When Bill Clinton ran for President in 1992, one of his campaign managers, James Carville, famously framed the deciding issue as “It’s the Economy, Stupid.” Cut through all the policy wonk thinking and boil it down to basics, which most of the time is people’s pocket book. But the point here is that whoever frames the question controls the narrative.
If you want to manufacture a specific answer, just ask the leading question. Whoever does this, controls the narrative. Ask any pollster. Why are polls so unreliable? It may start with the ‘questions.’
That’s why I was so pleased to hear Senator Rand Paul being interviewed by George Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton advisor, on ABC. It was a battle of questions. Not answers. Stephanopoulos asked Senator Paul if he agreed with “Stop the Steal” after AG Barr said there was not sufficient evidence and the courts refused to hear any cases. Paul did not take the bait. The question Paul said, is why is there not a concern over election irregularities. Why is there a complete denial of any fraud whatsoever. Paul voted to sanction the election on Jan.6 as the responsible thing to do, but why can’t there be an investigation for future elections to restore trust in the process.
Stephanopoulos continued with his claim that this has all been disproven, there is only one side and anything else is a lie. Senator Paul reminded him that if George were a journalist he would listen to both sides instead of interjecting himself as the arbiter of truth and any other opinion must be a lie.
Senator Paul continued with the questions: Did people vote more than once? Did the dead vote? Did illegal aliens vote? Why weren’t the voter rolls purged and cleaned up beforehand? Why did tens of thousands of ballots in Wisconsin have only a signature and no address which is needed by law? Why were some voting laws changed by individuals and not by the state legislatures, as necessitated by constitutional law?
The point here is that you don’t always have to accept that there’s only one question. Ask your own question. Answers are dependent on the questions asked. And this is not just about the election. Any discussion is founded on questions.
Just ask the Greek philosopher Socrates, well known in high schools for his Socratic Seminar method. Take turns asking questions. Take turns listening. But of course Socrates was executed by the State for corrupting the youth by encouraging them to question authority. Today, the State as well as the Media is more sophisticated. Hemlock is old school. Calling people racists or banning them from social media altogether is much more poisonous. Much more effective.
Don’t forget. Ask Questions!
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