A Post It Note From Moonbat Valley

Local politics can be some of the nastiest stuff you'll ever see. Today is no exception.

Every Wednesday and Friday, I get online and read the "Idaho Mountain Express." This is a small weekly paper that serves Moonbat Valley. Unfortunately, it is the only paper that serves Moonbat Valley and it does so without any real regard to objectivity.

Moonbat definition found here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbat

The Idaho Mountain Express employs a number of hostage employees who are forced to write what they know the owner/editor will allow. To survive at the "IME" you must be a compliant and obedient worker/writer/editor. The reporters used to tell me that. Several of them. Formerly employed types too.

Some disclosures here. I have a friend, a man who I hired many years ago, running for Sheriff. Every four years, Steve England has run for Sheriff in Moonbat Valley. Unsuccessfully. I applaud his willingness to go through this human meat grinder every four years and subject himself to a non lethal dose of ridicule. Ridicule, or the fear of it, most certainly keeps others from running for Sheriff. In Moonbat Valley, the Idaho Mountain Express very subjectively supported the last Sheriff. It also supports the new Sheriff who worked for the old Sheriff.

Here at Frankenstein Government, I own my own printing press. I am not forced to kiss anyone's backside nor remain silent. That is a beautiful thing. I get to state my truth and I will tell you straight out- that I do not allow personal attacks. They get deleted, chop-chop. http://thecivillibertarian.blogspot.com/2012/08/dont-mess-with-frankenstein-government.html

Most everyone in Moonbat valley reads that little paper with it's biased spin and undisclosed agenda. The owner exerts complete control over editorial content. It reminds me of the days when as a young reader, growing up in Butte, Montana, the local paper was owned by the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. When a miner died on the job- you would never see the cause of death printed in the obituary. Apparently miners all died of natural causes just prior to being run over by another hungover miner backing a 200 ton truck up or setting a dynamite charge. Tactically omitting bits of information keeps each culpable party and their agenda hidden from public scrutiny. Not much has changed over the years. So I wasn't surprised to see this letter to the editor which has now landed in the public domain.


England’s signs are offensive

Since August, especially while driving around Hailey, we have been sign-bombed with sheriff candidate Steve England’s placards pleading with distracted drivers to “restore integrity” to the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office.   

This slogan is a pointed insult to incumbent Gene Ramsey and a new low in England’s umpteenth bid to unseat a current sheriff. Indeed, England’s unending runs at this office look more like a hobby than qualified earnestness. However, to throw muck on Ramsey with such a provocative summarizing tag line is both careless and untrue, speaking volumes about England’s candidacy.

Restore integrity? Really? That’s all he could come up with? Well, if that is the mission, then it is already completely and resoundingly accomplished with the genuine, dedicated, experienced leadership of Sheriff Gene Ramsey, demonstrated daily during his decades of stellar service to Blaine County citizens.

In fact, if you look up the word “integrity” in the dictionary, you’ll actually see a picture of Ramsey. 

It is way past the time when we tolerated ambitious candidates throwing meaningless statements against the wall without justification. England’s slogan is a case in point and he ought to pay for the misstep at the voting booth.
Scott Carter


I know this author. He is married to an employee of the Sheriff. Somehow, that information is not available to the reader. The second thing I note is that there isn't a snowballs chance in hell that a letter that is this malicious and directed toward the existing Sheriff- would have ever gotten past the vigilant eyes of the paper's owner and into print.

Here is Saul Alinsky's Rule #5 for radicals. RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.

Moonbats and liberals love to attack people personally. Smearing people is so completely a function of liberals- that I think they should include the methodology in their platform. Decent people and conservatives will generally behave in one of two fashions. They tend to attack the flaws in a subject rather than target the person supporting any given side of an issue.

But most importantly, when a conservative doesn't like something they simply refuse to engage in it or they ignore it. When a liberal doesn't like something, they launch personal attacks and then try to force everyone else into some form of compliance or agreement. Remember, Alinsky was an organizer. Very often, I apply this screening technique to speakers and writers. It is nearly fail safe. It allows me to identify hidden agendas very quickly. Derogatory speech and inflammatory adjectives speed things up.

Ridicule is almost always fear based. As soon as I see it, I ask myself what does the writer or speaker have to lose? Irrational fear makes people behave and write...well...irrationally. Go figure.

Here's the big finish. I left Moonbat Valley over 5 years ago. I wish I could tell you that I was above all of that nastiness- but I wasn't. There are only shallow degrees of separation here. I could not have been proud of such a letter back then although I might very well have written something similar. Most folks cannot be happy writing things like that. So I left that place trying to find the value for "x."

Today when I read that thing- it transported me back like a time machine to an emotional place that I haven't wanted to return to or visit. Not because that place is bad- but because it was a necessary part of my evolution and development into the person I am today. So letters like the one above- are reminders of where I came from. Like an old post it note starting to lose some of it's adhesive qualities. I remember what it was like.











Comments

Irish said…
I threw in a comment over there for ya. See how long it lasts :)
Brian said…
Heh. Thanks Irish. You rock.
a911Chick said…
Great thoughts...........like most of us, you grew, figured things out, and decided to get the hell out of Dodge, before it got any worse, or you actually turned into one of them. It's too bad, we all come to this realization sooner or later. You are a better man now, Brian, and what you write gives us all something to think about!!!! Thanks for doing what you do.
Brian said…
911 Chica...it's good to see you pop in here! Thought maybe you had been swallowed in that Canyon County vortex...thanks fr stopping by.
Paralyzed by the politics there, fearful of behind-the-back retribution, I was at my worst in my 5B years. Undeniably a lovely spot, but not for me. You taught me much in a short window, B. May have jumped from the frying pan into the fire here in FL, but blue water sailing assuages all that ails. Thanks for the thought provoking reads.
Brian said…
Wow...Thanks for stopping by Kathleen.

I wasn't my best there either...particularly those last years. Perhaps both of us had some purpose for being there. Some bridge to cross.

I hope you are having a ball in Fl. You were always a class act and one of the good ones. Thank you.

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