The whole point of free speech is not to make ideas exempt from criticism but to expose them to it.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

T**** You!

And T**** You to Bill Fleming for sending this to me. Pretty funny, I think.

9 comments:

taco said...

For those of us who missed it in the Journal, thank you for posting Sam's thank you ad.

I see that Sam's ad has a link to his very interesting website.

Michael Sanborn said...

Okay, so Bill did send me the ad too. I didn't post it, but I'm glad Bob did.

It is no secret that I like Sam. I really don't much like the ad. But I understand why Sam ran it, and I don't blame him for doing so.

That said, I probably would not have run it. (But I really don't KNOW I wouldn't have run it, because what happened to Sam, didn't happen to me.) I understand that Sam is angry about the censure, and he should be. It was an utter travesty in every single possible way.

That the election turned out the way it did, with Sam unopposed, and four new councilpersons elected and two incumbents ousted, is a testimony to how citizens felt about the censure.

Sam's best revenge now is to leave the bitterness behind and do his usual excellent job of representing his ward and everyone else in Rapid City.

Bill Fleming said...

Is it supposed to be funny? I wonder how many people laughed. Is this Sam's new brand positioning? Will he tag all his campaign ads like this? Vote for me because you feel sorry for me? Vote for me because I got picked on?

Pretty lame, but whatever.

I question Sam's sincerity here. He seems more interested in rubbing peoples face in it than he does anything else. The ad seems bitter and self-serving. Grandstanding. Again. Same old Sam.

If he were really grateful for the support his ward gave him, why wouldn't he just say so? What could a little humility hurt?

Thad Wasson (Google Account defective at this time). said...

For a simple man such as myself, it is a little confusing. The voters didn't censure anyone, it was the council. Malcom and Lloyd are gone, must voters will not remember this chapter.

Sam has been a great public servant and has a bright future in politics. He is smarter than I, so I'm sure he knows what he is doing.

DDC said...

I think it would have been great for the campaign website or to send out to the bloggers, but I'm not sure it was a great move for an ad in the paper. The vast majority of people are going to go "huh?".

Very funny though.

taco said...

He's wearing the censure as a badge of honor, as he should. In my view, Sam was censured for acting like a true representative of the people.

I think the average reader would look at Sam's ad and think: "Sam was censured, yet he was reelected without opposition, ergo, the censure must not have been reflective of the sentiments of the voters."

Bill Fleming said...

Was his name on the ballot?

repete said...

Simple political self-promotion. Maybe Sam is not that much different from the rest of them after all.

Donna said...

That is a bit disappointing. To me the bigger man does not dwell on an injustice in such a negative and self promoting manner. Revenge is ugly to all. The signal to me of a great man is to use the expreience to promote protecting others from suffering the same injustice. What I really enjoyed about the old Sam was his modest ego and average Joe Citizen persona. Sad to see that gone.