Randy Kuhl's interview with the Corning Leader is worth a good read by anyone who's planning the next anti-war demonstration. In that article, Kuhl makes the protesters, who came from a few miles out of the district, sound like dangerous outside agitators, and blames them for an increase in security at the Bath office.
I think it's pretty clear that the only risk to Kuhl's staff from the bunch who occupied his office was nasal irritation from the scent of patchouli, or perhaps a splitting headache. (If you don't believe me, take a look at the Messenger-Post video of the Fairport office sit-in.) Nevertheless, this bit of negative publicity was easily avoided, if the protesters would have displayed a little bit of flexibility in their planning.
I'll bet that a good number of the protesters in Bath were from the district, but none of them wanted to be arrested. Apparently only the "outsiders" longed to be cuffed and booked, and when that wish was granted, their hometowns (and rap sheets) became public record. The only reason we've been spared the identity of the Fairport protesters is because they were "tricked" into not getting arrested.
Where is this need for an arrest as the outcome of a protest coming from? Chapter 3, page 12 of the super-groovy protest handbook? I'll bet that the protest would have gotten every bit as much publicity if the arrests hadn't occurred. Instead, now we have Kuhl making an issue of tactics instead of substance. I'm sure he would have tried that in any case, but the protesters made it so very easy.
Comments
How can you be so snide? Patchouli indeed! If people who oppose this war would support one another instead of indulging in half-baked rhetoric and cynical nit-picking we might actually be able to accomplish something. Give it up!
I disagree completely with the notion that we need to "support each other". This isn't group therapy, it's practical politics, and there's nothing wrong with an honest critique of the methods being used. In this case, the arrests didn't do any obvious good, and they might have done some harm.
Also, why is a little realism always termed "cynical"? I'm anything but cynical, because I think it's possible to elect better representatives using the existing process. That's pie-eyed optimism in the current climate.
Having been there in Bath as a supporter (though not someone in a position to get arrested), none of the people charged wore patchouli. What the event accomplished were a few things. First, it exposed "Shotgun" Randy Kuhl for the paranoid, delusional maniac that he is for his suggestion that he would start "packing" heat. Second,it revealed the local media as being not much more than stenographers for parroting Kuhl's baseless allegations about his staff being threatened. No such things occurred--one just needs to check the police report.
As for Kuhl now "making an issue of tactics instead of substance" when did he ever make substance an issue...at his townhall meetings or in the press. He talks out of both sides of his mouth and has failed to give his position on the war.
First, it exposed "Shotgun" Randy Kuhl for the paranoid, delusional maniac that he is for his suggestion that he would start "packing" heat.
The "packing" comment was a misstep by Kuhl. I'll grant you that. But, like the smart, experienced politician he is, he recovered and his Leader interview was pretty good at making the protesters sound pretty bad.
Second,it revealed the local media as being not much more than stenographers for parroting Kuhl's baseless allegations about his staff being threatened. No such things occurred--one just needs to check the police report.
If the media was revealed as such, how would the average Mary or Joe in the Southern Tier realize that? Don't they get their information from the Southern Tier Media? By the way, even if the media are just stenographers, Randy still needed some raw material from which to spin his "security" story. He had plenty, thanks to the arrests and information that flowed from them.
As for Kuhl now "making an issue of tactics instead of substance" when did he ever make substance an issue...at his townhall meetings or in the press. He talks out of both sides of his mouth and has failed to give his position on the war.
You're changing the subject. His bad acts don't excuse poor tactics by the opposition. The challenge to an insurgent political movement is to be better than the incumbent. The protests gave him an inch and he took a mile.
That said, it was only an inch. If you think anything I said makes sense, adjust your playbook and go on. Nobody's making you take my unsolicited advice.
Finally, on the patchouli reference: Embrace your inner hippie. It's just a little gentle ribbing.
I agree with Rotten - Massa has a very good chance to win in 2008, but only if his supporters don't get in the way. If nothing else, the protests will tend to get the Republican base excited (but doesn't seem to do much for the Democrat base). Those types of protests don't sit well with the average southern tier resident.
Don't knock the media. The stories were just that, not editorial pieces. The facts were reported and it is not a reporter's job to try and explain what people were really thinking, just what they really did. You can get after the media outlets next year when they endorse a candidate.
RC-glad the patchouli thing was ribbing...sorry i misinterpreted.
anyway, we agree to disagree, as has been the last few days.
cheers
Peter, I appreciate your comments and wish you good luck.
Elmer, since Kuhl was meeting with the editorial board of those papers, I'd have expected some critical interpretation by the editors in addition to the straight news story. Kuhl gets some pretty special treatment by coming to those editorial board meetings, so I think it's the editorial (opinion) staff's job to interpret what he said in a more critical context. I'd say the same about a Massa editorial board meeting.
Rotten -
There were reporters present and only partial attendance of the editorial board members. Really no need to write an editorial on Kuhl now, but the transcript will be available for further review by the Editor and the editorial board. The visit was mostly handled as a news story. When the election gets closer, Massa will come in and do the same, and each of his visits will not inspire a editorial. The main editorial on Kuhl/Massa will be the endorsement editorial next October or November.
I hear what you're saying - what they're doing is fair to all, and that's how they do it in the Corning & Elmira media markets.
I like what the D&C does better than the S-G or Leader. The D&C posts some interpretation on their editorial blog, and also devotes some space to their editorial board to write their comments in the paper. It lets those who are interested get a fuller picture of what was said.
In the future, I think we'll probably see video of the meetings posted on the newspapers' sites. The Messenger-Post is already doing some video at their site. I'd like to see the Southern Tier newspapers try a little of that.
Kuhl coverage on Huffington Post
GOP Congressman "Thought About Packing" Firearm To Fend Off War Protesters
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/08/08/gop-congressman-thought-_n_5967...