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Open Debate and Junk Mail More Democratic Than Thou Frank Murkowski did a clever, and, I think, admirable thing a few days ago: he forced open debate between gubenatorial candidates by giving up part of his time to the Libertarian and Green party candidates, who were in the audience protesting their exclusion from yet another debate. Fran Ulmer was not pleased. And why should she be? Greens are widely perceived as a threat to the Democratic party, and the Democrats don’t need any competition right now--or at least, that’s what they think. I don’t see, however, that Libertarians would cause the Democrats any loss of votes--more likely the Republicans, I’d say. What Frank did at the Bartlett High School debate in Anchorage made Fran look bad, and him look more democratic and willing to listen to other views than she. Score several political points for him. It was a very good move. Not much risk for him, a major party candidate with a very good chance of winning, and quite a bit of risk for Fran. She flubbed her chance. The debate was on live TV, so the time allotted to each candidate ended up being roughly equal, which is fair, but it’s a shame that the organizers of the debate had to have this openness forced on them. Why have so many of the debates this election season been so closed? Usually Alaska elections are marked by lively discussion with all the candidates--minor party candidates don’t gain much ground, but they do force the major party candidates to address questions that they wouldn’t otherwise have to deal with. The fruitcake factor often makes for memorable responses to reporters’ and moderators’ questions, and wastes a bit of time, but the entertainment, variety, and the, well, democratic quality of open, full-spectrum debates and forums are invaluable. It bothers me that the "democratic" candidate has seemed less willing than the Republican candidate to open up the debates. And it galls me that the candidate for the Republican party, which I’d rather not have in any public office, is the one who pulled chairs up on the stage for the alternative candidates, saying that we need to hear from all of them. But--Senator Murkowski deserves praise for this. So good on you, Frank. Yet Another Pet Peeve Yesterday we brought home the mail, like most days, and, as per usual, we sifted through the pile, sorting into three main groups: bills, magazines and letters, and junk mail. The last was, of course, the biggest pile. The post office likes to refer to this as bulk mail, which is a perfectly good description, because it does come in bulk. Lots of it, every day, from every conceivable source. I look at the numerous form letters from banks all across the nation telling me what great credit I have and if I only sign here and fill out the form there, you, too, DEIRDEE HELFEBICH, or was it DEBREE HELFERHOLD, or perhaps DEBRA HESSERICK, can go into debt to the tune of $5,000 or $10,000 at the swipe of a card. But hurry! the letters warn, you only have until OCTOBER 27, 2002, (let’s see, that was two days prior to getting this notice) to take advantage of this great offer and get 0% interest (on transfers only, good only until the end of the year, read the fine print on the back to discover that the real interest rate is something like 29.5%--what once upon a time used to be considered usury)! Bleah. I won’t even go into the details on the forms for the music companies and the magazines people want me to buy and the great charitable organizations who waste more money on glossy envelopes than…oh, never mind. You get this stuff, too, so you know what I’m talking about. I usually handle it by sending all their junk back to them in their postage-paid, self-addressed business reply mail envelope. But now there are these opt-out letters, where if you don’t respond, they sell your name to everybody, and send you piles of crap, and somehow rope you into some postal support contract that you never signed up for in the first place. So I opt out. AND they make you pay for the stamp. THAT’S insulting. No company should be allowed to send this stuff out unless you sign up for it first. And you should have to re-up every year, like a subscription, so you don’t saddle your heirs with junk mail five years after you’re dead, telling them what great credit your ghost has. You know what I think? I think that any company who sends out crud like this should be prosecuted for flagrant, wanton wastage of our country’s natural resources, and for jeopardizing our national security by destabilizing our economy. This has gone on long enough. We are drowning in paper, and chopping down old growth forests to create stupid solicitations for DEEDA HESELIHITCH, who doesn’t live here anymore. Sheesh. So what say, Congressman? Here’s a bill worthy of passage! | ||
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