Monday, July 06, 2009

Astro-Turf burns your knees


So, you're flipping through the rag reading the Letters to the Editor. That's actually a good thing. It gives you a feel for those who actually want to add voice to their opinion. I've always read them and I've written them. Unfortunately, I was also sued for one I'd written. It didn't go anywhere, but it gave me a temporary scare.

So, those letters, in a public journal, are public and carry a level of jeopardy.

The Conservatives, in their penultimate wisdom, believe that a part of their "campaign without end" involves making sure that their operatives are... operative.

And one might think that some hard-palmed worker had simply lost his silence and fired off a letter.

Thank gawd for KNB who rooted out the identity of the letter writer and identified him as a Conservative Party staffer of Royal Galipeau, Conservative Party MP for Ottawa-Orleans.

Interestingly, whenever I wrote a letter to the editor, there was a check back to see if I had any affiliation which might lend authority to my words or, perhaps, suggest there was a motivation which exceeded my personal beliefs (ie. Career objectives).

Frankly, (Harper style conversation), the editorial page editors are not doing their job properly. They are not only enabling Conservative Party astro-turfing; they are promoting it.

My apologies for approaching this so politely.

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