I don’t even know what to make of this latest RNC attempt at fear-mongering, in which they compare closing Guantanamo with nuclear armageddon in a remake of the Cold War era Daisy commercial:
It just doesn’t even make any sense. Part of the persuasive aspect of fear appeals is that there has to be some basis in reality, or some real perceived fear that the viewer will understand. I’m not going to waste your time with the Witte’s extended parallel processes model or any of the recent fear appeal literature, because you don’t need to know any of that stuff to realize that this commercial just makes no sense. How is closing Guantanamo comparable to a MIRV exploding on your daughter’s head? Is Obama going to airdrop the Gitmo prisoners on unsuspecting schoolchildren? What on earth does this ad mean?
This is what a fear appeal would look like if David Lynch on acid was designing your ad campaign.
BTW- I loved this paragraph from Glenn the other day mocking the notion that we can’t house these guys in prison:
We’ve been doing that for two decades. What are all the bad and scary things that have happened as a result? The answer is: “nothing.” Take note, Chris Cillizza and friends: while it’s true that “not a single prisoner has escaped from Gitmo since it was created,” it’s also true that no Muslim Terrorists have escaped from American prisons and our SuperMax prison “has had no escapes or serious attempts to escape.” Actually, the only person to even make an escape attempt from a SuperMax is Green Arrow, who hasn’t succeeded despite the help of Joker and Lex Luthor.
Just the perfect amount of geek and dismissive ridicule.
*** Update ***
This interview with SecDef Gates is pitch perfect:
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