Open letters are the hissy fits of our times, petulant and tedious expressions of collective outrage. It is also by some considerable measure the laziest form of protest.
In other words, the terminally aggrieved could take to the barricades but that would mean having to walk all the way to the barricades, standing around, feeling uncomfortable and what if it rained? It’s much easier to simply put names to a letter someone else had written in strident agreement with its contents.
There is one particularly egregious example of the open letter that caught my eye last night. It comes from the Columbia Journalism Review and is allegedly an open letter from the American press corps to President-elect Donald Trump.
As if journalists weren’t despised enough by the community, along comes this haughty expression of well … a journalist’s basic job description albeit dripping in sanctimony and self-importance. It even includes the grammatical venal sin of writing ‘you’re’ as ‘your’. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Full column here.
As I pointed out elsewhere:
Since 1797, the USA has demonstrated the principle of the peaceful transition of power. The only military people involved are the bands and people who proudly carry the flag of our great country. So, with the exception of the elder Bush (who sent a lovely note), all living past Presidents and spouses will be there at this enduring demonstration of how democracy is supposed to work. This is a sacred, civic moment and to not be there is to put one’s ego before one’s love of country.
Congratulations to President Donald Trump. We pray for you and wish you well. God bless America.
Well Trump would know all about ego, can’t stop insulting others even at his inauguration.
Agree Dwight. Time to get positive. I thought it was gracious of the Clintons to be there. Which only made those who boycotted the ceremony look bigoted and silly.
It was a stirring sight I must say. And the family looked every inch presidential!
Hear hear!
Well said Dwight.
I haven’t been to the States for a few years, but mates recently returned are amused at some of the (excessive ) reporting here of the political mood in the US. They believe the time is right for change, and with 37% of Americans living below the poverty line you can understand the urge for a different approach, but within the greatest democracy on the planet.
I do wish him and America well, for the sake of the whole free world. All the America and Trump haters can’t explain what sort of world we’d be facing without them.
“….. the flag of our great country.”
” and to not be there is to put one’s ego before one’s love of country.” “We pray for you……… ”
One assumes you weren’t there Dwight and your use of the collective “our” and “we” makes one wonder if you’re either a little confused or extremely presumptuous.
When’s my next chance? I’ve got senator in my dna. Any party suits or i’ll go rogue.
Jack
This is a smart blog.
I cut and paste Bassy’s name and date and time from the blog into Word to compose the entry.
The date and time line appeared as a URL in Word and when you clicked on it, it opened up the blog and positioned itself immediately below Bassman’s entry.
I wonder if it works in the blog itself or do you yourself have to manually approve of links?.
I check them all for copyright and shall we say appropriateness. There is a function here which allows me to approve URLs without actually going to the page. It allows me a quick glimpse and I can ok from there. Gawd, in the old blog, one of the nutters I had constant problems with posted a link to a porn film. I didn’t check it and it went up. It was a little embarrassing and commenters let me know to take it down. Lesson learnt but this blog engine makes a check very easy.
BASSMAN says:
January 20, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Geez _ Pollies have been trying to manipulate the press since papers were invented.
I remember the hoo-hah on this blog when Penny Wong, as Environmental Minister, banned a young Canberra Times journo from her news conferences because she did not like what was written.
Rudd and Keating were notorious for bending an editor’s ear if an article appeared that they did not like.
I would be amazed if the other side of politics were not up to the same dubious practices.
As to open letters – after my little episode with our creek, I am aware just how hard it is to get the press interested and how well the bureaucracy looks after itself and closes ranks.
However, I find it amazing that journalists need to use them.
News conferences are just a conduit for Government Policies. I would imagine any real journalist would have no need for them as the real work is done elsewhere. They are just a means for the Pollies to strut around and the media falls for it every time. Meanwhile the public just tunes out. Having said that, I guess it would be embarrassing not to be in on a major announcement
The US Presidential news conference has been limited in numbers by the size of the room for yonks. The right to attend is carefully controlled by the old media which is smarting at the thought that Trump might double the numbers and instead of the “club” controlling who attends, he will use other means.
Trump will find out about the old adage of not upsetting people who buy ink by the tanker load – but there again he has gotten this far without their assistance.
Depends on the subject. Trump is fair game.
Mack the Knife 11:30AM
The blokes a stooge for Heartland. As for the moon rocks, there were plenty of rocks identified as moon rocks right here on Earth long before 1969. And the distance to the moon was being measured by laser too.
How many times did they go to the moon? How many photos were taken? Just one photograph of the Earth from the Moon’s surface would be more compelling than rocks for which no comparison can be made. Or a photograph of the sun or the constellations? Nix. Too hard to fake that stuff.
Think it through Mack.
Was O’Bama fair game? Did people dare to condemn O’Bama?………..Particularly before he was sworn in? Short answer is………………NO……………why……………..because they would have been called racist………..do you get what happenned during 2016 across the world? There’s a revolution on but the trouble is it’s not the one you envisaged old bean. Mind you your mob caused it…….and now we all have to suffer the consequences.
So, I’m having a go at Trump, does that make me a piggist,.a porkophobe?
What I find amusing is these revolutionaries of yours voting for an arch capitalist who is going to give them the same in spades. Make America great again.? What does this bloke think he’s going to do to, import a few million slaves and borrow a few trillion dollars. He’s got himself deep in the sh*t several times so now he’s going try it on the country, and walk away leaving someone else holding the ball? Doesn’t work like that well with nations.
Aaah … the redistribution of wealth, eh – every billionaire a bum and every bum a billionaire. Not sure it works that way either?
Huh?
Light relief:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/campbellfield-driveby-victim-from-melbourne-crime-family-shot-in-penis-20170119-gtuo98.html
Would you class “Letters To the Editor” in the category of open letters Mr Insider, as they can in many ways take on a most aggrieved stance?
No. An open letter us a letter directed at a person or group not delivered to them but published in another forum to get their attention.
On the matter of sandwich boards , they should only promote Russian black bread containing a little cider vinegar, to give it that extra ‘bite’.
Mack the Knife (11.30am previous topic)
Good one Mack, Harrison Schmidt is one to watch, that’s for sure.
I may have missed something germane in the reasons for the criticism of the advent of so called “open letters” (or “hissy fits”) apparently masquerading as journalism.
However, it would be my view that if journalists were prevented from expressing a touch of bias, or occasionally being holier than thou, as well as being morally bound to file and only have their work published that excluded any perceived or actual unusual features, no matter the flavour of the administration in office, then western civilization’s freedoms would disintegrate faster than one could utter ‘Johannes Gutenberg’.
I think Kyle Pope from CJR is a courageous fellow, his representation of a small time outfit notwithstanding. I was particularly struck with the “We decide how much airtime to give to spokespeople and their surrogates”.
Talk about the mouse that roared!
And it was roaring at a GOP elephant which was all the more appropriate and exhilarating.