The More Things Change...

So last week we received the word that WCMU in Mt. Pleasant will be buying the WFUM transmitter and will be running their signal through it as soon as technically possible.

WCMU has announced their hope this will take place in mid-November. A discussion with one of their engineers, however, leads me to believe it may be closer to early December before this can take place. I have made arrangements to have a schedule ready to air from our end through December 15 just in case.

Currently, my last day of employment is scheduled to be the last day of November, subject to extension. And once the WCMU signal gets to the WFUM transmitter, I’ll be about as useful as air-conditioning in an igloo. Regardless of whether that takes place in November or December, my remaining time here is measured in weeks.

After months of uncertainty and extensions, I'm now at a point where I can finally start preparing myself mentally for unemployment.

But enough about that. The real reason I’m scribbling today is I came across some remarks made by Harry S Truman in a speech delivered on March 29, 1952. Despite having been delivered nearly 60 years ago, they still sound surprisingly relevant:

"The real Republican campaign is not going to be fought on the issues. The Republicans are going to wage a campaign of phony propaganda. They are going to try what we might call the "white is black" and the "black is white" strategy.
The Republicans are all set to try this "white is black" technique. And this is the way it will work. First of all, they will try to make people believe that everything the Government has done for the country is socialism. They will go to the people and say: "Did you see that social security check you received the other day—you thought that was good for you, didn't you? That's just too bad! That's nothing in the world but socialism. Did you see that new flood control dam the Government is building over there for the protection of your property? Sorry—that's awful socialism! That new hospital that they are building is socialism. Price supports, more socialism for the farmers! Minimum wage laws? Socialism for labor! Socialism is bad for you, my friend. Everybody knows that. And here you are, with your new car, and your home, and better opportunities for the kids, and a television set—you are just surrounded by socialism!"

Yep. Nearly 60 years have gone by and the Republicans are still using the same tactics! I suppose when an organization has no new ideas, rehashing the old ones is the default. They’re using the same tired arguments hoping nobody remembers they’re the same scare tacticts they’ve used before.

And I may as well just go ahead and say it: as far as I’m concerned, a democratic socialism, such as is practiced in the Scandinavian countries, would be just fine with me!

Give 'em hell, Harry!