Comments on: To think that an old soldier should come to this

By: Neel Krishnaswami

Neel Krishnaswami — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 20:34:12 +0000

Actually, I’m planning on trying to break the law this November. I’m going to start up a small political nonprofit and then use it to try and buy a couple of newspaper ads that do “issue advocacy”—in particular, I’m planning on trying to explain that the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law bans issue advocacy ads, and I’m going to add that simply observing that John Kerry voted for it makes my ad illegal.

By: Ophelia Benson

Ophelia Benson — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 20:18:23 +0000

Lapel pins versus tv advertising. Er – not a good analogy? On account of how tv ads cost a little more than lapel pins do, thus making both parties ever more beholden to the moneyed parties that fund them in exchange for influence over legislation? Even if tv advertising were a great way to persuade voters to vote for X instead of Y – which I couldn’t be farther from thinking is the case – they would still be a massive portal for corruption. How I envy the UK rules. Not to mention the minuscule election season.

By: Robert Lyman

Robert Lyman — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 15:16:20 +0000

Having had our fill of bickering about Bush’s CV and lapel pins, does anyone want to comment on my initial comment #3, regarding the relationship of the expanded franchise to the (low) quality poltical ads? I thought that point was a lot more interesting than the other two, and was interested in what Timberites had to say.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 11:11:16 +0000

Yes, but what about the pony?

By: DJW

DJW — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 05:59:55 +0000

great post. I brought this up to my democratic theory course today (we’re doing communitarian critiques of liberal democratic theory—Sandel and Barber). This story—and the gap between then and now—really helped drive hope an important part of the Barber/Sandel critique. I swear, the amount of teaching synergy I find on this site is just erie. I can recall the number of times someone here has posted something on the subject I’m teaching that day, or in the next few days.

By: John

John — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 00:57:19 +0000

Texas happens to have what is probably the weakest Governorship in the 50 states. So, it’s really hard to be either successful or otherwise in that post.

By: Martha Bridegam

Martha Bridegam — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 00:09:01 +0000

There’s a funny affinity between Ogilvy and George Orwell. They both survived the same awful boarding school, St. Cyprian’s, though likely they didn’t know each other as Ogilvy was 8 years younger. (It’s tempting to wonder if he could have inspired the “Comrade Ogilvy” of 1984 but the age difference makes it unlikely.) Both were late bloomers after several false starts in early adulthood. And it seems, now, that both saw their professions similarly. This is Orwell in “Writers and Leviathan”: “…When a writer engages in politics he should do so as a citizen, as a human being, but not AS A WRITER. I do not think that he has the right, merely on the score of his sensibilities, to shirk the ordinary dirty work of politics. Just as much as anyone else, he should be prepared to deliver lectures in draughty halls, to chalk pavements, to canvass voters, to distribute leaflets, even to fight in civil wars if it seems necessary. But whatever else he does in the service of his party, he should never write for it. He should make it clear that his writing is a thing apart. And he should be able to act co-operatively while, if he chooses, completely rejecting the official ideology….”

By: Martha Bridegam

Martha Bridegam — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 00:07:44 +0000

By: robbo

robbo — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 23:47:37 +0000

do the words “Born with a silver spoon in his mouth” mean anything to you? The tyipcal look on Bush’s face, and his attitude toward the rest of humanity, suggest that he was born with that spoon somewhere else…

By: Nat Whilk

Nat Whilk — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:42:18 +0000

“do the words “Born with a silver spoon in his mouth” mean anything to you?” Is it just me, or is it hard to hear those words without thinking of the 1988 Democratic National Convention?

By: gavin

gavin — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:38:01 +0000

At last! An opportunity to praise the UK! After all, who could disagree with a country that effectively bans tv/radio advertising by both political parties and religious groups? During an election campaign, a number of short slots are allocated to the parties for ‘party election broadcasts’. Other than that, there’s just the usual tv station news/editorial on the election, but nothing paid for by the parties. What bliss!

By: Nat Whilk

Nat Whilk — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:36:39 +0000

“What I cannot see is how you would think that the opinions and manipulations of advertising copy writers are a more appropriate influencing factor.” Neither more nor less appropriate.

By: gavin

gavin — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:23:47 +0000

By: Robin Green

Robin Green — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:15:30 +0000

Robbo – do the words “Born with a silver spoon in his mouth” mean anything to you?

By: Ed Zeppelin

Ed Zeppelin — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 21:38:58 +0000

What I cannot see is how you would think that the opinions and manipulations of advertising copy writers are a more appropriate influencing factor. You cannot resist the influence of our opinions and manipulations. You are being pulled in by the gravitational pull of our opinions and manipulations. Bow down and worship them before they destroy you!