who grew up rich, went to school at Wharton, and is wealthier than 99.9% of his supporters.
He talks like them. On purpose.
Democrat or Republican, in an age where trust in politicians is at a minimum, it is not hard to see the attraction of that blunt aspect of the New York image…It’s a quality that can be profoundly appealing. – Michael Newman, linguist at Queens College
Can you imagine how much support he’d have if he spoke like this?
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #6: Be Funny
Trump regularly uses humour to deflect criticism and win over an audience. It’s extremely hard to dislike or even disagree with someone who makes you laugh.
Here are two situations when he uses humour brilliantly. The first is World-famous.
Notice how Megyn Kelly is right (he even acknowledges it) but by the time she corrects him, it doesn’t matter.
Her point was drowned out and the audience was ready to accept his justification (it was only a joke) because he made them laugh like that.
Next, watch him flip a boo-ing audience into a cheering one.
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #7: Create Conflict
When selling, it’s not enough to push customers towards your product.
You also have to have to pull them away from your competitors product.
What’s a good way to differentiate yourself in a market of same-y products?
Joanna Wiebe, copywriting maestro and IRL Peggy Olson, says that you should start a fight.
Since he announced his presidential run, conflict has been a part of Trump’s identity as a candidate.
We are rebuilding other countries while our own country is going to HELL. Time to rebuild the U.S.A.! Tell our stupid politicians, ENOUGH
I am the only candidate (in many years) who is self-funding his campaign. Lobbyists and $ interests totally control all other candidates!
"@becker_berta: @longtalltexan20 Trump single handedly did what no other politician ever dared to do, attacked the media for all their lies"
Trump is ‘not a politician.’
Trump ‘can’t be bought.’
Trump is ‘calling out the biased media.’
Trump is a ‘winner and America will start winning again if they elect him.’
And so on.
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #8: Exaggerate for Contrast
Trump’s uses superlatives and hyperbole to create what’s called an adaptation level.
He’s not just going tackle immigration, he’s going to build a HUGE wall and put a temporary BAN on Muslim immigration.
America doesn’t just have problems, it’s “going down the drain.”
China doesn’t beat America in trade, “they kill us.”
The Iran sanctions deal wasn’t just bad, it was “the most incompetent deal I’ve ever seen negotiated.”
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #9: Use Psychological Hacks
Trump routinely relies on our cognitive biases to generate support for himself and his ideas. Here are three examples.
The Halo Effect – Trump supporters believe that because he is a wealthy and successful businessman that he will be just as successful in the Whitehouse.
Suvivorship bias – It doesn’t really matter that Trump isn’t as successful or as wealthy as he claims, all you see are the towers, hotels and resorts that are still standing.
The Availability Heuristic – It also doesn’t matter than an American is more likely to die being struck by lightning than dying in a terrorist attack.San Bernardino happened and that’s why Trump is right about his proposal to temporarily ban all Muslim immigration.
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #10: Use Social Proof
Trump is always talking about his poll numbers and the huge crowds he pulls.
He also name-drops. This doubles as an appeal to authority.
Persuasive Copywriting Tip #11: Use Stories, Not Logic
Our brains like stories a lot more than cold, hard facts.
Have you noticed how Trump loves to tell stories?
He uses anecdote to argue his case, not reason.
Want to learn more?
Do you want to deep dive into Trump’s persuasion?
Read The Art of the Deal and Think Big and Kick Ass by Donald Trump.
Read Scott Dilbert’s blog (everything with the ‘#Trump’ tag) and Donald Trump’s ‘Growth Hacking’ Playbook (Unofficial), by Samuel J. Woods.
Watch these two breakdowns of Trumps persuasion techniques by Charlie Houpert.
You can be a Master Persuader too
Seeing Trump use these persuasion hacks in his speeches, debates and interviews is, in my opinion, better than any textbook you can read on the subject.
You can use these persuasion hacks to see significant improvement in your personal and professional relationships.
