LETTERS ARE AN EXAMPLE OF FREE SPEECH; THEY ARE TO BE CHERISHED
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION RESUMES OUR LIVE, IN-STUDIO BROADCASTS TOMORROW NIGHT. THE FUN BEGINS AT 7 p.m. CH. 16, PITTSFIELD CABLE.
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, SEPT. 10, 2015) — A political bromide says that the person who slings mud loses ground.
Mud-slinging is what a candidate and his or her supporters resort to when they can’t argue the facts and when, in the case of an underachieving incumbent, you don’t dare run on your record.
Much has been made on THE PLANET and elsewhere about a couple letters to the editor published in The Boring Broadsheet bashing this site as one of undue influence on public policy. That is easily inferred when the editorialists display worry and panic about the truth telling that goes on here. Such bashers are not critics, of course, since criticism is intelligent and fact-based. THE PLANET, for example, always (and there are few “always”s in the public forum these days) writes (or broadcasts) based on facts, using reason, logic, and evidence to tools arrive at valid conclusions.
Mission Accomplished
People are free to agree or disagree, and our first reaction when THE PLANET is the target of broadside bashers is to rejoice, since it confirms and affirms like nothing else our mission, which is to present information to the general public that they will not read elsewhere, comment on and illuminate stories that do appear elsewhere, and in doing so stimulate public discussion. Rousing the apathetic into public jousting brings a faint pulse to the vital signals of democracy.
Thus, we not only revel in the broadsides but defend them. Those who read this site and listen to/watch our broadcasts know the truth about THE PLANET. We are literally a deluxe sight if we take the Latin to mean “of the light.” In shining the light on areas of public life that others want to keep hidden, we set free by that tiny amount the ability of all citizens, from all points of view, to more faithfully and intelligently engage in public life.
Politicians, especially the entrenched kind, usually have the most to hide. That’s why they obfuscate. When a medium like THE PLANET reveals to a fuller extent what actually takes place in government as opposed to the wads of PR and puff The Suits want you to believe, they will object. One of the tactics is to divert attention away from the real issues, including commissioning supporters to write letters to the editor that serve this purpose.
It’s All About the Promotion of Free Speech
THE PLANET can only thank such letter writers for their passion, albeit misplaced, and their involvement, albeit compromised, to say nothing of the additional traffic such outbursts invariably drive to our site. This modest experiment in daily, online, local journalism has grown to proportions we did not anticipate. THE PLANET is having an influence on the course of public events, but that is simply a byproduct of our elemental intent — to promote free speech.
The Founding Fathers rightly considered free speech one an inalienable right. Its presence, practice, and defense are not sufficient conditions for democracy but necessary conditions. From the beginning, government and politics have been the enemies of free speech. The pervasive use of computer networks has gradually eroded the the notion of “privacy.” That, coupled with the unprecedented rise of official secrecy and surveillance in the post-9/11 world practically invites office holders to establish virtual dictatorships.
We see this at all levels of government. For instance, from 1917 when the Espionage Act was passed to President Obama taking office, there were only three government prosecutions against whistleblowers. Since 2008, Obama has gone after eight people, nine if you count Edward Snowden (source, Data and Goliath by Bruce Schneier, page 101, 2015, in the Norton hardcover edition). Statewide, we have seen politicians and police conspire to control citizens. One thinks of Ferguson, Mo., last year, when “reporters were arbitrarily detained by local authorities for no reason, confined in a ‘free speech zone,’ prevented from taking photos and videos, and subjected to tear gas – essentially attempting to prevent the public from finding out information and understanding the events” (http://www.naa.org/News-and-Media/CEO-Update/2014-Free-Speech-Week.aspx.
| To download a Word version of this column for publication, please click here. |
On the local level, we have sadly seen how the present holder of the corner office has earned the nickname Mayor Lockdown. The epithet wears only too well.
The criticisms and broadsides sent our way must be seen as the currency of a vigorous and robust free marketplace of ideas. Without that, what is left?
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“When a man comes on the radio, telling me more and more about some useless information supposed to supply my imagination, I can’t get no satisfaction” — The Rolling Stones, “Satisfaction,” (1965).
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
The views expressed in any comment section are not those of PLANET VALENTI or endorsed in any way by PLANET VALENTI; this website reserves the right to remove any comment which violates its Rules of Conduct, and it is not liable for the consequences of any posted comment as provided in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and PLANET VALENTI’s terms of service.
It is really amazing the amount of damage special interests can do to a city once they have co opted the local media. Keeping the populace ignorant is key to control.
I often wonder why you bother to do what you do Dan but I am very glad you do. Keep up the fantastic work.
