What is a "moderate"?
From: WizeMaxie
To: RTD_Letters
Subject: "Chcichester will not seek re-election" RTD March 13, 2007 p.1
There you go again. You referred to Se. John H.Chichester, R-Northumberland as the "leader of the moderate bloc
of Republican senators, " "a lightning rod for conservative Republicans." and " With Democrats and centrist Republicans as allies." 1984 must be here.
My daddy always taught me that those who wanted to increase taxes and effect a transfer of wealth from private to public pockets, especially in light of a recent $1.4 billion tax increase and a recent $700 million budget surplus was anything but a moderate or centrist position. He would call those who pursue this form of Socialism as liberals or radicals. Those who oppose the above were called moderates, not conservatives.
If there is a disagreement in a non-opinion reporting piece about the use of adjectives or labels, one should refrain from using them. I would point out in the same issue of the newspaper Michael Hardy writes an article on page B.1 titled "Vehicle-tax plan dies." While discussing the politics of the General Assembly session and its relationship with the Governor, not once are the above biased adjectives used. Kudos to Mr. Hardy.
During the recent forum on political reporting sponsored by the newspaper, the above complaint was voiced by at least three individuals, but your ears were deaf. This reminds me of double-speak (think) as enunciated by George Orwell. If the media repeats or misrepresents an idea often enough, the public will eventually accept and believe the misrepresentation as fact. It is probably already too late.