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What do you hear? Spreading the Dirt, QuietlyBy Rick Horowitz Over there in the corner, where the lights are dim: a flicker of movement, a subtle shift in the shadows. There's a hissing sound, gentle yet insistent. Nothing but the midnight breeze burbling in -- or is it more than that? Isn't that a face, half concealed in the darkness? Isn't that a beckoning finger? Move closer, toward the shadows, and suddenly a hand reaches out and grips a shoulder. Mr. Whisper would like to have a word with you. Mr. Whisper lives in the dark places. The glare of the spotlight, the banners and the bunting, are for others to enjoy. Mr. Whisper practices politics his own way -- and the murkier the surroundings, the better he likes it. Mr. Whisper has some information to share with you. Information you might find...interesting. That's what Mr. Whisper does; this is his contribution to politics. He provides "interesting" information -- about a campaign, about a candidate. He asks for no credit. In fact, he'll deny he's ever met you, ever tossed so much as a syllable in your direction. He's not in it for personal glory, after all. He's got bigger fish to fry. What kind of "interesting" information does Mr. Whisper provide? Easier, perhaps, to start with the kind of information Mr. Whisper doesn't provide. Flattering information is not Mr. Whisper's specialty. Flattering information can be offered up in daylight, in the open. Anybody can offer up flattering information. Mr. Whisper's specialty is the other kind. The rumor. The innuendo. The pernicious plant. The hurtful hint. These are all within Mr. Whisper's area of expertise. The rumor, the innuendo, the plant, the hint are so much more effective when they're handed over in the dark. They spread so much more efficiently that way. Mr. Whisper knows how these things work; he's had years of practice. Mr. Whisper is self-employed, but he's rarely idle. Nobody carries Mr. Whisper on a payroll -- the voters wouldn't stand for it -- but money and assignments seem to find him anyway. There's nothing that generates more business for Mr. Whisper than a nervous candidate trying to take the air out of another candidate who's suddenly on the rise. "We have to do something to stop him!" the nervous candidate's handlers all cry. And before long -- not always, but often enough to keep Mr. Whisper in fancy suits and spacious homes -- a call goes out, an understanding is reached, and Mr. Whisper is back on the job, doing what comes naturally. If Mr. Whisper does his job well, the people who've engaged him are more than satisfied. Either their target refuses even to acknowledge the insinuations that are quietly sucking the life out of him, in which case the damage keeps spreading, or else he feels obliged to confront the insinuations and deny them right out there in public. In which case the damage keeps spreading. Mr. Whisper likes the way that plays out. He likes it a lot. If anything, his job has gotten easier over the years: so many new outlets, so many more opportunities to peddle his poisonous wares. If one potential recipient seems disinclined (unimpressed or appalled -- it doesn't matter which) to help him do his dirty work, there are so many others eager to snap up the latest earful and pass it along. Mr. Whisper is very good at what he does. In the corners, where the lights are dim, no one is better. If only he -- There's that hissing sound again. Mr. Whisper would like to have another word with you. Posted 11/24/99.
Fresh stuff right here twice weekly -- and that's no rumor!
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Rick Horowitz