Your speech will work magic on your family, friends and coworkers.
Caveat: these techniques are extremely powerful, so only use them ethically.
Don’t use them for evil.
One final disclaimer. I don’t support Trump or any other U.S. presidential candidate.
I don’t even care about the outcome of the election.
My interest in Trump is purely academic.
It turns out Obama -- not the Russians -- was behind those damaging leaks of DNC emails. Why? Well, obviously to smear blame for them on the Trump campaign! I had to check the transcript (partway down) because I thought surely Bolton was being paraphrased. But no, that is what he thinks, and he stuck to his guns as even his Fox News interviewer pointed out what a "serious" charge he was making. The man was a certifiable loon under George Bush, and he seems to have gotten loonier with age. The only up side is that even some Republicans may balk at confirming Bolton for any foreign-policy role. Trump's cabinet is already shaping up as a disaster, but it looks like some GOP senators are starting to feel the same fears sane people do. (See McCain and Graham endorsing a bipartisan probe into Russia's electoral meddling -- something Trump hotly opposes.)
A key House Republican on the issue of Social Security introduced a bill Thursday that would impose major cuts to the program. The bill, the Social Security Reform Act of 2016, was introduced by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), the chair of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security.
Why make speeches to them, let them make speeches to you as head of the presidents economic council...!! A real champion of the working class!
The % who'll believe anything (from a right wing source) is huge.
... authorities say there has been a spate of hate crimes targeting libraries, their books or patrons — offenses officials said they had rarely seen before. These crimes coincide with a recent report by the F.B.I. that attacks against American Muslims surged last year.
You know, it can be pretty boring and unoriginal to shout “fascist” at your political opponents. At a certain point, though, it’s no longer a strained comparison.
Two Ku Klux Klan leaders charged with attacking another KKK member at what should have been a happy occasion for white supremacists - a North Carolina parade celebrating Donald Trump's election. Perhaps the thrill of voting for the Great Narcissist Groper in Chief is already wearing off?
Trending hard, wrestling's back with a vengeance. Small biz leads to big biz.
I was pretty amazed by 1 district in Alabama that stretches 100 miles or so from the famed "Black Belt" up into Birmingham. Apparently North Carolina is just as creative. But this article also brings up the "majority vs. influence" quandary - electing 1 rep is better than not quite electing either of 2, but this difference changes according to party preference, migration of populations, et al., not just gerrymandering. However, at the moment, gerrymandering and other obstruction seems to be high GOP strategy, so it's worth revisiting in terms of that context in terms of what would the black electorate like.
It's science - you'd think there'd be some capacity for uncertainty. Even with gravity we just measured the first gravity waves for the first time, a few months back. We just discovered the assortment of planets in our solar system is *very bizarrely* ordered (though balanced, just more peculiarly than we thought). How quickly can a new science move to completely untouchable doctrine? The point of the guy's work wasn't even to deny manmade global warming - he's in - it was to assess accuracy of predictions and such. As Trump would say, "Not good enough!"
"The Americans loved our stories and we make money from them," he boasts, making sure I see the designer watch he's fiddling with. "Who cares if they are true or false? Goran...is one of scores, or probably hundreds of Macedonian teenagers...in the small city of Veles which churned out fake pro-Trump news during the US election campaign." If Trump can scam them, why not Macedonians?
"You can't handle the truth". Indeed he hasn't been near it for years.
Worth rememberintrememberin the "Hillary'll take away your guns" meme despite fairly little talk from her. How critical was that? These NRA guys are gonzo and organized.
I mean, why else would he get the position aside from growing up in the inner city until he was 18 (though I hear the pharoah may have been black, so perhaps that explains it. Or perhaps big cities are like one big brain with people like cells....
The Wall Street Journal corrects some of Donald's brain farts re: inner cities, employment and poverty, but what the fuck, we might as well be shouting at a wall - nobody gives a goddamn about what the facts are, and if it's beyond the length of a tweet, you've lost Trump's attention.