Left In Lowell

Thinking Out Loud for 3/14/08

3 Responses to “Thinking Out Loud for 3/14/08”

1. Denis Bradford Says:
   March 23rd, 2008 at 2:10 pm

   I did a double-take when I first heard Fred Marcks take an anti-business position on public policy. Instead, I would have expected the former president of the Wheaton College (MA) Young Republicans, and intern in the G.W. Bush adminstration’s EPA, to support the Billerica power plant. If you restrict the interests of big business in favor of things like public health, where will it end, Fred?

   I’ve heard Mr. Marcks speak a couple of times. Both times I was on the other side of a video camera on a Chelmsford local access show where I volunteer. On the first occasion, he appeared as a paid advocate for the conservative organization behind the Repeal 40B initiative:

   http://www.findinternettv.com/Video,item,1730123504.aspx

   So imagine my surprise when Mr. Marcks reappeared on the show, this time opposing the Billerica power plant. I’d be curious to know how he reconciles this position with his more generally regressive outlook. Why does a lifelong conservative Republican, whose heart normally bleeds only for the problems of the rich and privileged, suddenly take up a liberal cause?

   Until Mr. Marcks says something different, I have a working theory. In my experience, right-wingers who suddenly adopt liberal ideas have been thrown a curve. It might be a personal tragedy that forces them to see certain related issues clearly. Or - in this case, I assume - it’s just a natural reaction to a hare-brained proposal that threatens the community you happen to live in. A Lowell Sun reader asked Mr. Marcks in a letter: “Why do we not form a coalition and work to add renewable electrical sources for energy such as wind, solar, thermal sources, tides, etc.? ” I suspect that forward thinking like this is about as interesting to Mr. Marck as it remains in the Bush Administration.

   Either way, there should be no cognitive dissonance: Mr. Marcks is a smart and articulate guy, but he is undoubtedly acting in his self-interest and always will. However, since he seems to be putting himself in the public eye a lot these days, I’d like to suggest this: the fact that he’s on the right side this time should not fool anyone into thinking he will be on your side on most issues.

2. Town Democrat Says:
   December 6th, 2008 at 12:21 pm

   I appreciate you Dennis for writing a thoughtful entry, but your research into Marcks apparently stopped early in this decade.

   Fred is a registered Democrat in Chelmsford and served the Patrick-Murry transition efforts. As a lifelong Chelmsford resident myself, I can tell you that the Republican Town Committee members were more than disappointed when he changed his party affiliation after working in D.C. From what a Chelmsford GOP friend said to me, he realized that his values did not jive with the transformation of the Republican party that was only just beginning to take place. I knew him when he was growing up in town and I suspect that he was trying to follow in the footsteps of his well-respected father who was conservative and who died of cancer when Fred was just a little boy.

   I agree that he is smart and articulate and I do not always agree with what he says, but he has written some very interesting things in the past year supporting a new renewable energy policy. So, I guess what I am saying is that you may have missed your mark in your well-written critique of him. Perhaps we cannot judge a book by it’s internet cover?

3. Irespectivelydisagree Says:
   December 9th, 2008 at 12:40 pm

   Denis, I understand that this site is specifically designed for bloggers who lean to the left, but I have some terrible, terrible news for you. 9/11 was not an inside job. Fred, while we do not always agree on issues, is about as far away from partisan as you can get. While many progressives, such as yourself, simply drink the kool-aid from the party, others, like Mr. Marcks use reason and logic to justify their positions. The power plant is one area where Mr. Marcks and I agree completely. Building even one new power plant is completely unessiccary. You use the line “If you restrict the interests of big business in favor of things like public health, where will it end”, are you honestly advocating that big business should be allowed to do anything they like? Perhaps you remember a small company called PG&E, and how they illegally dumped toxic chemicals in Woburn. Is that ok with you? What if your child (god, I hope you dont have kids) was one of the ones killed by the cancer those products caused? You dont think we have a responsibility to stop those sorts of blatent public health concerns? All I need to know, I learned (and re-learn) each time I see you walking down the street with your wonderful hat and t-shirt. *sigh*

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