Klan for Kratovil
October 18, 2008 by Cato
Filed under Blogging, Maryland, Maryland Politics, Media
If apologists for Frank Kratovil want to attack Maryland Sen. Andy Harris for the company he supposedly keeps, perhaps they wouldn’t mind being held to the same standard.
I’m a big believer in fairness. Since certain Kratovil shills choose to attack Harris for his (real or imagined) association with Salisbury News publisher Joe Albero, let’s take a look at the behavior of some of Kratovil’s cheerleaders.
Bill Duvall, a man whose opinions on ethnicity are a matter of public record, uses this link to attack Harris. And who wrote this post? Our good friend “Bud the Blogger”.
Included in this post is the following comment:
did ya see the photos of the great Harris picnic? Some crowd. Must have been twenty people there with the same old faces.
The half breed indian woman (my emphasis) and the has been deputy sheriff.Looks like harris would learn that this is just a photo op for the delmar dumbass and his troops.
Besides Bud’s past personal views, we also know that these are moderated comments and were approved by someone.
Besides antiquated (and discredited) views on race and ethnicity, these people have a history of simply making up stories out of whole cloth. Duvall is well remembered for his fabricated tale of the Wicomico Board of Ed providing special, segregated space for little Muslim children to pray (which he still has on his website). There are myriad additional instances both before and since.
Bud seems to make stuff up on a daily basis. A few days ago, Bud told us that the “Daily Times Exposes Andy Harris“. What did they expose? The Harris campaign had the temerity to assume that a quote, published in the paper and never corrected was the truth and used it in an ad. For shame Andy!
Just because a few staunch Kratovil hacks are bigots, does this make Frank Kratovil a racist? ABSOLUTELY NOT! There in lies my point.
Even a staunch Harris partisan such as myself doesn’t hold Frank Kratovil responsible for a few morons who flack for him and also behave as if a Saturday night cross burning is a regular social event. Logic also dictates that Harris is not responsible for the actions of Joe Albero (or me) than the man in the moon.
Should we expect a public disavowal from Kratovil? No. I’m not asking for one either. For starters, Salisbury News has more readers in a good hour than our two local Grand Dragons get in a month. (perhaps that’s why Kratovil’s boys are in such a twist?) I’m just reminding a few folks that what’s good for the goose …
Sphere: Related Content
I notice you censor comments just the way Albero does. For shame.
Since I don’t have any unapproved comments, please be kind enough to tell me what the hell you’re talking about.
OK, my bad. I guess I didn’t enter it right or something so here it is again for your reading pleasure:
How you can jump from Duvall’s racist comments to associating Kratovil and the KKK is beyond comprehension. The picture you ran is hate-filled, completely uncouth, and without compunction and you know it.
In the post you supposedly draw comparison to, Harris was associated with Albero and vice-versa. There was no third party linkage such as the KKK or any other group. You are not holding any one to the “same standard”. This post(like many others) just doesn’t cut the mustard.
Two Sentz
OK Two -
Take a deep breath and read this quote from the post:
“Just because a few staunch Kratovil hacks are bigots, does this make Frank Kratovil a racist? ABSOLUTELY NOT! There in lies my point.
“Even a staunch Harris partisan such as myself doesn’t hold Frank Kratovil responsible for a few morons who flack for him and also behave as if a Saturday night cross burning is a regular social event. Logic also dictates that Harris is not responsible for the actions of Joe Albero (or me) than the man in the moon.”
The point was pretty clear if you had read the entire post. I wasn’t calling Frank Kratovil a racist (and stated so to be absolutely clear). I wasn’t even claiming that Duvall, et al are in the Klan. My point was that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Why do you feel that it’s OK to tag Harris with either Albero or me but it’s not OK to tag Kratovil for some of his supporters’ antics? The difference between me and those guys is that I won’t do that. I was very clear that I wasn’t calling Kratovil a racist.
As for the headline and photo – you are correct that they are shocking. That was the point. The photo is not hate-filled because it’s a photo (and incapable of any emotion) and my intent was to shock, not to promote the activities or views of a bunch of sheet wearing low-lifes.
As to the picture being uncouth, that would be a tad difficult. I believe you meant to say that I am uncouth. Beauty is in the eye … Also, the photo cannot have “compunction”. It is inanimate and cannot have qualms about anything.
Up to now I may disagree with you, but I actually empathize. It is your last paragraph that is off the rails. Your argument that it would be OK to associate Kratovil directly with a bigot but no to use the Klan metaphor (and that is all it was) hold no water – either logically or rhetorically.
You do your cause harm by attempting to attack or defend any action through some Clintonesque parsing of words or phrases. The average reader will simply believe that you are hiding something; whether that be true or not.
