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August 24, 2012
Uncommon Integrity?
I just can't keep this one to myself anymore. At the risk of giving this campaign any more attention than it deserves, I have to point this out. I also apologize as this is a race that is only for RI Senate District 19 and not a statewide race. But this is the kind of thing that we deal with.
Jim Spooner is a candidate for the Senate District 19 seat and he's running independent of a party. He's been taking out ads in the local newspaper. I don't fault the newspaper, so I won't name them.
He put out an ad a couple weeks ago with the text in it:
Jim SpoonerYeah, that's all well and good and all except he's not a sitting Senator. He's a candidate. I also get that there's no hyphen between Senator and Elect, so apparently he's trying to play word games and trying to fool the voters into thinking that he's the incumbent.
Senator Elect
Well, he did it again. This time I scanned in his ad and posted the image below:
"Your State Senator"? C'mon man. You're not. You're a candidate for Senator. In his ad, he also writes that we need candidates with "Honesty." How are these two ads honest? It seems like he comes right from another Rhode Island candidate's school of honesty with statements like these.
But while we're looking at Mr. Spooner, take a look at his text to the voters.
Most of the younger generation of today communicate very differently than you and I! However it's not the lack of personal contact, it is the lack of respect of people and property!Before you start thinking "Right on, Jim! Those kids today are punks!" Check out this article about who he considers to be the "younger generation."
Spooner, a retired self-employed real estate broker who has lived in Lincoln for 51 years, agrees that the younger generation thinks differently, but said he believes that is what is wrong with politics.Wow. So the "younger generation" is people under 65. Plus, we all have no integrity and we have no honesty.He originally referred to "all" of the people in the younger generation, but then later changed the group to most people younger than 65.
"They forgot what honesty is, what trust is, what integrity is," he said, not able to name any specific politicians who are exceptions to the rule.
He continued, "The younger generation has probably been given everything by the older generation, so they don't have honesty and integrity. They don't have values."
Well, at least we know how Mr. Spooner feels about us before we head to the polls. I'll be honest with him and say right now, I'm not voting for you, Jim.
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"He continued, "The younger generation has probably been given everything by the older generation, so they don't have honesty and integrity."
That's really rich. Through Social Security, Medicare, and pension obligations, the Greatest Generation licked the trough clean and the Baby Boomers sold the trough as scrap metal to buy a boat or second house. There is literally nothing left for my generation, which would be fine with me because I'm not looking for a handout, except that we also now have to pay for the excesses of the previous two generations plus interest.
I don't know where this myth came from that our seniors sacrificed everything for the younger generation, but the complete opposite is true. They received back many times what they paid into Social Security. My generation is paying far more than we will ever receive.
Posted by: Dan at August 24, 2012 12:43 PMI think I'll vote for him! Of course, I don't live in his district, but I'm not thrilled with my Senator anyway.
Sincerely,
Posted by: John at August 24, 2012 1:21 PMOne of them youngins under 65.
The Democrat challenger for State Senate District 19 has the words "State Senator" printed on the front and back of his palm card under his name. Too bad he isn't the State Senator from the district. Too bad that this is a falsehood too.
The sitting State Senator in District 19 is a Republican!
Posted by: Mark at August 24, 2012 4:02 PM"I think I'll vote for him! Of course, I don't live in his district ..."
Perfect timing, John. The Cicilline campaign is anxious to speak to you.
Posted by: Monique at August 24, 2012 5:07 PMDon't have a dog in this fight because I'm not in that district and don't know the man but I tend to think you're nitpicking his ad...it really says "Elect Jim Spooner Your State Senator"...it doesn't say "re-elect"...just my opinion.
Posted by: JTR at August 24, 2012 6:34 PMJTR, It says, Jim Spooner, your state senator.
Is he?
Posted by: Patrick at August 24, 2012 7:43 PM"Senator elect" is an even more obvious distortion. Taken together, the intent is clear.
Posted by: Dan at August 24, 2012 8:25 PMPatrick - The way I read it, it actually says "Vote Jim Spooner your State Senator". I can't decide if Mr Spooner just has a poor grasp of political lingo or if he's intentionally being misleading with his use of Senator Elect but that is certainly not accurate.
Posted by: JTR at August 27, 2012 3:41 PM