The 1960s rears its ugly head ... again
Tell us what you think of Pearce's ad and his reasons for running it
Steve Pearce is defending his ad that links Tom Udall to 1960s protestors and on Wednesday he advanced that attack, repeatedly saying his Democratic rival sides with "extremists" on environmental issues, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
It appears that the cultural wars over the 1960s are still being fought -- in New Mexico, no less. I wonder sometimes how significant fighting over things that happened nearly 40 years ago are to everyday Americans. But it's a theme we've seen over and over again. Below is a long excerpt from the Albuquerque Journal story by Jeff Jones. It includes a glimpse into Pearce's own personal history, his view of that time and how he came to decide on the ad. After reading it, tell us what you think. Here's the excerpt:
Pearce, during a news conference at his Albuquerque campaign headquarters, repeatedly charged that Udall sides with “extremists” on environmental issues, including new energy drilling. And he told a story about his college days, standing watch on a wall in 1969 at New Mexico State University where radicals were planning to burn down a building.
“This picture is a picture from my past,” Pearce said, referring to a photo of a pair of hippies in his Wednesday newspaper ad that maintains Udall is allied with “hysterical left-wing” environmentalists — an ad the Udall campaign calls bogus.
“In 1969, I was the president of the student body at New Mexico State University, and the radicals were going to burn down the administration building — as they had done across the country,” Pearce said. “I took it on myself to go out and stand on the wall where (a) guy was actually wrapping the crowd into an enthusiasm to go burn the building, because at that time, I felt like these extremists had hijacked our policies, and they were controlling our universities. And we're finding the same thing today. The extremists have hijacked our policies, so that we can't live.”
Asked by a reporter whether he was charging that Udall stands with the kinds of people who once wanted to raze college buildings, Pearce, who went on to be an Air Force pilot in Vietnam, responded:
“There's a counterculture that was epitomized by the hippies. They were against the war. They were against America. It was always that criminals have more rights than the victim. That America's enemies have more rights. And what I'm saying is, that push from the past is still being carried forward. The counterculture is the same today. And it's people who think America is wrong. I don't think America is wrong. I don't think American jobs are wrong. I don't think the American economy is wrong. And so that's the distinction that I see between Tom Udall and myself.
Comments:
Posted 08/07/2008 10:42 with
I’ve never heard the phrase “wrapping the crowd” before. Must be some kind of right-wing mumbo jumbo. Of course, much of Pearce’s statement is mumbo jumbo. Talk about hyperbole. Administration buildings were burned “across the country?
Funny, I never heard that NMSU was a hot bed of radicalism way back then.
What does this mean, exactly? “The extremists have hijacked our policies, so that we can’t live.” Last time I looked, Pearce the multimillionaire seemed to be living quite well. I guess that’s why he says he doesn’t think the “economy is wrong.”
I wish Pearce had described who he was talking about when he mentioned a “counterculture” that’s the same today. In Pearce’s world, nothing has changed in almost 40 years. Unfortunately, he’s still hung up on attitudes and ideas he had a couple of decades ago, while our nation needs leaders to take us into uncharted territory in a new century and come up with creative solutions to a myriad of very serious problems. Pearce obviously can’t make the transition from his college-age personna to what’s happening here and now, and that means he can’t provide the leadership we need.
Posted 08/07/2008 11:09 with
I saw Congressman Stevan Pearce’s recent ridiculous ad for his Senate campaign attacking Congressman Tom Udall with images of the 1960’s, and I immediately thought that Congressman Pearce had the hippie vote. Then I realized that Mr. Pearce wanted to go back to the policies of the 1960’s. I would describe Mr. Pearce as a paleoconservative. Paleoconservatism is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as, “extremely stubborn or stubbornly conservative in politics.” Palecons claim that their brand of conservatism is the true descendant of conservative thought of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Congratulations for clearly delineating your conservative policy. Mr. Pearce believes it is HIP to be a paleoconservative in the modern world. This does not represent the values of New Mexico.
Posted 08/07/2008 11:24 with
Its always nice when someone shows what a complete lunatic they are before an election… no one who votes for this guy can claim they didn’t know better. He is such a crackpot that you almost can’t bother to argue the idiotic points of the ad, such as the idea that policies that take care of our environment and develop safe, renewable energy somehow exist in opposition to jobs, business and families. Last time I checked, the latter were quite in need of the former.
Pearce paints himself as yet another Republican who relies on the same talking points we’ve been hearing for years now, the most popular of which being: if you don’t roll over to drilling, war, or the loss of your civil liberties you are anti-American. If you think anything this country is doing is wrong, there must be something wrong with YOU.
And the quote “The extremists have hijacked our policies, so that we can’t live” would be comical if it weren’t for the fact that this guy could soon be a policy maker.
Posted 08/07/2008 17:00 with
you forget, luncacy appeals to other lunatics, of which this country has no shortage. for that reason i think this race is going to be quite close when it comes down to it.
Posted 08/07/2008 19:35 with
All too true…