Tuesday, September 4, 2012
A Voice of Reason
Reynolds Winslow, Chair of the Human Rights Commission, tried to slow down the Amherst Select Board's rush to veto flying 25 commemorative flags in the downtown to remember the 2,997 citizens denied their human rights that awful morning.
To no avail.
Town officials will now invoke the 'West Side Story' defense to avoid placing the issue on the upcoming Select Board meeting of September 10, the eleventh anniversary of the more infamous SB meeting of 9/10/01.
When the national media picked up the story of "West Side Story" under fire in Amherst (1999) by a vocal minority for alleged racial stereotyping and the debate decibels had risen to ear shattering proportions, school officials cancelled the play ...not because they agreed with the critics but because the strident debate had become to distracting.
Now this flying-the-25-commemorative-flags-on-9/11-once-every-five-years story has taken on a life of its own. And the real loser is the town.
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11 comments:
I think that this clip demonstrates my simple point that this argument can be advanced in a different tone, something different from "my country, right or wrong."
If you are throwing Stephanie O'Keeffe under the bus, or going to FoxNews and then claiming innocence and disbelief when they distort, you need to think again. This is not the way to win, if you are really interested in that, and not simply in calling attention to yourself.
Rich Morse
Yes Rich, I figured you would say that.
And look what that "different tone" garnered Mr. Winslow from Ms. O'Keeffe: Nothing!
Back in the dark days of 2005 when Anne Awad ruled the board with her iron fist, I went before them under almost identical circumstances: only two other citizens in the room.
One of them was school superintendent Jere Hochman who I had just finished throwing under the bus over "Vagina Monologues" at ARHS, only unlike Mr. Winslow he did not speak up at the meeting.
Jere emailed me later that night and apologized for NOT speaking up and sent me a copy of an email he composed for the Select Board requesting the flags be allowed to fly.
The Springfield Republican gave it a headline story.
Either the year before or maybe after then Director of the Chamber of Commerce John Coull (who is also Stephanie O'Keeffe's father) read to the Select Board a statement of support for flying the flags.
And he did it in the most respectful of manner.
You supported flying the flags at Town Meeting five years ago, feel free to compose a statement of perfect tone and publish it here.
Or maybe since I'm too caustic a source, send it to the venerable Gazette.
Table this topic and get a life, everyone - a working life. Is this what over-educated, arrogant one percenters spent their time on? What a waste.
Funny, looks to me like the vast majority of overwhelming support for flying the commemorative flags on 9/11 is coming from the 99%.
Larry created this response by the SB all on his own by going on Fox News. You coulda just said no, Larry. It ain't all about you.
Actually the reporter who wrote today's front page story for the Gazette (and he has 30 years experience as a reporter) said he watched the Fox News segment and reviewed the video tape of the infamous 9/10/01 Select Board meeting (which he attended as a reporter) and he could find no mistakes in MY presentation on Fox.
Over the past 30 years I have been interviewed on TV -- both local and national -- hundreds of times.
If Fox had simply put me in a room with a camera and gave me an hour to come up with a 5-minute segment I would not have changed a thing from what I presented LIVE.
But yes, if they allowed me to produce the segment, I would have been far more careful with the graphics.
No one is questioning your accuracy of events - the issue is your need to go on Fox News at all. Again I say, you could have just said No. Once you were there, the issue is your failure to correct the impression that Amherst does not fly any flags on 9/11 or any other day of the year for that matter. The issue is the impression that Amherst does nothing to note the solemness of 9/11. What you said created a false impression of what goes on here in town and you did nothing to correct that impression.
Well I guess you're a PR pro who would have been able to do all that. Pretty good for an Anon.
I would again point out that in today's banner headline, front page, above the fold, article the close nails it:
When a irate critic was set strait by Stephanie O'Keeffe (who has a PR background) that person responded back that the town should STILL FLY THE FLAGS on 9/11.
Discussions of important issues always devolve into issues of tone and personality. Never the issues or the facts, just who says it and how, always criticizing the person asking for change. George Washington could ask the Select Board, School Committee or administrators for a change and would be criticized for his manner.
I don't seem to remember anyone criticizing Larry's tone or manner. His tone and manner were very civil and even. I have not seen anyone dispute that at all.
Everyone seems to be criticizing the fact that he felt the need to go on national tv at all.
In 1999 I "felt the need" to go on Good Morning America to rail against the schools cancelling "West Side Story".
And in 2004 I "felt the need" to go on The Bill O'Reilly Show to rail against the schools allowing teen aged girls to perform R-rated material ("Vagina Monologues") in public, the only high school in American to do so that year.
And in both those cases, the TV shows called me and set up the live interviews. As did Fox most recently.
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