{news} Re: 'The Nanny Diaries'

[David Bedell]

This opinion in The Day of New London raises a persistent question about the
role of theatrics in political campaigns.  My own feeling is that the
majority of people find politics boring and don't pay attention unless you
throw in some theatrics (mascots, costumes, props, etc.) just like
commercial advertisers use (think of the GEICO gecko).  Probably some people
are turned off or don't take the message seriously because of this, but I
think we reach a much greater part of the population who would not hear the
message otherwise.

http://www.theday.com/re_txt.aspx?re=987fe20c-b01c-4e60-ad23-91cde751856d

The Nanny Diaries
By Mike DiMauro

Published on 7/14/2006 in Features » Columns


Recently, The Day was granted an exclusive interview with Katie The Goat,
official mascot of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone. Katie chose
The Day over “60 Minutes,” a “Barbara Walters Special,” “Dateline” and
“Geraldo At Large.”

The interview took place in The Day's fourth-floor conference room with milk
and cheese as refreshments.

The Day: Thanks for meeting with us, Katie. But why us?

Katie: Ed Bradley, Baaaarbara, Stone Phillips and Geraldo would see a goat
and ask too many yes and naaaaa questions. That would really get myself.

The Day: What do you mean, “get myself?”

Katie: Well, I could say it would really get my goat, but that would be
redundant. Plus, I've always liked the way The Day has treated me.

The Day: Hey, we try. So, Katie, do you like being the official mascot of
the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone (CCAM)?

Katie: I have to be careful here, because I'm getting three plants a day,
plus a roof over my horns. But I have to admit, I think they could make
their point a little better.

The Day: CCAM contends that the milk you produce shows high levels of the
radioactive isotope strontium 90, which can cause cancer.

Katie: I'm aware of that. But that doesn't mean they should milk me for all
I'm worth.

The Day: Why?

Katie: Because I'm a goat. All my life, I've railed on about how goats are
people too, you know, and nobody takes it seriously. My brother, Billy, has
been so distraught that his veterinarian recommended a goat psychologist.
I've seen what it's done to him.

The Day: Recently in Niantic, Nancy Burton, the CCAM director, squeezed a
few drops of milk from you at a rally to prove a point. You didn't seem
pleased.

Katie: How would she like it if she got squeezed where the sun doesn't
shine? Is that all we're good for? Milk?

The Day: How do you think your milk became toxic?

Katie: I really don't know. And I'm not really sure it's relevant.

The Day: Why is it not relevant?

Katie: Because I'm a goat. I don't think the plight of goats really drives
home the point to the general population. CCAM might be making some good
points that the people who live around here need to hear. But I doubt they
are taken seriously when they see somebody with their hands all over a
goat's unmentionables.

The Day: What points do you think CCAM makes that the public needs to hear?

Katie: Well, here's the deal: It's hard to draw conclusions from studies
because generally, the studies say exactly what the people who paid for them
want them to say. But nuclear waste storage near a residential area might be
dangerous. It's piling up at Millstone because the federal government hasn't
come up with a place for it, as it promised. There might be radiological
risks. A lot of people live around Millstone. I think those are legitimate
concerns. But they're getting lost because CCAM keeps trotting me out. I
mean, mascots are supposed to be associated with fun things. Like Blaze at
the Connecticut Sun or Cutter with the Defenders.

The Day: How did you get so smart?

Katie: I drank my milk as a kid.

The Day: Thanks for your time. For all of us at the paper, we hope you live
a more sheltered existence from now on.

Katie: Me, too.

This is the opinion of Mike DiMauro.