{"id":3893,"date":"2011-02-18T15:56:43","date_gmt":"2011-02-18T23:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=3893"},"modified":"2011-02-18T17:42:22","modified_gmt":"2011-02-19T01:42:22","slug":"fox-news-spin-doctor-frank-luntz-insults-wisconsin-and-american-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=3893","title":{"rendered":"Fox News Spin Doctor Frank Luntz Insults Wisconsin (And American) Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican pollster and “Word Doctor,”<\/em> Frank Luntz, was interviewed today on Fox News’ Your World to discuss the effect of the Wisconsin protests on America’s perception of unions. What transpired was one of the most vigorous attempts at spin I’ve seen since at least the last time I saw Frank Luntz.<\/p>\n

The main point Luntz struggled to make was that unions were hurting themselves by engaging in the protests in Wisconsin. He argued that as people around the country saw teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public employees fighting for benefits that they (the viewers) didn’t have, they would be resentful. He said that viewers would not sympathize with a union member in Madison who was trying to keep from losing his pension when the viewer didn’t have one to begin with. Luntz told guest host Chris Cotter that Americans wouldn’t support the protester’s efforts to retain their contractually agreed upon salaries while other Americans were taking pay cuts or losing their jobs.<\/p>\n

What a crock!<\/strong> And an insult to the intelligence of the American people.<\/p>\n

First of all, the protesters in Wisconsin are not refusing to make compromises on material matters including salary and pension benefits. This is not an issue of union greed as it is being portrayed on Fox News. The protest is entirely focused against an effort by Governor Scott Walker to strip public employees of the collective bargaining rights they have had for decades. It is a brazen assault on unions with the intent of forever breaking their ability to advocated on behalf of their members.<\/p>\n

Secondly, Luntz is stretching both truth and reason with his arguments. It seems to me that the only thing that Americans watching the conflict will resent is the fact that they don’t also enjoy the benefits that union membership has brought to public employees in Wisconsin. If they see Wisconsin teachers protecting their interests with regard to pay and pensions, the rest of the country is not going to say “Darn those Cheeseheads, they shouldn’t have pensions.”<\/em> More likely the nation will think “Hey, we should have a union here so that we can have a say in our own welfare and be able to take on the powerful government and wealthy corporate institutions.”<\/em><\/p>\n

If anything, the Wisconsin protests will increase demand for union representation at a time when workers are taking the brunt of the economic difficulties the nation is enduring. What is happening in Wisconsin is an advertisement for the benefits of union membership and Americans will recognize that. They will want to know why workers alone are being asked to sacrifice while corporations are earning record profits? If corporate taxes were made more fair, and the numerous loopholes closed, there would be plenty of funds available to keep employee benefit reductions to a minimum. And the more money in the pockets of average Americans, the more prosperous the businesses who employ them will be.<\/p>\n

But don’t expect viewers of Fox News to hear this perspective. They will be inundated with false premises and conclusions that are manufactured by partisans like Luntz. It is a theme that has been in evidence all day on Fox News. In the past we have seen leaked memos from Fox executives<\/a> directing their anchors and corespondents on how to frame the stories they cover. It will not surprise me when the memo is eventually leaked that told these so-called journalists to disparage the unions and present Gov. Walker as a hero. And it will likely contain language that is virtually identical to the spin that Luntz articulated in this interview.<\/p>\n

[Addendum]<\/strong> Although Fox has been bashing the protesters all week, implying that they are un-American for even expressing themselves, the Tea Party faction is plotting to emerge tomorrow. They are being organized, in true AstroTurf form, by lobbyists from American Majority, a project of the uber-conservative, billionaire Koch brothers. And their affair will be headlined by the terminally choleric Andrew Breitbart, Joe “The Plumber”<\/em> Wurtzelbacher, and pizza man Herman Cain.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see them put on a show of support for government bureaucracy, suppression of workers rights, and the unencumbered rule of the powerful elite, over ordinary, hard-working citizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican pollster and “Word Doctor,” Frank Luntz, was interviewed today on Fox News’ Your World to discuss the effect of the Wisconsin protests on America’s perception of unions. What transpired was one of the most vigorous attempts at spin I’ve seen since at least the last time I saw Frank Luntz. The main point Luntz […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[33,188],"class_list":["post-3893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-fox-news","tag-frank-luntz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-10N","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8424,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8424","url_meta":{"origin":3893,"position":0},"title":"Fox Flunky Frank Luntz Says “Fox News Viewers Ought To Be Outraged”","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/11\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"If you were to look for a political pollster or analyst who spent more time manufacturing a false narrative about the presidential election than Frank Luntz, you would probably give up in despair. Luntz is a Fox News fixture who appears on numerous programs flaunting his phony focus groups that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20174,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=20174","url_meta":{"origin":3893,"position":1},"title":"GOP ‘Word Doctor’ Inadvertently Admits (And Praises) Blatant Fox News Bias","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/11\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"As one of Fox News' favorite contributors J. Christ said: \"Physician, heal thyself.\" That would be good advice for Dr. Frank Luntz, who has dubbed himself \"The Word Doctor\" for his efforts to deceitfully manipulate language in order to peddle otherwise unpopular conservative policies. 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Yet they are still immersed in a vicious debate over whether their policies are driving away majorities of the electorate or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3785,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=3785","url_meta":{"origin":3893,"position":3},"title":"Fox News Pollster Spills The Truth About Fox News","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/31\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Frank Luntz is a fixture on Fox News. His polling and focus groups are regularly featured on the network and, by some weird coincidence, always seem to reflect poorly on President Obama and Democratic policies. 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