STALINISM AND RUMOR MONGERING AT NIAGARA TIMES BLOG

The anonymous person or group that calls itself Hobbes at the Niagara Times blogspot—clearly a Roveian if not Orwellian inspired Republican front group—is a threat to democracy and the public sphere in Niagara County. A few days ago the blog administrator deleted my posts and barred me from participation when I challenged the truth of his “story” regarding the activities of County Manager Greg Lewis and pointed out his hypocrisy in criticizing the moves of Gov. Paterson. In the manner of any good Orwellian bureaucrat, Hobbes, the supposed Administrator, deleted most of the remaining of my recent posts. This is a Stalinist practice right out of the pages of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Hobbes, like Stalin and Mao Tse Tung, chooses to re-write history rather than deal with the truth of historical events. So Hobbes deletes my posts and writes me out of the pages of discursive history as if my critical disagreements with him never happened.

This is seriously dangerous stuff. Memory and history are essential dimensions of truth and freedom. But Hobbes arrogantly and self-righteously chooses to help us forget and re-write history by deleting crucial events and ideas. It is understandable why these people stay anonymous. The Republicans obviously don’t want to be associated with these tactics—at least if they have any common sense or integrity—and yet this proto-fascistic action goes unchallenged by the Republicans.

Today Hobbes continues his witch hunt against Mr. Greg Lewis, Niagara County Manager, much of which is based on sources that he never discloses, undoubtedly Republican insiders who wish to control Niagara County politics no matter what the cost to democracy, truth and freedom of speech. Hobbes arrogantly and self-righteously claims knowledge he could not possibly have. Using tactics right out of the play book of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney he tries to instill fear and hysteria in the citizenry in order to force actions that are irrational and impulsive.

Hobbes bends over backwards to find contradictions and supposed incompetence in Lewis’ actions. If in fact Lewis was being particularly cautious in playing according to the letter of the law in reporting possible swine flu at the Niagara County Courthouse, it could only be because he knows there are Republican Party “hit men” out there jumping at every opportunity to discredit and oust Lewis from his position.

Hobbes tactics are character assassination pure and simple. At the very least, these tactics are mean spirited, ill willed and at worst seriously destructive to the spirit of community cooperation and trust. The likes of Hobbes perpetuates the Party domination of county politics and the inability of the people to move forward in a spirit of honesty and trust and create the conditions of a true polity. He/she/it is destructive to openness, transparency and accountability. He creates paranoia in the community and pollutes what it means to be a member of community and democracy.

His tactics, in short, are in effect violent and interested not in the force of truth but the force of fear, domination and exploitation. Anyone of good will, who is honest and interested in reason and the spirit of community should attack this character with all their energy and will within the court of reason and limits of law.

The integrity and creativity of the Niagara polity depends upon eliminating such toxic and vicious voices from our politics.