Author: Chris
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 10 of Hearts, “You Don’t Understand Us”
An industry lobbyist can buy time by becoming petulant. After throwing a temper tantrum, the next step is to play the 10 of Hearts. Play this card by saying that your industry is misunderstood. It is a sophisticated, nuanced entity that needs more understanding before any proposals advance.
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The Fifth Hand, The False Expert and Growing Petulance
The denialist is in serious trouble at this point. Whatever problem that didn’t exist has continued to capture regulatory attention. It is time to devote serious resources to fighting the proposal being debated. The denalist should have a fake consumer group or academic group at this point. It will pay off with fake research and…
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Some More Thoughts on Gonzalez and Academic Freedom
Some followup from the earlier post: If Gonzalez thinks ID is science, and not religion, he may have an even harder time arguing that there is discrimination here. Professors, rightly so, have freedom of religion and can believe whatever they want in their personal lives. However, if he thinks ID is science, I don’t think…
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The Limits of Academic Freedom
First, a disclaimer: I don’t know much of anything about this controversy surrounding Guillermo Gonzalez, but I do know a fair amount about academic freedom. I wrote an article several years ago on legal protection for professors’ speech. Legally, professors have the same rights as ordinary public employees, and so only a small spectrum of…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The Joker, “Temper Tantrum”
At this point, the consumer advocate has proceeded far along the path of moving some type of proposal. It’s time to sacrifice a high-value card–the joker. The denialist throws a temper tantrum. This may sound distasteful, but it actually works. There is a certain tone that an industry lobbyist can generate when truly pressed. It…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 9 of Spades, “Exploit Others’ Ignorance”
The 9 of Spades is different than previous confusion tactics. Remember that most legislative staffers handle many different issues, and often are not expert in any one of them. This tactic leverages incomplete information to promote confusion. Here, the denialist simply does not offer information, or allows others to hold misconceptions if it benefits the…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 9 of Diamonds, “Poison the Well”
You should all be familiar with this tactic–poisoning the well. You know the trick: provide derogatory information about your opponent to undermine her arguments. And here’s a great example: In defending Channel One, Jack Abramoff’s lobbyist Dennis Stephens proposed that Peter Ferrara pen an oped that “hammered the ‘anti-technology’ crowd:” “When I talked with Peter…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: Nit Pick, and Muddy the Waters
Two more tactics for those of you who want to be an industry lobbyist, or for those who want to recognize their two-bit tactics. With nit picking, the denialist finds one problem with a fact asserted or the proposal for reform, and then harps on the problem incessantly. A variation on the 8 of Clubs…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 8 of Spades, “Duh!”
“Duh!” is one of my favorite lobbyist tactics. I’ve seen it used many times. With “Duh!,” the denalist deliberately misunderstands, misinterprets, or plays dumb when presented with others’ questions or proposals. One is sometimes amazed at how smart an industry lobbyist can be until they’re asked a question they don’t want to answer! In the…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: State and Federal Issues
Okay industry lobbyists in training, you’ve started just making up arguments to confuse everyone. That’s a method of confusing issues. Now you should start confusing individuals’ roles in the policy process. It’s time to start playing government officials off each other. If you don’t like what the federal government is doing, say that it is…