Deval Patrick and Car Free Week

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (image) proclaimed this week "Car Free Week in Massachusetts".

Later he was photographed getting a ride in his state owned car (other image).

Several people accused him of hypocrisy partly because there are several transit stations very near the governors' mansion.

Whether this is hypocrisy or not seems to me to depend on, among other things, the exact wording of the "Car Free Week" proclamation or order or law or whatever. I can't find the wording but it seems as if it might have been a non official proclamation involving many officials and not just the Governor and, in any event was meant to 'encourage' using other means than cars. If the proclamation was simply to 'encourage', it also matters what event Governor Patrick was going to. I don't have this information either.

article in Boston CBS website is here.
article in Boston Herald about car free week is here.

Columnist Leonard Pitts Carves Out a Loophole

The fellow on the left is Leonard Pitts Jr. He is a columnist for the Miami Herald and has won a Pulitzer for commentary. The image is from his own website.

A major problem for commentators who have made pro civility statements is that some of the things they like are uncivil.

Mr. Pitts is such a person. He is pro civility. However, he likes what Representative Maxim Waters said recently about the Tea Party, i.e., “. . . And as far as I’m concerned, the ‘tea party’ can go straight to Hell.”

Pitts admits this is uncivil but he carves out a loophole. His words are,

"... it is also correct: telling people to go to hell is about as uncivil as it gets. I could never, in ordinary times, applaud such conduct. But no one will ever mistake these for ordinary times."

I think he also believes that it is OK for some people to be uncivil but not others and that vigorously defending your beliefs is uncivil if he disagrees with those beliefs but I'm unsure of his reasoning or how far he takes this.

In any event, this is a clever polemic device. Whenever you want to be uncivil, simply define the times are requiring it.



Website of Mr. Pitts is here.

The column with Mr. Pitts thoughts on civility is here.