I had a good laught at today’s editorial in the Daily News concerning the "Ugly Truck". We’ve been told to shut up, to mind our own business and to pack up and move out and many have been verbally assaulted. Now we are told we are "cowards". "We" by the way refers to the citizens of Newburyport.
I have to admit there is a certain historical precedent to all this "intimidation politics". That was the way it used to be in the City. Bossie Gillis punching out the Mayor as one rather dramatic example. Other ways have been to sue people not so much to receive monetary compensation but as a means to stop people from practising free speech. Their reasoning is they can get you to shut up if free speech is no longer free.
I hope that civility will win out. The best thing to do is not to counter abuse with abuse but to stand with firm resolution armed with facts and a commitment to our quality of life. I wish I could say that such an approach is guaranteed to work everytime but history shows its a roll of the dice. Let’s hope we don’t roll ‘snake eyes’!
We’ve already seen the oppositions’ choice of tactics.
-P. Preservationist
P. Preservationist 