Killian memos, campaign tactics, and my lack of comments

I haven’t commented on the Killian memos (1) or recent campaign tactics, and I’m going generally going to continue that policy. Like many writing online, I’m far more interested in what our next President proposes to do, especially since solutions to health care, economic growth, the social safety net, foreign policy issues, and civil liberties aren’t without significant difficulties and tradeoffs. I guess I’m getting accustomed to the fact that the remainder of the campaign is going to be fought tactically and without much deliberation or discussion. And that depresses me.

I’m not even sure I know whether that’s the right strategy or not anymore. It certainly isn’t the right strategy for reaching me, and many of the folks I talk with or whose writings I read. But we’re a small and non-representative sample of the citizenry, so perhaps the attacks and negative campaigning are needed to reach others. I hope that’s not the case, because it doesn’t say anything particularly good about the state of citizen decision-making. It’s also the case that folks like me have long-settled choices in this campaign, so it’s also possible that reaching the miniscule percentage of undecideds requires different tactics.

I just hope the Kerry campaign knows what it’s doing.

I don’t have a huge argument here…I’m mostly just articulating why I’m not commenting much on the state of either candidate’s campaign lately.

(1) I do, however, tend to believe that at least some of the Killian memos could be forged, and not well done at that. The presence of proportional fonts, kerning of the type, true superscript “th” for 187th, and the true right single quote rather than vertical apostrophe do suggest the use of a modern word processor rather than a commonly available typewriter. And even if some specialized and expensive typewriting/setting equipment was available in the early 1970′s, it doesn’t seem very likely it would be used in National Guard offices, does it?

UPDATE: I knew I shouldn’t have commented on the Killian memos at all. Turns out that the IBM Executive Model D did have all the features needed to produce the memos, or so some experts have claimed. I’ll just shut up about it and let you read the ongoing controversy yourself.

Comments

11 Comments so far. Comments are closed.
  1. Sam Feldman, CEO of S.L. Feldman & Associates (SLFA), Will Play in the CEO Poker Event

    Feldman, CEO of S.L. Feldman Associates (SLFA), Canadas leading full-service entertainment agency, will play in the CEO Poker event at

  2. Ships shed light on geomagnetic field

    thought. David Gubbins and colleagues at Leeds University say that our planet’s magnetic field was

  3. Firefox nears 50 Million DLs, Prizes Offered

    But you don’t have long. The Infocraft Firefox Counter shows just over 800,000 downloads left at the time of this submission!

  4. Scios to Conduct Safety Study of Natrecor

    more than $100M to conduct safety, effectiveness study of its heart failure drug

  5. Sleep Eaters Have No Idea They’re Eating

    his Sleep Disorder Isn’t About the Food

  6. Fewer Laid Off Workers File Jobless Claims

    off workers filing jobless claims drop by 35,000, the largest amount in 8 months

  7. India – Freedom of Religion

    have raised the question of religious freedom at a recent meeting with our Ambassador to the Vatican….

  8. High rate of self-harm seen among college students

    YORK (Reuters Health) – One in six young adults have injured themselves intentionally at least once, according to the largest US survey to investigate

  9. Sirius to Air Wis. Couple’s Wedding Music

    ouple’s Wedding Music to Be Aired Nationally on Sirius Satellite Radio

  10. Video Game Lets People Have Sex, But at What Cost to Their Health?

    America: The Game” Allows Players to ‘Interact’

  11. U.N., African Union Warn of Darfur Fights

    African Union Warn of More Fighting in Darfur if Peacekeepers Are Not Supported