Control The Conversation

I’m tired.

I’m tired of the Right throwing temper tantrums — and grenades. When things aren’t going their way (and after eight long and literally torturous years, it’s about time they aren’t!) what do they do? They act like children.

Essentially, the entire GOP playbook consists of, “Oh, yeah, well, he started it!” and “I’m rubber, you’re glue…” and “Mommy, look what so-and-so did!”

I’m not a parent, but after twenty five years of running businesses, I know a thing or two about managing people. When you have an unproductive or disruptive employee you need to “counsel,” the first thing they do is try to change the conversation, or blame someone for their inability to do their job. That’s what the Republicans are trying to do by their outbursts. (“You lie!” “Socialism!” “Death Panels!”) And that’s the time to start controlling the conversation.

For example, let’s take Steve “Gay Marriage Is Socialism” King. As I wrote yesterday, Rep. King’s latest homophobic rant has him equating same sex marriage with socialism. Seriously. So, I wrote a piece and at the end I reminded folks that (sadly,) Mr. King’s state is in pretty bad shape when it comes to the things that he gets paid to make better. Like child homelessness.

(Never mind that 92% of Iowans say that same sex marriage has not affected them in any way. Rep. King continues to mouth off about it. Get a life, Mr. King! Maybe that’s why he decided to not run for governor. Because then he really would have to do something about the problems he was elected to fix.)

So, I threw a few facts about the condition of Iowa’s children into the mix. Facts like,

• “Iowa has 142,000 children living in poverty.”
• “More than 10,033 of Iowa’s children experience homelessness each year…”
• “Iowa ranks 11th in the nation in child homelessness.”

And that, my friends, is the answer to our Republican nightmare. Get them to focus on doing what they were elected to do, not on what their ideology is forcing them to do.

As activists, writers, journalists, bloggers, change agents, or just concerned citizens, the next time you hear some wingnut start mouthing off about how healthcare, a public option, gay marriage, taxes, a bailout, the census, President Obama, etc., is “Socialism,” — or whatever the GOP has cooked up as its latest talking point, it’s our job to turn the tables and say this:

So, Congressman So-And-So, tell me about the level of education/poverty/homelessness/unemployment/healthcare… in your state. Tell me, what have YOU done to fix it? Why isn’t it fixed? Is it better than when you took office? Is it better than when you got re-elected? Why not?

And then,

“Don’t you dare talk to me about issues like same sex marriage, when there are hungry children, homeless families, people who have lost their jobs, people who don’t have health insurance, food, or shelter in your state. When you’ve fixed those things, THEN you can start attacking the citizens of your state who simply want to live with and love each other, and maybe start a family, and contribute to society. Until then, Congressman, you need to do YOUR job, and take care of those issues and the people in YOUR state.”

THAT’S how we control the conversation.

Let’s not accept the argument as they present it. Let’s not succumb to their talking points. Let’s start talking about issues that really make sense. Let’s bring the conversation down to basics, and force the question:

“Congressman, are you doing your job?”