One of the examples of keeping the public ignorant was the city charter. Giving out little information about it and having the local newspapers be all for it. Hidden within the charter was the ability to take power from the people which is how we ended up with a “no vote” on the Taconic High School.
and as JOhnny Lothrop would tell you, you elected him to represent you so you should not have to read it….
but guess once he read it he thought it was a great idea
The Charter was available on The City of Pittsfield websight prior to the vote. I also was too lazy to read it before voting in favor. The majority of voters that weren’t too lazy to vote, voted in favor. We get what we deserve when we bury our heads in the sand.
I didn’t actually read the whole charter either, but I was warned off of voting for it when the Berkshire Eagle said everyone should vote for it. I knew it couldn’t be good if the BB was all for it. I think we are all learning from this site not to trust government and that’s a good thing.
DUSTY
Great points. I,too, “often wonder” why I do what you do. There are multiple reasons, of course. Here area few: I enjoy the “writing workout” that THE PLANET affords. I enjoy the intellectual and quality challenges THE PLANET presents. Most of all, I do it as a form of public service. I do it on behalf of citizens, in support of free speech, and in the advance of the democratic process, which is so much in danger. Others run for office. I run those who run for office, keeping up with the long-time critical tradition of E. A. Poe, Ambrose Bierce, H.L. Mencken, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Hitchens.
Teddy Roosevelt “the men with the muck rakes are often indispensable to the well being of society; but only if they know when to stop raking the muck…“
The Berkshire Eagle is so inept when it comes to reporting real news in this City, yet it chose to make Front Page News of a GM losing his job at Cranwell a huge story. This is reporting at it’s worse. The insensitivity is mind boggling.
and if a non special interest candidate was doing rehab that would be a headline story.
I’ve read lots of complaints about the Berkshire Eagle not reporting / under reporting, or dropping the ball on stories the citizens of Pittsfield have a right to know about. The Planet is one source of good reporting but why isn’t there any talk about publishing an alternative weekly newspaper? Certainly there’s a need!
If you can start one I would imagine you would have a ton of new customers. But you need to actually do investigative reporting.
Don’t count on any small business help form the city though. You need to already be a millionaire to get their help.
There has been a “locally owned” newsweekly since the early 1990’s. The Gazette is sponsoring the forum on Monday night at BCC.
and when the Gazzette first came on the scene it was often quite critical of the nefarious goings on in the city. i was a big fan of them. When they stopped doing investigative reporting I stopped reading them.
they may have had to tone it down in order to get advertising. Some business s seemed to be boycotting them for whatever reason
It’s really a sad death spiral Dusty, and friends. Publications started losing readers to the web, so they started cutting budget, which eroded quality, which made more people stop reading which caused more layoffs, effectively putting an end to any sort of investigative reporting, which in turn turned even more people off…to a point where no reporting is being done, and no one is interested. The question is, would you be willing to pay for quality information? I bet the answer for 80%+ is no. People now expect to get their information for free, are generally not willing to pay for it, and generally get what they pay for. The internet, for all it has done and all its immediacy, has really dumbed down society and lowered all our expectations. Go buy a subscription to the Times, or the Wall St. journal….or even the New Yorker today and see what you’ve been missing!
You mean what we have not been missing. Is the Times really that good anymore? Its become so politically correct that it too is boring.
Thanks, Carolyn. I didn’t know about The Gazette…will check it out.
David Turocy was hired as Commissioner of Public Serices. He was appointed to oversee highway, engineering, and Other city departments. This is very interesting. His salary will be $87,000. What other departments. Bruce Collingwood is also making about $87,000.
It is high time we start hearing from Candidates across the board about where they stand on the issues, and what is there platform.
Yup new guy is 59 years old and is coming here from Boston area for “a change of pace.” One could wonder if he is just here to coast into retirement. He only has to do half of Mr Collingwood’s original job. Anyways, lets hope I am wrong and give him a chance and hope he gets things in order.
I’m not giving anyone the benefit of the doubt anymore, not when Bianchi hires and brings and outsider in. This tells me one of two things: The new guy “knows” someone in power here or else has been kicked out of a previous situation and will take anything.
The third possibility..he realizes he can coast here with zero acountability.
The sharpies can smell the official suckers in this town 3000miles away.
Bianchi also gave him a 3 year contract, after he was fired from a simular job in Newton for poor performance manageing the plowing this past winter.
And this is allowed under new charter.
Was there any discussion as to why he was fired just three months ago by Newton’s mayor?
http://www.iberkshires.com/story/49987/Pittsfield-Offers-Public-Services-Job-To-Former-Newton-Commissioner.html
Here is the key section from the iBerkshires story:
“Turocy comes from Newton after 11 years. He was appointed commissioner of public works there in 2011.
