On July 15th, 2008 Heather Maguire Hoffman (not verified) says:
I couldn't decide whether to put my own two cents in on this post, but I finally couldn't not say anything. Let me start with full disclosure: I'm Mark's wife. However, anyone who knows us more than casually can testify that we have our own opinions and aren't shy about expressing them. We're also both open to hearing other people's opinions and modifying ours if it seems warranted.
First of all, my personal opinion is that Mr. Baker and all of the people who cheered him on on the Cambridge Republican City Committee blog meant every single word of what they said. Now they're trying to claim it was only a joke, but I think they're just sorry they got caught. I for one am sick to death of people saying abhorrent things and then claiming they were just joking when they're called on it. Of course, I don't believe they'd actually do anything; I think they're likely all hat and no cattle. But that doesn't excuse them for saying it, and I doubt they'd excuse someone who went after them in the same way, nor would I.
Of course, they have a right to say anything they want (short of shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater), but we also have a right to condemn it as hateful and not fit for civilized conversation. It does pose the conundrum of telling when Mr. Baker and his friends are joking and when they aren't, considering the placement of the comments regarding the Amigos School and the late Al Vellucci in the middle of a list of what appear to be serious policy recommendations, some of which I might even agree with. This coarsening of political discourse is all too common today and serves only to divide us and prevent us from actually talking about anything important. And now they've cut their blog off from public view so they can express their innermost hopes and desires without having to worry about being overheard by someone who doesn't know the secret handshake. All we can see now is bits and pieces like this:
new RIGHT VIEW column: "The Contract with ... Group: Cambridge GOP
Susan Imrie susanim...@hotmail.com cambridge-gop A whiny crank with a CCTV blog
site has picked up on Fred's "blow up the Amigos School" comment: ... Repudiate the
Community Preservation Act. * End bilingual education in the schools and BLOW UP
the Amigos School as a symbolic act in doing so, complete with a lever ...
Jul 12 by Susan Imrie - 22 messages - 11 authors
new RIGHT VIEW column: "The Contract with ... Group: Cambridge GOP
I certainly will not feel comfortable contributing if I might face legal reprisals
for attempts at humor. mum's the word, west cambridge undercover operative X23
On Jul 12, 2008, at 10:13 PM, Susan Imrie wrote: A whiny crank with a CCTV blog
site has picked up on Fred's "blow up the Amigos School" comment: ...
Jul 12 by Peter Wilson - 22 messages - 11 authors
Don't they know that, as the Republicans keep telling us, we live in a Post-9/11 World(TM)? People can't run around willy-nilly making threats without expecting others to take them Seriously. After all, we must live in fear All the Time Because The Terrorists are Going to Get Us. Indeed, as an Amigos parent pointed out in another forum, if a student were found with a list like Mr. Baker's, the student would be yanked from the classroom, the police would be called, and the student would likely be suspended or worse. Why does Mr. Baker think the rules shouldn't apply to him?
I doubt my great-grandfather Francis Arnold Hoffman would recognize the party he helped found. That brings me to the second topic that has been under discussion, bilingual education. Most of you probably don't know that we German-Americans were the first to demand, and get, bilingual education for our children. It didn't make us not Americans, and it didn't keep us from learning English. It did, however, make us able to read, write and speak two languages fluently instead of just one. In fact, my great-grandfather insisted on speaking only German at home, which probably came as a surprise to his American-born, English-speaking wife. She persevered nonetheless and managed to stick with him and learn German. Being bilingual didn't stop him from being elected to statewide office as lieutenant governor of Illinois and being successful in several other careers, nor did it stop his children from being successful themselves.
Ms. Mackiewicz, I hope you and your lunch buddy both enjoyed the experience; things like that can truly enrich our lives. However, I would suggest to you that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. In addition to your apparent lack of knowledge of world languages that Mark pointed out, I'd like to suggest that you learn the proper usage of the term "begging the question". The misuse you illustrated is far too common. I can put it no better than begthequestion.info: "'Begging the question' is a form of logical fallacy in which a statement or claim is assumed to be true without evidence other than the statement or claim itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as already proven without any logic to show why the statement is true in the first place." There is much more at the website, presented with humor, including cards you can print out and keep with you to help you and others remember what "begging the question" means.
This whole brouhaha leaves me sad. We should be able to discuss our differences of opinion in a civilized manner and learn from each other. I have been reading Susan Jacoby's latest book, "The Age of American Unreason". One of the things she discusses is the current phenomenon of the political echo chamber, where people don't seek out the views of people they don't already agree with, which is a real break with the habits of just a couple of generations ago. I think the demonizing of perceived opponents and the far-too-frequent call for their murder or assassination and/or the destruction of their homes, businesses or other property fuels this stark division between Us and Them. Death and destruction, with rare exceptions, just aren't funny, and the sooner we all learn that, the better.
