What is Manufactured Outrage?
1.
A falsified righteous outrage at things that are basically unimportant and meaningless, frequently employed by politicians, political activists, or the media. Politicians and talking heads use it to garner support for their causes, to claim the moral high ground and to tar their opponents; the media often just uses it in a cynical bid to increase ratings.
Manufactured outrages of note include
Nipplegate , theMonica Lewinski scandal, the 2009tea party s,backmask ed satanic lyrics,lapel pin controversies...
Just about any time you hear any politician, activist, or radio show host getting outraged about anything, really. The louder and angrier they get, the harder they're working at manufacturing it.
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2.
An invention of the mainstream media
In the 2006 campaign, Sen. George Allen of Virginia called out a heckler in the audience for one of his speeches. The heckler was working for his opponent, James Webb. In the process, he twice referred to the heckler as a “macaca”. Few people in the US had ever heard of the term before, but the media quickly played it up into major story, in order to portray Sen. Allen as a vile racist. The manufactured outrage over this incident was a major factor in Sen. Allen losing his re-election campaign.
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3.
A common Left-Wing tactic to incite "change" in a known policy or cause. Also used as a mudslinging device in order to undermine Right-Wingers
The Democrat Politician revealed his Manufactured Outrage at the cutting of trees in order to SAVE THE PLANET. He was further "outraged" by a myriad of things: polar bears, sea otters, Styrofoam, swamp land, the War on Terror, certain books, the conservative talk shows on a.m. radio, the lack of rights for Gays, the lack of rights for animals, the lack of rights for women...and children...and illegal immigrants, the use of the word "God" anywhere, the "right" to abort babies, corporations, banks, SUVs, hunters, guns, bibles, big cars, oil-production, and the over-spending of the Bush Administration. Of course, the over-spending of the Obama Administration was OK, though. A few things he wasn't outraged about: Term Limits for elected officials, tort reform, a balanced budget, and freedom.
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