Framing Idea: The War on Congress

I was just listening to Jon Stewart interviewing Russ Feingold on the censure resolution. Russ was great, but they played a segment by Boehner that was frightening, and it shows just how much we need to get on top of framing the issues better. Boehner essentially said that Feingold was trying to protect terrorists by trying to tie the hands of Bush in fighting the War on Terror. It also reminds me of the Clift column I blogged about last week.

The NSA wiretapping transgressions are hardly bad for terrorists. If there's a terrorist out there who doesn't know that we're tapping into their phone records, I would imagine this is the same terrorist who is going to blow himself up while putting the bomb together in his apartment. He's not smart enough to do any damage to others.

What if we put together a campaign to talk about "The Bush/Cheney War on Constitutional Democracy"? That wraps up all the little presidential power grabs into one phrase that can be repeated over and over in the MSM. Don't talk about the NSA warrantless spying affair without first saying "The War on Constitutional Democracy." Or, better yet, let's just call it the "War on Congress".

That serves even more purposes, as it forces the Rubuplican puppets in Congress to decide whether they are for or against the War on Congress. Are you with the President when he treats Congress like his bitch? Or do you have the spine to stand up to this guy? This could split the GOP wide open if used effectively.

Here are some of the places we could insert War on Congress:
1. NSA Spying.
2. Lying to Congress about Iraq.
3. Signing an bill that didn't pass Congress.
4. Right-wing judiciary.
5. No-bid contracts.
6. Recess Appointments.

Some things we could start talking about to our elected officials...Are you weak on the War on Congress? Will you win the War on Congress? Is this part of the President's War on Congress? Has the President ever asked you, "Who's Your Daddy?" And so on.