Correcting Bennett’s Exaggerations
Published Wednesday, June 06, 2012 8:09 AM
Summerville Journal Scene ®
When I attended my 9th grade English class at Summerville High, I learned about a term called “hyperbole” (which, simply put, means exaggerating the truth). So when a 2-sided full-color mailer filled with salacious claims about Senator Mike Rose arrived in my mailbox, my first response was to cut through the hyperbole and get to the simple truth. One of the sources cited on the mailer claimed information came from a “May 1, 2012 interview with Summerville Patch.” While searching for the interview, I discovered a March 9, 2012 (updated March 24, 2012) P&C reference:
Many pension records now kept secret would become open to the public under a bill filed in the S.C. Senate. Sen. Mike Rose, R-Summerville, introduced legislation that would treat government pension records like public salary records, which already are available. Thanks to Senator Rose, there will be greater transparency in “pension numbers [once] kept hidden by legislators.
Also, thank you for pointing out that Senator Rose has provided a portion of his own home as office space. Even after he has served the primary part of his week in Columbia, attended countless state, local, and community functions and meetings, he still has the capacity to make himself available at all hours to meet with and conduct official business on behalf of his constituents. I am glad he has such a gracious and understanding wife who also welcomes and supports his work and his constituency!
Finally, when I used to work for a Fortune 500 Company, I learned the term “cooking the books,” which was just another way of saying making numbers show something that was not authentic. Well, when the mailer seems to present Senator Rose as if he is the personal recipient of “$250 Million every year,” my immediate thought was that not only do those numbers look “cooked,” but I can almost smelled a roasted pig, to boot! I am told that the average American has what is the equivalent of an 8th grade reading level, so I imagine that when this 9th grade tactic was used by the Bennett campaign, the rationale could have been that the average person could see through the exaggeration to get to the truth.
Ann Middleton
Orangeburg Road
Summerville
