Local politics is fun. Heavy emphasis on the sarcasm, really heavy. A letter to the editor in tomorrow’s Monadnock Ledger-Transcript (sound familiar?) likens me and my petition to Abolish the Planning Board to nazi governance.
Clever!
Funny though, that the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript’s policy on LTE’s requires that they be of “general interest and in good taste.” Sure, the Planning Board petition is of the general interest, but likening a legally allowed citizen’s petition to naziism doesn’t seem like it’s in good taste to me. But, I am just a lowly blogger after all.
Liz Thomas, the author of the LTE, has probably never heard of Godwin’s Law. “[T]here is a tradition in many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums that, when a Hitler comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever made the comparison loses whatever debate is in progress.[8] This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin’s law.” (Wikipedia)
At any rate I wonder if their editor, Ben Conant, will answer my question about whether or not the official position of the MLT is that nazi references are ‘in good taste.’
Here’s Liz’s LTE:
We need the Planning Board
To the editor: I’ve heard that some people are trying to remove the Planning Board, and I’m shocked beyond words! At first I couldn’t believe it, but I’ve been told it’s true. These people must be Trump supporters – that’s what he would do if a Planning Board annoyed him. Are we turning into Nazis here? Why don’t we also get rid of the Select Board, the Zoning Board, the Open Space Committee, the Conservation Commission, and all the other boards and committees that work so hard to help us and have just one self-appointed person to run the town as he sees best. Heil Hitler!
Meanwhile, I was heartened to see the two articles in the Ledger-Transcript of Oct. 3, one written by the Select Board and the companion article by Bill Taylor, two articles that were written calmly, thoroughly, and helpfully.
Thank you, Bill, Tyler, and Karen – our town is well served.
LIZ THOMAS
|Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, 10 Oct 19, Page A8
And, just in case they don’t publish my rebuttal LTE, here it is:
In Thursday’s edition, a Letter was printed with zero substantive or logical reasoning that likened my citizen’s petition to Hitleresque Nazi Governance.
It’s sad that in today’s day and age every disagreement results in someone being called Hitler or Nazi. Liz Thomas must have missed the lesson on Godwin’s Law, and certainly this is not an exception.
A democratically and legally produced citizen’s petition that requires the majority vote from the legislative body is far from dictatorship, it is the heart of our form of governance.
If Liz Thomas, author of that letter, ever wants to talk about the substance of the petition on its merits instead of launching baseless ad hominem attacks, this author would be happy to do so.
Christopher Maidment
Peterborough NH