Buffalo/Rome |
by Susan Alexander Cordes |
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As insulted as I felt by John McCain’s incredibly superficial V.P. nomination geared to spark an automatic, non-analytical response from voters using the simplistic power of pretty pictures(“SEE—A WOMAN!” ), I am even more insulted by the Golisano/Pigeon/et alia, uber-funded, multi-media campaign to unseat Assemblyman Sam Hoyt with their steady barrage of “hear and see all evil” innuendo and venom. This takes the form of daily, steroidal-sized hate-posters in the mail, put out by Golisano’s “Responsible New York” organization, whose virtuous name suggests its role is that of an impartial, activist-minded “watchdog,” though in this instance, given the obvious retaliatory politics at work here, “rabid attack dog” is more like it.
This increasing glut of negative sensation campaigning is not responsible, it is reprehensible, and poses a far greater threat to the practicability of responsible, beholden-free government.
In the future, what person of vision and ability and humility will seek a life of public service if these savage, and well-funded attack dogs are continually tolerated (i.e. treated as credible sources) by the public and thus encouraged to hunt and destroy professional reputations of integrity and purpose?
These coercive strategies are not “news,” they are as old as Rome, though the proliferation of pseudo pulpits spawned by the internet make them seem more viable. In fact, such smear tactics are always a precursor not only to ruined reputations but to the decline of civil, enlightened, progressive debate.
Though it is difficult to see anything clearly through the smoke of Rome perpetually burning, it is up to the voting public to see and hear and assess all this for what it really is. And to distinguish between what is innuendo and what is fact; between what is important and what is “sensation.”
Susan Alexander Cordes
Buffalo
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Issue Navigation> Issue Index > v7n36: Fall Guide (9/4/08) > Letters to Artvoice > Buffalo/Rome This Week's Issue • Artvoice Daily • Artvoice TV • Events Calendar • Classifieds |
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