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This week on Uprising:

* George Lakoff on the Politics of Language in the Mid-Term Elections
* Joshua Holland on his new book: The Fifteen Biggest Lies about the Economy: And Everything Else the Right Doesn’t Want You to Know about Taxes, Jobs, and Corporate America

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George Lakoff on the Politics of Language in the Mid-Term Elections

If Independent voters were disgusted with Democratic inaction why did they turn around and vote in the very party that has enabled in part, Democratic inaction? A big part of the reason may be simply that Republicans are better at casting their agenda in terms that many Americans can relate to, whether those terms are honest or not. Republican catch phrases like “tax and spend,” “deficit spending,” “big government,” “government takeover,” and “enthusiasm gap,” have the ability to stick in our minds and make connections that may not even be accurate but that inform our political leanings, and on election day, how we vote. Democrats, on the other hand, are traditionally poor players for the hearts and minds of voters. Even in President Obama’s post-election press conference, his inability to speak in broad moral terms was clearly revealed. That, according Cognitive Scientist and Linguist, George Lakoff, is one of the Democrats greatest shortcomings.

GUEST: George Lakoff is Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of The Political Mind, Don’t Think of an Elephant, Moral Politics, Whose Freedom, and Thinking Points — as well as many books on the brain, mind, and language.

Read George Lakoff’s articles here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff

The Fifteen Biggest Lies about the Economy: And Everything Else the Right Doesn’t Want You to Know about Taxes, Jobs, and Corporate America

The non-partisan fact checking organization Politifact effectively debunks dishonest claims by politicians and pundits in the public discourse. The Daily Kos recently ran a statistical analysis of Politifact’s results and concluded that “Republicans and Conservatives are significantly more likely to make false or dishonest statements than Democrats and liberals, both as politicians and non-politicians” (Click here to read Daily Kos Analysis). Indeed, conservatives often exaggerate claims or say the opposite is true of a fact to justify, in particular their economic policies, as explained in a new book by Alternet senior writer and editor, Joshua Holland: The Fifteen Biggest Lies About the Economy And Everything Else The Right Doesn’t Want You to Know About Taxes, Jobs, and Corporate America. From conflating huge corporations with small businesses, to killing finance regulations by audaciously casting them as bank bailouts, Holland’s book is a handbook for progressive activists and responsible journalists. Economist and author of “It Takes A Pillage,” Nomi Prins said “Joshua Holland’s brilliant, data rich, accessible, and in-your-face book … should be required reading for every American livid about floating a political-financial system that benefits powerful institutions and megalomaniac leaders.”

GUEST: Joshua Holland, senior writer and editor at Alternet

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

“If one tells the truth, one is sure sooner or later to be found out” – Oscar Wilde