Thank you again for your courtesy is reading and responding to me earlier.
Again, respectfully yours,
Steve Altman
P.S. Your implied assertion that the National Enquirer is trash and shouldn't be important is quite true, but then so was Mein Kampf and would anyone argue it wasn't important or influential?
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We agree that writers can and should make their writing, even on technical subjects, clear, engaging, and accessible. However, I have personally known many instances of humanities people with an overt disdain for scientific and technological subjects who would not even pick up that kind of book to see for themselves whether or not the author has done that. No matter how well the author has expressed himself, he cannot “reach the reader” unless the reader picks up the book, opens the covers, and looks inside. A compiler of “most important” lists who systematically fails to do that is, I still maintain, guilty of a serious sort of negligence.
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Dear Dr. Schmidt,
In a science fiction novel I read many years ago, one of the characters observed a politician delivering an address. At the end of the address the narrator realized the politician had spoken but hadn't said a thing because the politician had use linguistic artifices that the crowd could not discern. Yet all present hailed the address as a masterpiece. It was the deliberate introduction of “noise” into the system.
Your editorial seems to recognize that this is what is in play, but what to do? For your consideration, here are some possible filters that a voter might use.
1. Look at what is said before power forums (National Press Club, Council on Foreign Relations, etc.). Forget “stump” speeches and the talking head show. The current president, in those fora, never swayed from a message of collectivism vice individuality. In foreign policy fora he never swayed from a minimalist role for American foreign policy except when that would have entailed an obvious retreat from Afghanistan and Iraq.
2. Look to the people who support the candidate and can vouch for the characteristic(s) he claims to advance. The current president relied solely on himself as the promoter of his virtues. His opponent had character witnesses lined up around the block.
3. Look to his mentors and the early influences. The current president's mentors, those that could be identified, are all communists or vehemently anti-American. I say that because they are either documented as such in the Party records or by a media records. Would you deny evidence just because it doesn't fit your preconceptions, sensibilities, or world-view?
4. Look to internal consistency. I don't deduct points for “flip flops” per se. If facts change, opinions had better change. However, how often has the candidate made unequivocal statements of fact that later have to be papered over or retracted?
5. Look for unguarded moments of candor. In the Joe the Plumber moment, the current president set forth his entire agenda in one sentence. He wants to “spread the wealth around.” He has just rammed through a piece of legislation and proposed a budget that will do exactly that.
6. Look for a record. What has the candidate actually done? Though she was the victim of unrelenting media condemnation, there is no gainsaying the fact, provable and verifiable, that Sarah Pahlin had more actual executive experience than any of the other three candidates. Whether an observer credits that experience says nothing about Sarah Pahlin. Just about the observer. The current president was an officer in a large donated program that failed according to any objective measure of the results versus the stated objectives.
7. Look at language. Words mean things. Does he deal with specifics? “Hope,” “Change,” “Yes we can,” are all very nice words, but “Just words.” The fact is such formulations are meant to appeal specifically to emotions. Emotions are nice and everyone needs some. But, they are not calls to action in any meaningful sense nor do they point to a course of action. If a candidate does not offer specifics, at least as a trial balloon, and brushes off questions of specifics, major red flags need to go up.
There are other filters, but you get the drift. I could not agree with you more that people MUST make informed choices on election day. Especially now. The “Marching Moron” block has endangered our national survival. But, these days, how many people are going to take the effort to educate themselves?
Would you join me in proposing a poll test? If a voter cannot name two of the three branches of the federal government, THEY MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO VOTE. How about it?
John Jarrell
San Antonio, TX
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You make some good points in terms of general advice; but, ironically, your letter itself provides a good place to practice applying them. Your own political bias comes through so loudly it raises doubts about whether consistent noise filtration is really your primary interest. Many of your allegations are at best hard to support (e.g., “relied solely on himself” and “all ... vehemently anti-American"), and your consistent misspelling of “Palin” undermines confidence in your attention to detail.
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Reader's Department: UPCOMING EVENTS by Anthony Lewis
25-27 September 2007
FOOLSCAP 11 (Washington state SF conference) at Redmond Marriott Hotel, Redmond, WA. Guests of Honor: Peter David & Jeff Sturgeon. Membership: $45 in advance, higher at the door. Info: www.foolscap.org.
18-20 September 2009
HORROR REALM [formerly Zombie Fest] (media-oriented horror convention) at Crowne Plaza Pittsburgh South, Pittsburgh, PA. Guests: Ken Foree, Jeff Lieberman, Tiffany Shepis. Membership: $20. Info: www192.pair.com/lifeless/HorrorRealm/home.htm; [email protected]
9-11 October 2009
GAYLAXICON 2009 (GLBT science fiction, fantasy, and horror conference) at Saint Louis Park Doubletree, Minneapolis, MN. Guests of Honor: Margaret Weis, Lawrence Schimel, Andy Mangels, Terrance Griep. Memberships: $70 until 11 August 2009. Info: www.gaylaxicon2009.org; [email protected]; Post Office Box 6045, Minnehaha Station, Minneapolis, MN 55406.
16-18 October 2009
CAPCLAVE (Washington DC area SF conference) at Hilton Washington DC/Rockville, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. Author Guest of Honor: Harry Turtledove; Editor Guest of Honor: Sheila Williams. Memberships: $45 until 30 June 2009, $55 until 31 September 2009, $60 thereafter. Info: www.capclave.org; c/o Barry Newton, Post Office Box 53, Ashton, MD 20861.
23-25 October 2009
GEEK.KON (sci-fi, fantasy, anime, gaming, etc.) at Sheraton Hotel, Madison, WI. Guests to be announced. Membership: $20. Info: www.geekkon.net/index; Post Office Box 5191, Madison, WI 53705.
29 October-1 November 2009
WORLD FANTASY CONVENTION at The Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, CA. Guests: Garth Nix; others to be announced. Membership: $125. Info: www.worldfantasy2009.org/; World Fantasy 2009, Post Office Box 61363, Sunnyvale, CA 94088-1363.
2-6 September 2010
AUSSIECON FOUR (68th World Science Fiction Convention) at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Guest of Honor: Kim Stanley Robinson; Artist Guest of Honor: Shaun Tan; Fan Guest of Honor: Robin Johnson. Membership from 1 January 2009 until some later date (see website for latest details): AUD 210, USD 175, CAD 185, GBP 100, EUR 120, JPY 16000; supporting membership AUD 70, USD 50, CAD 50, GBP 25, EUR 35, JPY 4900. This is the SF universe's annual get-together. Professionals and readers from all over the world will be in attendance. Talks, panels, films, fancy dress competition—the works. Nominate and vote for the Hugos. Info: www.aussiecon4.org.au/, [email protected], GPO Box 1212, Melbourne, Victoria, A
USTRALIA 3001
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Analog SFF, September 2009 Page 23
