I don't have time to dwell on it (and a good thing, too) but the Guardian's threat to flood the Clark County, OH electorate with hectoring and, quite likely, largely incomprehensible letters continues in the face of not altogether unanimous acclaim. I've already quoted Mrs. Harold Pinter's letter to a Dear Unknown, which is a classic of its type.
The parade of celebrities continues, too. Well, Ken Loach is only a celeb if you collect British Socialist-Realist Artiste trading cards, but among those who do, he's pretty famous. Anyway, he's no Lady Antonia Fraser, but I did appreciate this bit of his winning attempt to sway the hearts and minds of the folks:
You have supported brutal dictators, like Augusto Pinochet, General Suharto and Saddam Hussein, who, over the years, have murdered and tortured with your administration's approval.Now you have led an invasion in a country which was not a threat to you.
UPDATE: It is over, and I am sad.
I wouldn't dwell too much on the Clark County thing. Like I said before, I grew up there and the population is too small to make a difference statewide in Ohio even if every voter was swayed to one side or the other.
Posted by: Zaphod at October 20, 2004 06:07 PMStill don't see what you're getting at, Frank.
What is your motive for repeatedly ridiculing this process?
It's totally legal and will probably have some positive impact, if not for any other reason than generating press which exposes Bush's overwhelming unpopularity in the world.
I'm sure some people (perhaps not many, but some), who would have voted for Bush (and therefore hurt America's environment, economy, credibility, Constitution, future), are going to think twice about their vote because of this.
So what's the harm?
Like most Americans, I'm too busy / apathetic to pursue some kind of letter-writing campaign like this in swing states. But if some concerned Brits are willing to do the leg work for us, how can you say no to that?
Just trying to figure out what side you're on here......
"What is your motive for repeatedly ridiculing this process? "
Wow.
Okay, if you're in complete agreement with the campaign, don't you have some inkling that the letters Frank's quoted will have the exact opposite effect as the senders intended? I mean, if your intention is to persuade mainstream, US moderates who are registered as undecideds, could you possibly write a letter more condescending, accusatory and so transparently leftist (that's ignoring the obvious 'you supported Saddam...you removed saddam' issue that Frank hits on)? If folks in Ohio LIKED being lectured on US foreign policy ills, they'd probably wouldn't be undecided. If you want to show your letter to your colleagues at Oxford, or if you want to publish the letter, in the guardian for example, then I understand the move completely: it's a plea for a pat on the back from like-minded Britons. It has nothing at all to do with persuading Americans.
Beyond that, how many people will vote for someone based on what a stranger (a foreign stranger) wrote in an unsolicited letter? Can you conceive of one person changing their vote thanks to this type of lecturing? Those who care deeply what Guardian readers think made their minds up years ago.
I'm pretty sure most of those writing letters aren't under the impression they're changing minds- they're writing for themselves and their friends. You're right, it's not illegal; I've got no problem with it. It's just that it's damned hard to conceive of someone naive enough to think it'll work.
Aryamehr U.,
You ask Frank "what is your motive for repeatedly ridiculing this process?" I don't claim any particular insight regarding Frank's motivations, but the only good answer to that question is that the process is, well, ridiculous. It's hard for me to imagine being an undecided voter at this point, but if I were and I rec'd one of those letters, it would almost certainly have the exact opposite of the intended effect. Plus, the Lady Antonia Fraser letter is pretty funny -- straight outta Wodehouse!
Posted by: Aaron at October 20, 2004 09:53 PMYeah, obviously you know Frank more intimately than any of do Aaron, so your hypothesis may be more accurate than any of ours. Again, don't get all worked up over Clark county, it may have 120,000 residents total and decreasing every day where-as the Greater Cincinnati area has 2.5 million, Greater Columbus has 1.75 million, Greater Cleveland has 4 million and add another million for Akron, Canton, Toledo and Dayton. You can pretty quickly see how insignificant Springfield/Clark County is.
Posted by: Zaphod at October 20, 2004 10:23 PMName that song -
On the ad for the Fahrenheit 9/11 CD, they're playing some punk song in the background which I'm sure I'm a fucking idiot for not knowing. But regardless, I can't get the tune out of my head, nor can I find it online. I'm not even sure if it's on the CD, as I've listened to all the tracks online. Any idea? The song lyrics go something like "see the writing on the wall"... again, pardon my ignorance.
Posted by: Nick at October 21, 2004 06:54 PMI seem to recall seeing a commercial using Bad Religion's song "the New America".
Posted by: Zaphod at October 21, 2004 11:53 PM