However, earlier this year, he was inexplicably fired and replaced. Newton Mayor Setti Warren wrote a letter on June 23 to the Newton Board of Aldermen there announcing that effective immediately Turocy was no longer the commissioner. In the same letter, he announced the appointment of an interim and Turocy’s successor, who started on July 21.”
Excellent thoughts here, DV. You are doing a great public service with The Planet.
It is interesting that the purpose of the opposition to the content of this web-site is to get people not to read it, yet, it has the opposite effect of drawing more people to it. People don’t like to be told what not to read or do.
Then, once they read here, they see for themselves the truth of the content is glaringly different than the fluff and garbage the BB churns out and charges people for on a daily basis.
They make the same mistake over and over in assuming the public is stupid. People know the main stream media is controlled and therefore do not trust it. People turn to online sources to get the truth. The gov’t knows this and is seeking ways to stop it as they cannot control it. One of things they do is send out shills to inject comments into social media. They’re all over the internet and even on here.
There is even talk about getting a gov’t licence to do any reporting online, requiring anyone to be preapproved as a news agency.
The very same types of gov’t control the pilgrims left England to escape from has come full circle to modern day society. If the Brittish had won the revolutionary war, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the independant founding documents would never have come to be. People like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock etc, would have been put to death as traitors. It was a true revolution because we won. Had we lost it would have been a revolt.
The powers that be want to do away with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and freedom of speech.
A gov’t by the people for the people? A Republic governed by the rule of law? Liberty and justice for all?
I like your thinking. What is happening in Pittsfield right now is also representative of what is happening in the country. Didn’t we have a revolution to avoid just this type of situation? It’s happening again and the public has to take back its government.
It didn’t seem fair what the Eagle did with that Cranwell story. They really bashed that poor guy. But as usual the reporter didn’t do the due diligence necessary to produce a fair and unbiased story. Investigative reporting is a thing of the past at the Berk Eagle as are follow up storys. I was happy to see that the prior owner of Cranwell wrote in to set the record straight.
There’s been a few posts about where I stand personally on the issues. Please come down to the Polish Falcons club tonight from 7 to 9 to chat! I’d love to meet you. Or call me. 413-329-8735 I want to hear from you!
Thanks Kathy I plan to be there. I live in Ward 7, and undecided and cant wait to hear you. I’m glad we have a choice more than some wards can say.
Felix, I’d love the chance to earn your vote and confidence. Hope to meet you tonight!
I Live in another Ward Kathy, but have watched you fight for your right to do business, and step up to the Challenge to make a difference. I hope the people in your Ward realize what an opportunity that is for them and you together, and turn out to give you their vote. Good Luck. I wish you were running in my Ward!!
The Berkshire Eagle is a 3rd-rate rag without a conscience! The Eagle is yellow journalism at its worst. The Eagle is a propaganda machine for the Good Old Boys who ran Pittsfield politics into the ground.
Here are the facts the Eagle refuses to report:
* About 70% of local residents live in poverty and are reliant on welfare and social services
* Pittsfield is a very unequal community with a few wealthy residents and tens of thousands of poor residents
* Pittsfield politics is totally corrupt and uses fear to strong arm local voters into being intimidated from citizen participation
* Most political incumbents run unopposed for re-election, including Berkshire State Senator Ben Downing, and State Reps. “Smitty” Pignatelli, and Tricia Farley-Bouvier
* Pittsfield politics is a one party political system just like China. Only Democrats win political office in Pittsfield politics
* Pittsfield politics is full of Democrats in name only. The prime example is GE “pac man” lobbyist Peter J. Larkin. They say they are Democrats only to obtain political office, but they are really Republicans
* Pittsfield’s public school system is among the worst performing in the state and nation
* Pittsfield’s public school system eats up about 70% of the municipal budget
* Pittsfield’s public school system see over 600 students per year choice out to neighboring school districts
* Pittsfield’s downtown is dead and full of violence, murders, shootings, drugs, gangs, and poverty
* The only economic growth in Pittsfield is the underclass. Teen pregnancies double the statewide average. Pittsfield is known as the welfare capital of the northeast
* One has to be part of the Good Old Boys network to find a full time, living wage job in Pittsfield
* If one speaks out against all of the corruption and crap that goes on in Pittsfield politics, he or she will lose their job faster than one can snap their fingers together
* Someone like me, who looked for a job for over 1 year of my adult life in Pittsfield, has a better chance winning the lottery jackpot prize than finding a good job in Pittsfield. Those are terrible odds!
