Changing Politics As Usual

There's a local blog out here on the Eastern Shore, the Sentinel Whispers (source: a great quote from my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, "Henry V"). I won't comment on the substance of the blog, but it is very much reader-driven, and the "Gatekeeper" will post just about anything. That blog can be found here:

http://www.sentinelwhispers.com/

Recent discussion about speed cameras in Maryland. As you can imagine, I'm not a big fan (I've written about my lead foot before), and I think they're a bit of a cheat (incidentally, I'm developing this theory about anti-radar detector laws being a potential violation of the 4th Amendment, but more on that as I flesh it out).

Anyhow, my local state senator, EJ Pipkin, voted against the cameras (good for you, EJ!), and there were some comments about it. John Morony wrote in, there were some comments in opposition, and, well, here's my response...

Gatekeeper -

Two attempts have been made to deflect the defense of Sen. Pipkin by ignoring the substance of the post, and instead to diffuse it by calling into question the motivation of the author based on who he is married to.

That's "politics as usual" - to not engage in the actual issue, but instead to play this game of personal character assassination.

There's a logical fallacy in that (actually several, but let's focus on the primary one). It's called "argumentum ad hominem" (argument to or against the man) - a personal attack in an attempt to discredit that person's argument.

If the posters have issue with what John Morony (or Mr. Brandt from Centreville) have said, then they ought to focus on what they _SAID_, not who they _ARE_ or, even more ridiculous, who they are _RELATED TO_!

Andi and John Morony are my good friends and neighbors. And for the record, Andi Morony has never been on the Republican Central Committee (RCC). She is President of the Queen Anne's County Republican Club, and active in a variety of other Republican organizations both here on the shore and in the state generally.

And the operative phrase in that sentence is _ACTIVE_.

My friend and colleague Bob Foley hits it on the head: now is the time for those who talk the talk to walk the walk.

If you want to change "politics as usual" then you need to get involved. It isn't going to change simply because you wish it to be so. You have to make a commitment, get involved, and work hard to see those changes made.

We have a vibrant Republican presence in Queen Anne's County. We just had John McCain's Maryland Chair out for a presentation on the campaign, we're working on having Grover Norquist from Americans for Tax Reform out to talk about his new book, "Leave Us Alone", and we've got social events scheduled for the spring and summer.

And we're looking for people who want to do that hard work to join us.

- Andrew Langer,
Centreville, MD