Thriller 2. Your Halloween scare, continued…
Apparently they’ve been doing Thriller redos for years. And in places like in this prison in the Philippines. Sure, rub your eyes. It didn’t go away, did it?
Add comment October 31st, 2008
Archive for October, 2008
Thriller 1. Look what you missed this week.
Silly you. Paying attention to the election this week… and all the while the real news was breaking elsewhere.
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller on Saturday, people all over the world – YES WORLD – teamed up to dance the world’s largest simultaneous dance. Here, Seattle.
And that isn’t even the weirdest part of this news that you missed. Stay tuned for “Thriller 2″ to hear the rest.
Add comment October 31st, 2008
Be there, again.
Tonight, 7 to 9 PM. Watergate insider Bud Krogh tells of his hard-won lessons on integrity, described in his book “Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices and Life Lessons from the White House.” Need more info? Find it here.
Add comment October 30th, 2008
Thou Shalt Not Steal (this yard sign)
The Village Square, commensurate with our nonprofit 501(c)3 status can, and has now officially, come out publicly, unequivocally and staunchly against the theft of campaign yard signs - of whatever campaign one wishes to support - from private property. This is juvenile, obnoxious and suggests strongly that you don’t actually believe in free speech.
Truly, yea verily, this has nothing to do with the fact that I just had a sign stolen from my front yard.
No, this proclamation is a bold, selfless and courageous act of citizenship.
Add comment October 29th, 2008
Be there.
Don’t miss Constitutional Amendments 101 tonight!! 5:30 to 7:30 PM, bring your favorite take-out and learn about the six Florida ballot measures.
UPDATE: Thanks to all 8 of our panelists this evening, who were informative, knowledgeable, professional and – I’m partial to this one - civil. And thanks, also, to our audience who comported themselves with equal decency and grace. If anyone involved in the discussion has a factual issue they’d like to convey, send it on to liz@tothevillagesquare.org and we’ll get it up on the blog.
Also, please check 2 posts down for our resource guide on constitutional amendments.
Add comment October 28th, 2008
Climbing atop the ooze
As the ugliness and emptiness of campaign ads does a final 2008 ramp-up, it’s time to re-run a favorite post:
NPR Weekend Edition’s Scott Simon:
Do you remember when candidates used to appear in their own commercials? Many of them seemed a little stiff wearing a sober suit and white shirt framed by an American flag, a bust of Lincoln and family pictures as they made obvious, irreconcilable and insupportable promises.
“I will improve schools, hire more police, teachers and trash workers and lower taxes, create jobs, and get snow, guns and homeless people off the street by being tough, fair, generous and stingy to all of our citizens , regardless of race, creed or hair color, the number of toes they have or whether they were ever stupid enough to vote for my opponent. I welcome your support.”
I miss those ads. At least they gave you a glimpse of the candidate talking about issues, even in hilarious non sequiturs. These days candidates hire consultants to publicize the names of their opponents just so they can splash mud and slime on them. It’s as if Coca Cola bought ads just to show people taking a swig of Pepsi Cola and spitting it into a gutter.
The candidate used to at least risk rejection by asking, sometimes pleading “vote for me” in his commercials. Now they hide behind hired voices who ask “you aren’t really going to vote for that guy, are you?” Then have the candidate mutter at the end like some nine-year-old being forced to admit that he hit the baseball through the window “I approved this message.”
There’s an old Madison Avenue adage: “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” Many current campaign commercials don’t even try to sell sizzle, they just hurl sleaze. People who create them are using the expensive power of articulation to produce messages that are just about as mature as kids razzing each other on the playground.
Look, I’m from Chicago, I love covering politics there and still follow it like a contact sport. I know, as the old Chicago columnist Findley Peter Dunn wrote in 1898, “politics ain’t beanbag.” It has always been rough because the stakes are high. I am not one of those people who says “I wish we had a high-minded political system like they have in Canada.”
The sad fact is that candidates and soft money groups run vicious ads because the evidence is, they work. We might be appalled but we often follow through.
When ads become so personal, intense and insulting it’s difficult for the candidate who survives, I won’t even say “wins,” to climb atop the ooze and act like a human being, much less a statesman. And difficult for voters to respect or trust who they’ve elected, in spite of what they’ve been told. These ads may help candidates win the game, but they also risk tearing up the field and burning down the stadium.
By the way, my name is Scott Simon and I approved this message.
Add comment October 27th, 2008
Constitutional Amendments 101
Don’t miss Tuesday’s “Constitutional Amendments 101″. Find details here.
Need to know more about the constitutional amendments on the ballot before you vote? Here are some great user-friendly resources:
The Collins Center for Public Policy
Newspaper editorial board endorsements:
St. Petersburg Times on Amendment 2
Add comment October 27th, 2008
“The Integrity Zone”
Egil “Bud” Krogh will speak in a free pubic lecture on Thursday, sponsored by The Village Square and St. John’s Episcopal Church. Find specifics here.
For now, here’s what you need to know:
1. You’ll be entering “The Integrity Zone.”
2. Krogh’s book “Good People, Bad Choices and Life Lessons from the White House” is available for purchase at St. John’s bookstore.
3. There could be an Elvis sighting involved.
Call 222-2636 x 22 if you’d like to make a reservation.
Add comment October 25th, 2008
“The media”
“The main criticism of the media is that it’s partisan. And if you watch TV and if you watch the post-debate quarterbacking, you would see that that is absolutely true. Depending on where you tuned in, you’d have a completely different assessment of how the debaters did.”
–Brooke Gladstone, NPR’s On The Media on Bill Moyers Journal
Add comment October 24th, 2008
