Kerry Framed by Cheney

UC Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff, in the third of his series analyzing the framing aspects of the RNC speeches, takes on Cheney's speech from last night (snippet):

....More distortion: consider what Cheney does with a portion of a speech by Kerry at the UNITY 2004 Conference in Washington, D.C. Here is Kerry’s actual statement: John Kerry: I believe I can fight a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror that reaches out to other nations and brings them to our side and lives up to American values in history. I lay out a strategy to strengthen our military, to build and lead strong alliances and reform our intelligence system. I set out a path to win the peace in Iraq and to get the terrorists, wherever they may be, before they get us. In context, the word "sensitive" means "sensitive to the concerns of other nations we should be trying to recruit as allies." The whole context is about waging a strong and effective war on terrorism. Here is Cheney’s rendition: Cheney: Even in this post-9/11 period, Senator Kerry doesn't appear to understand how the world has changed. He talks about leading a "more sensitive war on terror," as though Al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side. There we have the anti-Kerry frame: We are in a historic war to defend freedom itself. The war absolutely requires every possible advanced-weapons system. Kerry, by voting against a single 1991 appropriations bills, has shown that he is against national defense and the defense of freedom. He doesn’t even want our soldiers to be protected. A president in such a war must be strong and unchanging. Bush has "a spine of tempered steel," Miller tells us. Kerry is a flip-flopper ­ he changes his mind and is therefore undependable and weak. He would turn America into a weak child throwing "spitballs" (Miller) and "asking for a permission slip" (Cheney). He thinks we can carry on a soft-hearted "sensitive" war against a ruthless enemy. He is weak, deluded and would not protect our country....

Fascinating series. Strongly recommended.