In the end, it matters naught. Go back up to top of this comment. I was quite clear that I was neither stating nor implying that Frank Kratovil was a racist or had any affiliation with the Klan. That’s the difference between me and liberals. Words have meaning. Ideas matter. If someone cannot read an entire post or comprehend basic English, the fault does not lie here.
I read the whole post and the top of the comment. You commented similarly on sbynews. You are talking out of the side of your mouth. You did the same in the triple threat post. You clearly make associations, it’s right there in the title, the Klan and Kratovil, complete with picture, and try to absolve yourself later on. If one does not read the post, what do they come away with? Exactly what you want them to, associating Kratovil with burning crosses. Then you try to say somehow you didn’t mean it? I guess it depends on “what your definition of is is.”
I really wouldn’t have a problem with the post except for the fact you brought the KKK in for no apparent reason other than sensationalism. You admit you don’t think Frank is a racist. You also admit “I wasn’t even claiming that Duvall, et al are in the Klan.” There in lies MY point: Why even do it then? By posting that pic and title, you are fanning the flames of the fire you claim to reject. I feel sorry for you if you can’t see the logic in that. If you truly are not a bigot and truly disapprove of the behavior of the Klan, you would not give life to it by using that pic. You could have found a more appropriate pic and title. But you didn’t and that is on you.
So this brings me to the second part of my comment. Fight fair! You reference the post by Bud about Harris and Albero. Did that include associations to a third party? No. You say want to hold Kratovil apologists to the same standard, but you didn’t. Again you are talking out of the side of you mouth.
You say: “Why do you feel that it’s OK to tag Harris with either Albero or me but it’s not OK to tag Kratovil for some of his supporters’ antics?” Key words: “with” and “for”. Show some pics of Frank chumming it up with Duvall. Talk about some instances where they were seen talking together or sharing an office. I don’t mind the political mud-slinging. ‘Tis the season. But that is not what you did.
As for the picture being hate-filled… Ask yourself what is going on in the picture? What are the emotions of the guys in the picture? You say “Ideas matter”. Tell me, what is the idea behind that picture? You know full well what you were doing posting that. And you know full well what I meant. But I will explain further…I was using personification (a figure of speech in which inanimate objects are endowed with human qualities). And you ran it without compunction, did you not? (You got me on that one. I wasn’t paying close enough attention as I was hot under the collar. While we’re at it, shouldn’t it be: Duvall, et al IS in…)
Finally, uncouth is an adjective. Adjectives describe nouns. A picture is a noun.
I respectfully request that you remove the picture in question at the very least. Changing the title would be very nice too.
Two Sentz
One thing you got correct this time is my reason for the title and photo – sensationalism. That, and alliteration (which you should have noticed that I am a fan of), were the primary reasons for the headline and photo.
We have done it before, and will do it again. It grabs people’s attention to be sure. Plus, I have a special place in my heart for people like Duvall and Bud. While I am from here (Talbot Co.) I grew up in Virginia. I am just old enough to remember segregation, Jim Crow, the Byrd machine’s practice of “massive resistance” (and it’s sibling – “freedom of choice”). If you were a regular reader, you would know that I took a hit from my conservative brethren over the Supreme Court’s “Louisville decision” (which was just a re-institution of “freedom of choice”).
It is not my concern if people don’t read the entire post. If not, I don’t want to hear any whining.
You are still way off in your claim that I am somehow wrong in using a third entity as comparison. This is not reporting, it’s op-ed. Metaphor is definitely appropriate if one reads the entire post.
You should also note that you again made a couple of factual errors. It is true that Harris and Albero have talked at events. I’ve talked to Kratovil, so what? They have never shared an office. It is true that Harris visited Albero’s downtown office on one occasion that I know of. Again, so what?
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a big believer in “all’s fair”. I just don’t whine about it. This was one of the points I’ve made with these types of posts. If you want to tag me, fine. Don’t get in a twist if I return the favor.
Albero is controversial. I’m less so. I grew up in electoral politics. This is why I made a conscious decision that I don’t have my picture (knowingly) taken with candidates. This blog (and my other written contributions) have made me a de facto public figure (and a somewhat controversial one at that). Joe is not as savvy. He shouldn’t be running photo’s of himself with Harris t-shirts or with Harris. I have told him so. Admittedly, my reasoning is strictly political.
As for “uncouth”, that is not really an appropriate adjective for a photo. It is meant to describe the characteristics of personal action.
You may be correct about the “et al”, but I don’t think so. I’m going to check.
Take care. It’s been fun.
Final thoughts:
I am not “whining”, just trying to have a discourse and explicate my point of view. I still think it was a poor choice and you could have done better. And I also think, fair or not, people will associate YOU with that picture. “Hey, that G.A. Harrison puts up pictures of the Klan.” And I think, as you put it, “you do your cause harm” by running it…which I don’t mind so much.
Anyway, it HAS been fun. Thanks for the insight.
$0.02