* No rational middle class family would move to Pittsfield
* Thousands of people have fled Pittsfield over the past couple of decades. Pittsfield’s population is shrinking!
* The only growth in Pittsfield politics is huge municipal budgets, increasing spedings, high taxes and fees, and colossal debts hovering in the one-half billion dollar range
Fact: a thing that is indisputably the case.
Opinion: a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
The statements are opinions, not facts. That is a fact, and indisputably the case. The arguments’ intentions are not credible when the language is deceptive.
OR YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS
SHH
I greatly appreciate this comment because it allows me to “comment” on a subject I hold dear.
A fact is information that remains true regardless of the source. Example: President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in a motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963 in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, TX.
An opinion is information that can change, and usually does change, according to the source. Example: Depending on who you ask about who killed Kennedy, you will get a range of answers. They include Lee Harvey Oswald, LBJ, the CIA, anti-Castro Cubans, the mafia, or some combination thereof.
Opinions are not necessarily based on fact and knowledge. Those that are so based, however, are more credible. THE PLANET’s commentaries are fact-based and opinion driven. This sentence intrigues me: “The arguments’ intentions are not credible when the language is deceptive.” An argument is the presentation of a series of connected thoughts meant to lead to a conclusion. The “intentions” of an argument can never be credible … or incredible. Only the statement that concludes the argument is subject to such judgment. As for “deceptive” language, you would have to specifically define that for it to be included in your sentence.
As you know, I have longed enjoyed polemics and loved debating. I have issued many challenge to public officials and public figures to have a go, as it were, and have not had many takers. Such a question is a demand for answers, for proof (or at least for evidence). That is the question that got me into journalism as a career. All commentary in essence is a debate against “the other side,” because of its argumentative nature. That’s why I come heavily armed with facts, reason, and logic. These three weapons, when rightly applied, rarely “lose.”
Was Brian Williams telling the same story for over12 years about being in a helicopter shot down, based on facts or opinion?
Where are you getting that 70% on welfare figure?
I think that’s usually Jonathan’s number I am Me, not Dan’s. But the number is indeed close to census numbers; more than 60% of PPS students qualified for free & reduced lunch, a poverty indicator, any many who could qualify don’t apply, out of embarrassment or whatever.
That assumes that every household to student ratio is 1:1 and each has a child in PPS.
Kathy Lloyd for Ward 7!!!!
Thanks KTT, call me anytime. I’d love to hear your opinions and ideas. Let’s do good, together 🙂
Only in the Pitts! Over 11,000 turf fields in US and Pittsfield board of health is worried about health risks with the new field at BCC. Where we’re your concern’s with GE and all the PCB’s. The committee that is in charge of the new turf field already switched (at a higher cost) to the safest one on the market. You folks need to do your homework.
My prediction is that Kathy Lloyd will get more votes than my neighbor Tammy Ives and the water wizard combine.
This turf field is to be made up of old tires and sneakers, so the next logical step is to ban sneakers and tires. Right?
Your probably right, Pittsfield and Berkshire County was the only area that Martha Coakley won. Low information voters and moonbats roost together.
What’s a moonbat?
A moonbat Tom is a ultra progressive ultra-left progressive who wants the govt to step in and take care of everybody.
If last night candidate introduction on PCTV is any indicator, Tammy slammed the door shut. Lisa had a hard time reading off the Telepromter?
As I have stated before I live in Ward 1 and am very disappointed with Lisa Tully and Tammy Ives is not any better.
The only reason I will go to the polls this election is to vote against Bianchi & Mazzeo.
Tully will get elected again and sit on the council and make a fool of herself for the next two years.
Taxpayer’s interests will not be represented in Ward 1 for the next two years…… Sad
You said it Henry. It’s like Snow White and seven dwarves and we get to choose between Sleepy and Grumpy. Lol
I still would vote Tully out. She has done zero for the Residents and she Voted for Taconic High School. She does not deserve re-election. She hasn’t earned it.
I’m not voting for Tully and will give Tammy my vote and see what she has…
Sounds like Howard was not willing nor Able to speak the facts.
I wish I lived in Ward 7 so I could vote for Kathy Lloyd. Hope she wins. Shes most impressive.
Yes, too bad she is running against probably the councilor who actually has made an effort. Wish she was running at large cuz she is not in my ward.
Dusty you are correct ward 7 councilor has been one of the least evil perhaps Kathy Lloyd should had ran for councilor at large. Then again, I wish her luck.
Every Councilor running for re-election should be voted out, because they voted for Taconic High School,knowing the Taxpayers had no say whatsoever.
Vote for Kathy Lloyd.