Mark and I have both agreed with many issues raised in The Right View, and the Chronicle has published at least one letter of his praising one of those columns wholeheartedly. I have said many times that one-party rule is bad for everyone and taken the Massachusetts Republican Party to task for not even contesting most races. How pathetic is it that the Green Party, in no one's estimation a major political force, no matter how many people agree with many or most of the positions it takes, had more candidates for the top statewide offices in the last election than the Massachusetts Republican Party did? Adopting Mr. Baker's comments as your platform, as several people advocated on your blog, will do nothing to improve your electoral chances, and will likewise do nothing to advance true democracy in our city, our state or our country. For that, you should apologize to each other and all of us.
I couldn't decide whether to put my own two cents in on this post, but I finally couldn't not say anything. Let me start with full disclosure: I'm Mark's wife. However, anyone who knows us more than casually can testify that we have our own opinions and aren't shy about expressing them. We're also both open to hearing other people's opinions and modifying ours if it seems warranted.
First of all, my personal opinion is that Mr. Baker and all of the people who cheered him on on the Cambridge Republican City Committee blog meant every single word of what they said. Now they're trying to claim it was only a joke, but I think they're just sorry they got caught. I for one am sick to death of people saying abhorrent things and then claiming they were just joking when they're called on it. Of course, I don't believe they'd actually do anything; I think they're likely all hat and no cattle. But that doesn't excuse them for saying it, and I doubt they'd excuse someone who went after them in the same way, nor would I.
Of course, they have a right to say anything they want (short of shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater), but we also have a right to condemn it as hateful and not fit for civilized conversation. It does pose the conundrum of telling when Mr. Baker and his friends are joking and when they aren't, considering the placement of the comments regarding the Amigos School and the late Al Vellucci in the middle of a list of what appear to be serious policy recommendations, some of which I might even agree with. This coarsening of political discourse is all too common today and serves only to divide us and prevent us from actually talking about anything important. And now they've cut their blog off from public view so they can express their innermost hopes and desires without having to worry about being overheard by someone who doesn't know the secret handshake. All we can see now is bits and pieces like this:
Don't they know that, as the Republicans keep telling us, we live in a Post-9/11 World(TM)? People can't run around willy-nilly making threats without expecting others to take them Seriously. After all, we must live in fear All the Time Because The Terrorists are Going to Get Us. Indeed, as an Amigos parent pointed out in another forum, if a student were found with a list like Mr. Baker's, the student would be yanked from the classroom, the police would be called, and the student would likely be suspended or worse. Why does Mr. Baker think the rules shouldn't apply to him?
I doubt my great-grandfather Francis Arnold Hoffman would recognize the party he helped found. That brings me to the second topic that has been under discussion, bilingual education. Most of you probably don't know that we German-Americans were the first to demand, and get, bilingual education for our children. It didn't make us not Americans, and it didn't keep us from learning English. It did, however, make us able to read, write and speak two languages fluently instead of just one. In fact, my great-grandfather insisted on speaking only German at home, which probably came as a surprise to his American-born, English-speaking wife. She persevered nonetheless and managed to stick with him and learn German. Being bilingual didn't stop him from being elected to statewide office as lieutenant governor of Illinois and being successful in several other careers, nor did it stop his children from being successful themselves.
Ms. Mackiewicz, I hope you and your lunch buddy both enjoyed the experience; things like that can truly enrich our lives. However, I would suggest to you that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. In addition to your apparent lack of knowledge of world languages that Mark pointed out, I'd like to suggest that you learn the proper usage of the term "begging the question". The misuse you illustrated is far too common. I can put it no better than begthequestion.info: "'Begging the question' is a form of logical fallacy in which a statement or claim is assumed to be true without evidence other than the statement or claim itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as already proven without any logic to show why the statement is true in the first place." There is much more at the website, presented with humor, including cards you can print out and keep with you to help you and others remember what "begging the question" means.
This whole brouhaha leaves me sad. We should be able to discuss our differences of opinion in a civilized manner and learn from each other. I have been reading Susan Jacoby's latest book, "The Age of American Unreason". One of the things she discusses is the current phenomenon of the political echo chamber, where people don't seek out the views of people they don't already agree with, which is a real break with the habits of just a couple of generations ago. I think the demonizing of perceived opponents and the far-too-frequent call for their murder or assassination and/or the destruction of their homes, businesses or other property fuels this stark division between Us and Them. Death and destruction, with rare exceptions, just aren't funny, and the sooner we all learn that, the better.
Mark and I have both agreed with many issues raised in The Right View, and the Chronicle has published at least one letter of his praising one of those columns wholeheartedly. I have said many times that one-party rule is bad for everyone and taken the Massachusetts Republican Party to task for not even contesting most races. How pathetic is it that the Green Party, in no one's estimation a major political force, no matter how many people agree with many or most of the positions it takes, had more candidates for the top statewide offices in the last election than the Massachusetts Republican Party did? Adopting Mr. Baker's comments as your platform, as several people advocated on your blog, will do nothing to improve your electoral chances, and will likewise do nothing to advance true democracy in our city, our state or our country. For that, you should apologize to each other and all of us.