Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Graeme Frost and the Oprahfication of American Political Discourse

There's been quite the kerfluffle about young Graeme Frost, and his family's financial situation. A couple of weeks ago, the Democrats had Graeme Frost -- age 12 -- deliver their response to President Bush's radio address. Not surprisingly, the folks at Thing Progress are delighted with this little stunt -- the Democrats, you see, are "daring to put a human face on the SCHIP program at a time when Bush was proposing a 'diminishment of the number of children covered.'”

How daring of them.

Apparently the folks at Thing Progress think our politics aren't emotional enough. If there is one thing we are not short on, it's human faces. If anything, we need fewer human faces, and more cold, hard analytical reasoning. Putting a twelve-year-old on the radio like one of Jerry's Kids is emotional and manipulative, a way of bypassing reasoned debate and argument. It's all part of the Oprahfication of American political discourse, and it is, in general, a Bad Thing.

I'm old enough to remember when people were discerning enough to ridicule Jimmy Carter for seeking his daughter Amy's advice on arms control. We really ought to ridicule the Democrats for sending twelve-year-olds to respond to the President. And it's incredibly hypocritical for the Democrats to become outraged when people decided to check the anecdote they were using and began questioning whether the Frost family is needy enough that it "deserves" government aid. Here's a hint for our friends on the left: if you don't want people to check your anecdotal claims about the necessity of government programs, then stop using anecdotes. But if you put the poster kid in the wheelchair up on stage, don't act all outraged if somebody decides to check if the kid can walk. (I'm using that in a metaphorical way, since Graeme does seem to be ambulatory.)

As Mark Steyn put it:

Over the weekend, I posted a couple of things re Graeme Frost, the Democratic Party's 12-year old healthcare spokesman. Michelle Malkin reports that the blogospheric lefties are all steamed about the wingnuts' Swiftboating of sick kids, etc.

Sorry, no sale. The Democrats chose to outsource their airtime to a Seventh Grader. If a political party is desperate enough to send a boy to do a man's job, then the boy is fair game. As it is, the Dems do enough cynical and opportunist hiding behind biography and identity, and it's incredibly tedious. And anytime I send my seven-year-old out to argue policy you're welcome to clobber him, too. The alternative is a world in which genuine debate is ended and, as happened with Master Frost, politics dwindles down to professional staffers writing scripts to be mouthed by Equity moppets.


Now, all that said, I do think that hilzoy over at Obsidian Wings has a point: get the facts right. As it turns out, Graeme's family owns a nice house, but they bought it years ago when it was dirt cheap because it was in a bad neighborhood. Graeme attends a pricey private school, but he does so on a scholarship. From what I can tell he does seem to be the sort of lower-middle-class kid for whom the program appears to be intended. But there's no reason, in principle, why people shouldn't check the telling anecdotes used to advance certain policies.

6 comments:

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針對所謂「酒店PT從寬認定」本會認為衛福部應盡速公布辦法與申請表明列放寬限制為何,勿以對外宣稱「已解決酒店上班公關問題」打迷糊仗、濫開空頭支票,本會提供特種行業從業者不適用現行地方政府急難救助情況供主管機關參考,盼紓困能確實落實於有生計困難之從業者身上。
酒店小姐酒店公關雇傭證明:
以公關為例,現地方區公所之急難救助多須出具基於雇傭關係之非自願離職證明,而公關與店家或經紀公司皆無雇傭關係,無法列舉該項證明,建議以薪資單或店家通聯記錄代之。
制服店 禮服店 便服店 直播 傳播 飯局 訪視:
且家戶訪視極不利於隱瞞其職業身分之從業者,本會建議為節省行政成本並顧及從業者隱私一律免除訪視程序。
人籍不合一:
現急難救助須至申請人戶籍地公所申請,而許多特種行業從業者離鄉背井,工作地與戶籍地不一之情形在所多有,建議放寬以工作所在地公所辦理。
停業證明:
目前由中央疫情指揮中心勒令停業之497間酒店、舞廳,除遭稽查違法營業,否則不一定會接獲市政府停業公文,而急難救助要求從業者舉證停業證明極不合理,即便市府確有發公文勒令店家停業,從業者也難以向店家取得該文,故如需停業公文作為佐證,應由地方公所備有停業店家名單查核。
存簿:
申請資料應附有存摺與否,針對其影響獲補與否應有明確規範,因從業者係因疫情導致收入中斷而非中、低收入戶申請,應一併考量債務、親屬撫養等其他常態開支,不應僅以交易紀錄或存款作為判斷,且多數從業者薪資支領方式以現金為主,存簿內不會有收入資料。並非公關要求多現行方案不適用。資深酒店經紀表示若公關願「屈就」於現行「充電再出發」或「安心就業計畫」皆可申請,本會再次重申對於任何實際有助於生計之紓困方案從業者均非常歡迎、求之不得,沒有「屈就」問題!惟「充電再出發」、「安心就業計畫」皆針對有僱傭關係之一般減班企業,業界多數公關並非店家或經紀公司僱員,且停業不如減班仍有基本工資保障,尚有「薪資差額」可補助,並不適用於此計畫;即便是現行針對失業勞工之「失業給付」、「子女就學補助」或由政府提供職缺之「安穩僱用」、「短期上工」計畫,公關皆因無僱主投保就業保險或勞保,並不符申請資格。