Looking around the internet for information on NLP, I found a couple interesting tidbits from the Thom Hartmann radio show.
Thom Hartmann program, 17 November 2004
(...)So, anyhow, and slowly, I am working on a book on NLP and politics and activism, and in fact these classes that we are doing on the air, that we are going to be doing over the next few months, are sort of, you know, tracking that. The other resource that I would refer you to, I'd say that there are no books, there are no good books I know about that are comprehensive about neurolinguistic programming and politics. There is a, and in fact really nobody other than on the right has gotten into this, and even on the right they don't call it NLP, they, you know, a lot of people do NLP stuff and they don't call it NLP. They give it other names. In the therapy field it's called "Solution Based Therapy" or "Fast Therapy" or "Rapid Therapy" or, you know, "Emotional Freedom technique" or whatever, these are all variations of things that came out of NLP originally. (...)
And a decade later, 1988, in our presidential campaign I remember noticing that there was a series of ads that showed Willie Horton in black and white and, you know, they just kept anchoring that, Willie Horton, black and white, Willie Horton, black and white, and this is what's called submodality anchoring and there was a particular type of music behind it. And after a while you'd kind of see that black and white and that music and that voice, that particular voice, and you'd just think, "Oh my God, it's him, he's going to come and get me", right, because that was how it was presented. This guy was a murderer and a rapist and he really was. And he had been let out of prison in Massachusetts and he'd gone out and killed somebody else, raped and murdered somebody else, and you know, this was a mistake, a mistake in the system, these things happen. Although Dukakis as the governor had signed off on it, as you do on all pardons or releases or whatever, and so, you know, the Bush campaign was holding him personally responsible for it. But anyhow, then I noticed a month or so later another set of commercials in which they had Dukakis's face in black and white with similar music behind it and the same voice. And I thought, "They're anchoring, at an emotional level, Dukakis to Willie Horton." so that whenever people see Dukakis's face they'll feel Willie Horton. And I thought, you know my first thought was, "that's pretty brilliant". You know, this stuff is not a secret, by the way, in ad agencies. This is, you know, I probably, with some embarrassment should confess this, I used to teach this to ad agencies, made a living doing that for a while.
It's no secret, in fact there's a whole industry around it. But it had never in my experience been brought into the political arena. It was just considered too hot, you know, over the top. And in the 1988 Bush campaign, George Herbert Walker Bush, they did this, they Willie Horton-ized Michael Dukakis. And I was, Louise and I were in New York, attending an NLP conference actually, put on by a guy, Joe Riggio, who's just a brilliant NLP trainer and there was another person there who ran one of the major NLP websites and I mentioned to him the Willie Horton ads and he said, "Yeah, so-and-so" and I'm not going to out this person, I'm not going to name him, but, "a mutual acquaintance of ours has gone to work for the republicans". And, you know, I got it that it was no accident. And, of course, you know, Frank Lunz is also the big guy in all this. Not that he's out of the NLP world but what he's using is NLP stuff.
And at the time I was living in Atlanta, actually in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, we lived in Roswell. And which was a district represented by Newt Gingrich; he was my congressman. And I could tell you some wild stories about that - some day we will. But about that time, or just shortly thereafter, actually I think it was the, must have been like '92, I'm not sure what year it was. Anyhow, Newt came out with his, you know when he came out with his 'Contract on America', which was masterfully framed stuff in NLP terms. He also came out with his word list. And it was in a memo, a secret memo, that went out to GOP leaders and frankly I'm not sure that Newt wrote this. You know, he was a good, although he still follows these rules, it's possible he wrote it. But I'm guessing it was my old NLP friend or somebody like him. I'm quoting; the memo was titled "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control" by Newt Gingrich. Newt wrote, "Often we search hard for words to help us define our opponents. Apply these words to the opponent, their record, proposal and their party". And here's the list of words that Newt said you should always use whenever you are going to describe anything democratic or liberal. Always attach these words to the world 'liberal'. And of course this, you know, all the right-wing talk show hosts got this too.
"Decay, failure, fail, collapsing, deeper, crisis, urgent, destructive, destroy, sick, pathetic, lie, liberal, they, them, unionized bureaucracy, compassion is not enough, betray, consequences, limits, shallow, traitors, sensationalists, endanger, coercion, hypocrisy, radical, threaten, devour, waste, corruption, incompetent, permissive, destruction, impose, self-serving, greed, ideological, insecure, anti-flag, anti-family, anti-child, anti-jobs, pessimistic, excuses, intolerant, stagnation, welfare, corrupt, selfish, insensitive, status quo, mandates, taxes, spending, shame, disgrace, punish, bizarre, cynicism, cheat, steal, abuse of power, machine, bosses, obsolete, criminal rights, red tape, and patronage."
And as I went through that list, you probably recognized a lot of words that you've heard in the context of discussions about about democrats and liberals and there's no, and it's no accident. What was amazing to me during this last election was the number of cons who would come onto shows like Crossfire and talking about John Kerry, would just pull these words out of the hat. On the other hand, Newt said, to the Republicans, that there are positive governing words, positive words that should be attached to any discussion of the GOP or GOP policies, conservative policies. Any reference. He said, in fact he said, "memorize as many as possible" of these words. That's a direct quote. "Positive Governing Words". Here's the words that Newt said should be attached to all things Republican, and have been, basically, ever since this memo came out more than a decade ago, certainly by right-wing radio talk show hosts.
"Share, change, opportunity, legacy, challenge, control, truth, moral, courage, reform, prosperity, crusade, movement, children, family, debate, compete, actively, we, us, our," (this instead of they or them), "candidly, humane, pristine, provide, liberty, commitment, principled, unique, duty, precious, premise, caring, tough, listen, learn, help, lead, vision, success, empowerment, citizen, activist, mobilize, conflict, light, dream, freedom, peace, rights, pioneer, proud, pride, building, preserve, pro-flag, pro-children, pro-environment, reform, workfare, eliminate good-time in prison, strength, choose, choice, fair, protect, confident, incentive, hard work, initiative, common sense, and passionate." Newt Gingrich's official word list.
And this is very, very powerful stuff. What I am sharing with you is that we have been on the receiving end of two decades of psychological warfare that's only been played by one side. And how the democrats didn't figure out that this was going on, or if they did figure it out, how they failed to do anything about it, is just beyond me; frankly, it baffles me.
Ahhh, the power of words. Someone said to me once, "Why do you think they call it "spelling"?
I find many of the courses in NLP/hypnosis being advertised for all the wrong reasons, i.e. to control and manipulate people the "fast and easy" way. Get that girl you've always wanted even if you're a dork, sell anything to anyone, get that raise from your boss...guaranteed or your money back.
Does this stuff really work? Are we all sitting ducks out here waiting for the next master manipulator to graduate and zap us into submission? Do the children of hypnotists go straight to bed and right to sleep when told to?
I heard tell Jerry Falwell has breakfast with the president most every morning. You think he might be the one who keeps George on his divine mission? Reagen had one of these guys too... was it Pat Roberston? (i don't remember.)
. In it he warns of the dangers of both hypnosis and mediumship as they break down a natural barrier that leaves one vulnerable to the control and the will of others in both the physical and spiritual realm.
As many things as I have wanted to change in my life, I would never allow myself to be hypnotised. Didn't feel right.
Earlier on this thread Pitcairn quoted an article on 'mindfulness'...
I've been wondering why people are soooo into 'trance' states. Do you think it's true? "...humans don't like to think?"
