By David Freeman
Guest Columnist
I am irritated, and I bet some of you are too. The arrogance of our politicians seems to be growing by the day. I realize that we are a republic, and that we elect people to represent our views and legislate on our behalf, but the question I want to ask you is this: Are they representing your views? Do you believe they are legislating on your behalf? If not, then read what is below, and take action. It will become apparent what my political stance is, but if you do not agree, and that is your right, then do exactly the opposite of what I am suggesting. Just do something!
I would like to help start a guerrilla political marketing campaign to bring pressure to bear on Congressmen and Senators prior to any final vote on health care legislation. The campaign could be continued to help unseat any politicians you might want to replace.
The campaign would be based on what I consider to be one of the best grassroots guerrilla campaigns ever run, an anti-Nixon ad run during the Kennedy-Nixon presidential race. Here are the particulars of that campaign.
Posters were made up with Mr. Nixon’s picture on them. The photo was one that had been taken of him late in the afternoon looking into the sun. As you may remember he had a heavy beard, and he shaved twice a day. This photo caught him with a 5 o’ clock shadow and squinting. The caption under the photowas simple, but it picked at the corner of our fear and uncertainty. It suggested that perhaps there was something we did not know, but that we needed to know about him, something that was not quite right. It said:
"Would you let this man walk your daughter home from school?"
It was devastatingly effective.
Here is my idea.
Create an ad which can be e-mailed or printed which would have two pictures on it. The title at the top of the page would be: "We know what’s best," followed by the words "Official Photograph." It is "official" because you say it is. It is your right to make decisions to control things in your life. The two pictures would be of President Obama on the left and, our target, a congressman or senator on the right. Under each photo their names would be shown in small print, i.e., President Barack Obama, Senator Harry Reid.
The pictures should be carefully chosen. Choose internet available pictures that show them to be angry-angry and pointing a finger would be better, but angry is acceptable.
The tag line of the piece is one that harkens back to the Kennedy-Nixon campaign. It is designed to pick at the corners of our uncertainty and our fear. It is a line that will irritate each and every one of us, because it will dredge up our angst, and make us recall the disaffection, anger, and alienation that we all felt as teenagers. The line is:
"Don’t question us! Shut up, and do what you’re told"!
I don’t know about you, but this is the impression I get just about any time a politician steps up to a microphone. In one fashion or another they tell us: "Don’t question us! Shut up, and do what you’re told". It irritates me just as badly now as it did when I was a teenager. How about you?
A sample photograph is attached. If you do not know how to manipulate photos get a friend to build your ad for you. That is what I had to do.
After you have built your ad please send this letter and a copy of your ad to everyone you know, especially in the district of the politician whose picture you are using, and ask them to send it to everyone they know. Ask them to find a photo of a politician in their district who needs replacing, combine it with the photo of the President and send it out.
Why am I doing this?
The reason I am doing this is because of a provision Speaker Nancy Pelosi had inserted in the House version of the health care bill. The provision states that willful refusal to purchase a health care policy which meets the criteria that the government has benevolently created for us, not for themselves, mind you, for us, will result in a fine of 2.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. God forbid that they should have to live by the same rules they enact to control us.
Willful refusal to pay the fine can result in penalties up to a fine of $250,000 or 5 years in prison, or both. I find this unbelievably shocking.
Even more shocking is the fact that both Mrs. Pelosi and the President have defended the penalties in interviews. Attached is a link to an interview in which Mrs. Pelosi defended imprisoning Americans for refusal to "do as they are told".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thgJ0BJN0qg
Make copies. E-mail people. Send letters with the ad. Put them everywhere. Take out a newspaper ad if you can afford it, a billboard. Put it on cars in parking lots. Make a bumper sticker with the slogan. Print it on signs and T-shirts to carry or wear at rallies. Unleash your imagination.
Sincerely,
Your friend and
Bitter, Clinging, Malcontent
David Freeman
Richmond Hill