There’s an old folk saying: “If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?” The answer is: “A dog has four legs. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”

News media often refer to the governor’s meeting with his supporters a “town hall-style meeting.” I can understand why the governor’s public relations people want to use that term, but it is confusing and misleading.

Town meetings afford all the town’s inhabitants the opportunity to express their views, both pro and con. As I understand it, the governor’s meetings do not include this feature. They are more like a press conference, but without the press asking probing questions and with a cheering section.

So is seems a disservice to readers to refer to these meetings using a term that suggest a public meeting, because that is not what has taken place.

Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.

Jon Lund

Hallowell

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