Know your audience
Well, by the clock it's Nov. 2 (12:17 am as I write this) and I will be voting in a few hours. After some sleep.
I've been thinking about a certain anti-Kerry Bush campaign TV commerical I saw a few days ago, and how it's illustrative of so many aspects of this campaign that have frustrated me.
You may have seen it. A camera moves, low, through the undergrowth in a forest. Dark, indistinct forms can be glimpsed moving behind the trees. A voice, then a few title cards, tell us that John Kerry and "the liberals" voted to cut intelligence spending, cuts so deep they would have left our defenses weakened -- and weakness is an invitation to attack. (Or words to that effect.) Then we see what the shapes moving behind the trees were: a pack of wolves sits in the clearing in front of us. One by one, they get up and begin to move toward the camera...
And my first reaction was "Hooray! The wolves are coming to save us!"
Honestly.
Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to find this threatening, aren't I? I know. Well, I'm sorry, all you fear-fermenting Republicans, but this is one borderline anarchist liberal who knows that wolves do not simply attack humans. In fact, I don't believe there is a case on record of a healthy wolf attacking a human being. Once again, the GOP rhetoric is based on attempts to spin fear out of myth. Show me a pack of wolves and I think loyalty, dignity, strong community and family values with an honesty and depth that are beyond the conception of the perveyors of conservative rhetoric. I do NOT think about radical religious extremists trying to destroy my way of life. Show me a pack of wolves, and I see something that I find far more comforting that elephants or mules.
Now that I think of it, the Wolf Party might actually get my registration. Take from nature only what you need to survive. Remain loyal to the pack. Care for the young. Play freely. Howl at the moon. Those sound like values I can support without equivocation. (Well, maybe not that last... but only because it's a misperception that wolves howl at the moon.)
Sadly, there are no Wolf Party candidates on the ballot. Only donkeys who want us to be afraid of the elephants, and elephants who want us to be afraid of pretty much everything.
I wish the wolves were coming to save us.
Honestly.
I've been thinking about a certain anti-Kerry Bush campaign TV commerical I saw a few days ago, and how it's illustrative of so many aspects of this campaign that have frustrated me.
You may have seen it. A camera moves, low, through the undergrowth in a forest. Dark, indistinct forms can be glimpsed moving behind the trees. A voice, then a few title cards, tell us that John Kerry and "the liberals" voted to cut intelligence spending, cuts so deep they would have left our defenses weakened -- and weakness is an invitation to attack. (Or words to that effect.) Then we see what the shapes moving behind the trees were: a pack of wolves sits in the clearing in front of us. One by one, they get up and begin to move toward the camera...
And my first reaction was "Hooray! The wolves are coming to save us!"
Honestly.
Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to find this threatening, aren't I? I know. Well, I'm sorry, all you fear-fermenting Republicans, but this is one borderline anarchist liberal who knows that wolves do not simply attack humans. In fact, I don't believe there is a case on record of a healthy wolf attacking a human being. Once again, the GOP rhetoric is based on attempts to spin fear out of myth. Show me a pack of wolves and I think loyalty, dignity, strong community and family values with an honesty and depth that are beyond the conception of the perveyors of conservative rhetoric. I do NOT think about radical religious extremists trying to destroy my way of life. Show me a pack of wolves, and I see something that I find far more comforting that elephants or mules.
Now that I think of it, the Wolf Party might actually get my registration. Take from nature only what you need to survive. Remain loyal to the pack. Care for the young. Play freely. Howl at the moon. Those sound like values I can support without equivocation. (Well, maybe not that last... but only because it's a misperception that wolves howl at the moon.)
Sadly, there are no Wolf Party candidates on the ballot. Only donkeys who want us to be afraid of the elephants, and elephants who want us to be afraid of pretty much everything.
I wish the wolves were coming to save us.
Honestly.
posted by Greg! | 12:12 AM
2 Comments:
I'd join your Wolf Party. I agree with your core values. But, are you electable? How would you get the wolves to give speeches and kiss babies? How well would they do on CNN, on Crossfire, on Meet the Press? Would they snarl during the debates- doesn't play too well.
Unfortunately all that is more important than core values these days. Kinda sucks.
http://www.politics1.com/personalchoice04.htm
I like this VICE presidential candidate!
Seriously, though... TV ads are the worst way to assess a candidate, and its the way most Americans learn about their leaders. Sad.
Dave
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