The Crone Speaks

Speaking of SAT, as I will be below when you read the next post which I already wrote, her latest column continues her rails against George Flinn, although in a less direct, more "why you should vote" sort of way.

She writes:

People don't vote for a variety of reasons, but mostly it's because
they don't think the results of an election will affect their lives,
John Ryder, a local Republican strategist, said.

Surprised? Look at what's going on in the City. How often do you feel consulted or part of the decisions being made? How many of those decisions do you think were made in quiet, unadvertised meetings by commissions made up of "civic leaders," or by public servants in closed meetings?

How often does the CA try to penetrate those commission meetings, or even report what they already know?

Even though it's been around for centuries, that doesn't make
negative campaigning more palatable to voters, particularly in
this high-tech era when in a matter of minutes it's possible to
take an opponent's record, distort its content and meaning, and
bring it into our living rooms during prime time.

Or discover obfuscated and hidden truths and then put them on tthe Internet, as, for example, Tax Free Tennessee has done. Oh, wait, no, not there. Too "raw," too "unfiltered," too "not controlled by us."

She goes on to moan about how, even though negative campaigning is very effective, it's "unpalatable." That doesn't seem to stop the CA from covering every little bit of it, though, does it? Or from trying to dig up more, as in the two suits involving George Flinn and Mary Norman. You can't complain about it and then try to profit from it, Thorp. It doesn't work like that. It's...unpalatable.

As a wise person once said, "Live the kind of world you want and it'll happen." That advice could go for the CA. Instead of wasting three columns pasting George Flinn because his campaign manager snubbed her, she could have extolled the virtues of AC Wharton. She didn't and that begs a lot of questions.

The CA could also give more and more serious coverage to the independent candidates running. This election cycle, they seem to have improved some, which is heartening to see. But there is a long way to go there, still.

Practice what you want to see, SAT, and maybe you'll see it start to happen. But live by the nasty, cutting column and don't be surprised when candidates follow along.

Until next time, that is all.
Your Working Boy