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The denialist can almost always argue that a proposal is unconstitutional. After all, businesses were afforded many civil rights before women achieved suffrage. |
Author: denialism_bv2x6a
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Denialists' Deck of Cards: The Ace of Clubs, "Our Rights"
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Denialists' Deck of Cards: The King of Spades, "Danger!"
This is a very powerful argument in the post-9/11 environment. And if you’re a denialist worth your salt, you can figure out a way to claim that your industry is a potential target for terrorism. Danger! can be used to get things done quickly, as Verisign realized when it wanted to move a “root server” without following normal process. In Department of Commerce officials’ emails, Verisign made pleas to declare an emergency to get their way: The company wants “to push us to declare some kind of national security threat and blow past the process,” one e-mail said. The subject line of another message described the company’s “request for immediate authority to effect address change.”
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Denialists' Deck of Cards: Two Kings, the Proposal "Can't Be Enforced," or "Lawsuits (It Can Be Enforced)"
“Can’t be enforced” is a different argument than “it won’t work” (the Jack of Diamonds). Here, the denialist is usually threatening to operate an offending practice overseas, or oddly enough, arguing that because a proposal doesn’t give someone a right to sue, it isn’t worth passing. Of course, if the proposal gives one a right to sue, the denialist uses the opposite argument: the proposal is enforceable, and the denialist will complain of frivolous lawsuits.
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Denialists' Deck of Cards: The Red Joker, "Give Money to the Leadership"
Giving money to the leadership of the Senate and House is a great strategy, because no proposals will be considered at all if the leadership blocks them. The leadership is rarefied; one only taps them in desperate situations -
Denialists' Deck of Cards: The King of Clubs, "I'll Sail Away"
Believe it or not, I’ve heard industry lobbyists say that they’d stop doing business in California/America if certain consumer protection regulations passed. It’s totally implausible, but still a high-value card. -
The Penitent Paris
As Paris Hilton gets ready for her short stay in jail, she increasingly is photographed carrying Jesus books. And today, she appears on my favorite blog wearing a “Faith” hoodie, and carrying Count Your Blessings, Spiritual Warrior, and some others.
Her behavior recalls Machiavelli’s advice:
…a prince ought to take care that he never lets anything slip from his lips that is not replete with the…five qualities, that he may appear to him who sees and hears him altogether merciful, faithful, humane, upright, and religious. There is nothing more necessary to appear to have than this last quality, inasmuch as men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because it belongs to everybody to see you, to few to come in touch with you. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose themselves to the opinion of the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them; and in the actions of all men, and especially of princes, which it is not prudent to challenge, one judges by the result.
Oh when will we outgrow this infantilism? It’s scary that this pro forma “got religion” act, so frequently performed in this country, actually sways people.
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Denialists' Deck of Cards: The Queen of Spades, "Big Government"
The denialist can always raise the specter of “big government.” As in, the proposal at issue will create bigger government, complete with appeals to fears of world government and stuff like satan. This is a high-risk card because big business loves big government. -
Denialists' Deck of Cards: The Queen of Diamonds, "We Need Regulatory Relief"
Sometimes the success of a consumer intervention will create “blowback,” and allow the industry to not only win but also demand other concessions. An excellent recent example of regulatory blowback came with the creation of the federal Do-Not-Call Registry. In creating the registry, the Federal Communications Commission also tried to tighten regulations on “junk faxes,” unsolicited commercial fax messages. The FCC ruled that “junk fax” senders had to document that they had consent from recipients of their messages. The junk faxers organized into a huge coalition (the deceptively-named “Fax Ban Coalition”), lobbied Congress, reversed the FCC’s rule and actually make it easier to send junk faxes by having deceptively-named “Junk Fax Protection Act” passed.
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Denialists' Deck of Cards: The Sixth Hand, The Gloves Come Off
If the denialist is on the brink of losing, a number of high stakes arguments can be made. The bear/bull market argument is one of my favorites. Just look at tax policy–no matter what the economy is doing, tax cuts are the solution. And in privacy, if the economy’s weak, there shouldn’t be interventions to protect consumers; if the economy’s strong, interventions could make the market weak!
If there’s a bear market, obviously there shouldn’t be interventions in the market, right? If there’s a bull market, obviously there shouldn’t be interventions in the market, right?
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Denialists' Deck of Cards: Two Jacks, "Regulation Won't Work" and "We Won't Comply"
Two related arguments–the denialist will say that the regulation won’t work. And they won’t help in finding a way to come to a reasonable solution. Finally, continuing in the teenager theme, the denialist will argue that they won’t comply, even if directed to by law. Rule of law be damned!
