We need to shift the frame to undermine the metaphor. We and the media have messages to be communicated. Each message must point out to the White House staff and members of the administration that they serve the nation, not the president, in a myriad of ways. Go through the list of nation's needs:
On health care, the duty to the 22 million people whose needed care would be eliminated under republican plansOn the environment, global warming, weather disaster, and sea level rise. Cite examples.On the rights of transgender people, 15,000 of whom are serving in the military.On gun violence and the need to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and criminals.on Russia's threat to democracy both at home and in many other countries, from Ukraine and Georgia to the Baltic states;and on and on, go down the list.In example after example, the job of those in the administration is to serve the nation first in all cases, rather than serving the president. The message must be constant in mainstream and social media every day, in every part of the country. And it has to become part of electoral campaigns in red districts. Patriotism is about the nation.
Since the metaphor is inconsistent with the Republican role in Congress, press Republicans to choose to serve the nation over the President.
This piece first appeared on George Lakoff's Blog.
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George Lakoff is Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of
Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at
Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972. He previously taught at
Harvard (1965-69) and the (more...)
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