purpose of WOTY contests

David Bowie db.list at PMPKN.NET
Thu Aug 31 15:39:35 UTC 2006


From:    RonButters at AOL.COM

<snip>

> Someone commented here that TRUTHINESS did seem to capture the spirit of the
> times or something like that. If that is our goal, we need to enunciate it a
> little more clearly, and make sure we are not merely reflecting the political
> views of the majority of those who sit on the floor at the annual meeting
> (i.e., that conservatives lie to us when they are in power, the mirror image of the
> view that a lot of other people have, i.e., that liberals lie to us when they
> are in power). One guy's spirit of the times is another guy's political
> propaganda.

This seems a bit, well, overdone to me. Since IMO (and not just *my*
opinion, really) there's plenty of evidence of truthiness going on at
all points of the political spectrum, it doesn't seem like it could be
taken as a political statement.

Well, strike that--it certainly *could* be taken as a political
statement, and since it was Colbert who coined the term, it could
certainly be taken as being a political statement by liberals run amok.
However, "Let's roll!" could certainly have been taken as a political
statement by conservatives run amok when it got voted in in a special
category in 2002, since it was on the cusp of being used by
conservatives as a rallying cry at that point.

I'll cut this short and simply say that people can find political
motives for anything they want, if they look hard enough. I just don't
think that that's any reason to shun or embrace any particular WotY (or
other category) nominee.

<snip>

p.s. FWIW, i have *never* voted for a successful WotY nominee. It's an
amazing streak, really.

--
David Bowie                                         http://pmpkn.net/lx
     Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
     house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
     chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.

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