YOU, TOO, CAN HAVE WHITE HOUSE TALKING POINTS

by Steve Young

Talking Point: An idea which may or may not be factual, meant to provide the most effective attack to saturate discourse and frame a debate. When used politically, the purpose is to propagandize by continuous repetition within media outlets until accepted as fact.

"I've been here from the beginning, and have never seen a White House "talking points." And I don't know anyone else who's seen one either. I asked senior management if they have ever seen a White House talking points. No one had."

-- Bill O'Reilly reacting to Dan Rather's accusation that FoxNews gets White House Talking Points. 12/06

"There were (FOX) commentators and pundits who were useful to the White House."

-- Former Bush White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan, Hardball, 7/24/08

Similar to how the Communist news outlet, Pravda, and Nazi propaganda chief, Josef Goebbels, offered information to the Folks , Scott McClellan admitted that Bush White House used Fox commentators as their spokespeople feeding them what the wanted the Folks to believe.

For those of you not as politically savvy as your typical FoxNews viewer, here's the technical way talking points work: The Bush White House tells Fox News what to say and Fox News says it.

For example, let's say the Bush White House wanted to lead the Folks to believe that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. They would send a note to Fox News and Fox News in turn would lead the Folks to believe he did by reporting it without letting the Folks know it was actually a White House talking point.

Or...if the Bush White House wanted the Folks to believe that Iraq had WMD, they would send a note to Fox News and Fox News would report it without letting the Folks know it was actually a White House talking point.

Or...if the Bush White House wanted the Folks to believe that if you questioned anything about the Bush White House's approach to their Iraq invasion you were against the troops, they would send a note to Fox News and Fox News would report just that without letting the Folks know it was actually a White House talking point..

Here's an example:

Bush White House Talking Point: We don't torture.

Bill O'Reilly Talking Point Memo: America doesn't torture.

See. It's easy. Here...you try it.

Bush White House Talking Point: We didn't lie.

You: We didn't lie.

Close. You see, sometimes, part of handling a talking point properly, is to not say it's exactly as it's written.

Let's see how Bill O'Reilly would have handled it.

Bush White House Talking Point: We didn't lie.

Bill O'Reilly Talking Point Memo: "There is absolutely no proof that the White House lied us into war. That's a fact. Everyone knows it. Anyone who thinks differently is dopey. And that's a memo."

See. That's how a pro handles it.

Now, you give it one more try.

Bush White House Talking Point: Barack Obama refused to see wounded U.S.troops while in Germany.

You: Did Barack Obama refuse to visit wounded US troops while in Germany? We'll be back in one minute to discuss this potentially shocking disregard for our injured heroes by the Democratic messiah.

Wow. You're good. You could have your own show at Fox.

Now Bill might add that if you question his talking point, "you're a pinhead" or "hate America." The White House gives FoxNews guys the latitude to make their (the White House) point more palatable to their particular audience. That's called "spinning." Like when you say you're a "No-Spin Zone" and all you do is spin. In comic circles it's called satire. At Fox, it's called "News."

Keep practicing. Who knows? One day, one of those White House talking points will make their way to you and you could be well on your way to a lucrative career at Fox News.

Did I get that right, Dana?

Steve Young is author of "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful" (www.greatfailure.com) and blogs at SteveYoungOnPolitics.com

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Albion Monitor   July 24, 2008   (http://www.albionmonitor.com)

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