Metcalfe seeks to divide

I had an interesting realization while helping my son with a 7th grade English project. His class was studying propaganda, and his assignment was to do a poster on one aspect of propaganda--name-calling.

We were searching for examples of name-calling in print advertising right about the time there were several letters to the editor about state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s newsletter spending and his announced challenger in the Republican primary. While learning about different aspects of name-calling from my son, it struck me how name-calling seemed to be a central theme in many of Metcalfe’s communications.

During the Seneca Valley teachers strike, Metcalfe stepped forward, not to help mediate or find common ground, but to call teachers “greedy”, in capital letters.

On the topic of illegal immigration, he expresses his concern on this serious topic by calling illegal immigrants dangerous criminals responsible for a massive crime wave, even though crime numbers have fallen in the past decade and actual conviction statistics show illegal immigrants to be no more dangerous than the average Joe. And now that Metcalfe has a competitor in the Republican primary, he calls his opponent’s interest in representing the 12th House District a betrayal and due to a “sour grapes” attitude.

As my son learned in his assignment, name-calling words great at dividing products and people into “us” and “them” categories. Too bad Metcalfe uses his considerable energy and talent to stir up emotions that divide people, rather than bringing people together to find solutions to the important local problems we face.

Cranberry Eagle and Butler Eagle
February 13th, 2008