Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher
A
Time for disinformation
Life is so complex these days. People hardly know
what to believe, especially when politicians are involved. Following
are three blatant attempts to mislead the public.
Deval Patrick vs. Tom Reilly
Attorney General Tom Reilly has essentially claimed that Deval Patrick,
his opponent in the race for Governor, is a predatory mortgage lender
because he was on the board of ACC Capital, Ameriquest’s parent
company. However, the facts suggest another, more reasonable interpretation.
Since he left his post as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights
in the Clinton Administration, Patrick has been in great demand
as a problem solver. First he became General Counsel for Texaco,
which was embroiled in serious problems of racial discrimination
in employment. Once that was resolved, he left Texaco and assumed
the same post at Coca-Cola, which had similar problems.
Later, as a member of the board of directors of ACC Capital, he
used his skills to revise Ameriquest’s lending practices and
to develop policies to ameliorate the harm that borrowers may have
suffered. As he did at Texaco and Coca-Cola, Patrick stepped down
from the board of ACC Capital once Ameriquest’s problem was
resolved.
It is clear from this pattern of professional employment that Deval
Patrick is a corporate healer. Judging from news reports of ethics
violations in big business, Patrick’s skills are much needed
in the nation’s boardrooms. He should not be criticized for
his successful interventions. To do so is equivalent to castigating
a doctor for treating a convicted murderer.
Reilly is said to have integrity. He certainly damages that reputation
by resorting to character assassination.
Melnea Cass swimming pool
A common technique for deceiving the people is to give a bad idea
an innocuous name. There is even a title for this practice. Public
relations specialists call it “putting lipstick on the pig.”
Conservative politicians embrace a common commitment to reduce taxes.
They cannot do this without cutting services to the public. One
approach is to require the people to pay for those services which
were once provided by the government.
Normally the public rebels at such plans, so government strategists
have to disguise their real intentions. Sometimes it does not require
much lipstick to fool an inattentive community. The state Department
of Environmental Affairs has launched a high sounding “public-private
partnership” to induce Roxbury residents to contribute funds
for the repair of the state-owned Melnea Cass Swimming Pool.
This makes as much sense as a homeowner requesting that his neighbors
contribute to a fund for repairs on his house. However, the illogic
of this strategy seems not to have occurred to elected public officials
from the area who are yet to raise their voices in protest.
Newly Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory
The SARS epidemic that began in February 2003 demonstrated that
because of easy travel throughout the world, infections from newly
transmuting organisms in exotic places can spread rapidly. The U.S.
Centers for Disease Control decided to establish two Level-4 biosafety
laboratories where dangerous pathogens can be studied to find vaccines.
Boston was chosen as the site for one laboratory because the city
is a recognized site of bio-medical research. In a remote location,
the laboratory would be inaccessible to the needed top scientists.
SARS infected 8,098 people and killed 774. No one has ever died
from a mishap at a Level-4 biosafety laboratory. Those opposing
Boston’s NEIDL are arousing fear in the public over the wrong
issue
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