From a commenter on another blog:
----
Sorry but politics is how things get done in Wash DC. To stop playing politics, you would also have to replace the entire House and Senate with those who don't play politics.
----
I suspect that manipulation, a form of emotional abuse, is being minimized and falsely framed as "politics." Politics is about fighting for your ideas, but there is a distinction between fighting fairly and fighting dirty. A candidate can fight fairly by ethically reframing an issue, pivoting and using verbal jujitsu to redirect the attack back upon the source. Fighting fairly is about reframing the voters' perception of reality toward the truth. Fighting dirty, like Karl Rove, is about distorting and deluding voters' perception of reality away from truth. Fighting dirty is mentally unhealthy behavior. When a person fights dirty, it immediately signals they are aggressing from a position of weakness, because their own ideas don't stand up to scrutiny.
There are numerous manipulation tactics to be aware of such as lying (including by omission), denial, minimization, selective inattention, rationalization, diversion, evasion, covert intimidation, guilt-tripping, toxic shaming, playing the victim role, vilifying the victim, playing the servant role, seduction (charm offensive), projecting the blame, feigning innocence, feigning confusion, and brandishing anger (false outrage). To learn about these tactics in depth, you can order a book on Amazon called "In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing With Manipulative People" by Dr. George K. Simon.
As Dr. Simon states:
“Fighting openly and fairly for our legitimate needs is often necessary and constructive. When we fight for what we truly need, while respecting the rights and needs of others and taking care not to needlessly injure them, our behavior is best labeled assertive. Assertive behavior is one of the most healthy human behaviors.”
It's not necessary nor mentally healthy to sink to Karl Rove's level in order to effectively beat dirty fighting techniques. The way to combat the dirty fighting techniques of an aggressor is to shine a bright spotlight on their manipulation tactics, which ends up revealing their weakness of character for using them in the first place.
Senator Clinton's quote:
"I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. Sen. John McCain has a lifetime of experience that he’d bring to the White House. And Sen. Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.”
Toxic Shaming
Senator Clinton's quote above is an example of the shaming manipulation tactic because Senator Clinton is inviting Senator Obama to feel ashamed for seeking the Democratic Party presidential nomination as she puts down his lifetime of experience. Senator Clinton also uses the shaming manipulation tactic as a way to increase fear and doubt in voters about Senator Obama’s experience.
Aggressing from a position of weakness, Senator Clinton uses the shaming manipulation tactic to distort and delude American voters away from the truth of Senator Obama’s lifetime of experience as a public servant.
As Dr. Simon points out, “Covert-aggressives use this tactic to make others feel inadequate or unworthy, and therefore, submit to them. It's an effective way to foster a continued sense of personal inadequacy in the weaker party, thereby allowing an aggressor to maintain a position of dominance.” Senator Clinton is attempting to foster a sense of personal inadequacy in Senator Obama so that he submits to her, or as Roseanne Barr puts it, "
Bow to the Woman."
posted by FightTheFascism 
