Postcards from the ‘Sticks’
Friday, June 2nd, 2006New York Post Headline: D.C.’S STUPID SCROOGES SLASH NYC TERROR AID AND SPLURGE ON THE STICKS
There we are, minding our own business and preparing for this year’s Men’s College World Series to hit town, when this barrage of Omaha bashing comes out of nowhere. All of a sudden, Omaha was to blame for the 40 percent cut in anti-terror aid to the Big Apple. In its coverage of the story, New York Post described Omaha as:“The yawner city of 390,000 – home of the Florence Mill Historic Center, the birthplaces of Gerald Ford and Malcolm X and little else – got a staggering 62 percent increase in federal urban-security grants this year, from $5.1 million to $8.3 million. The increase in counter-terror funds in an area where cows outnumber people by a 4- 1 ratio, while grants for New York are being slashed by a drastic 40 percent, has raised eyebrows among counter-terrorism experts.”
While the tabloids label Omaha as the “sticks” and “cow town,” New Yorkers are going “postal” filling Homeland Security boss Michael Chertoff’s mail box with post cards of their city’s landmarks including the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and other national monuments. The cards tout the 73 million fans attracted to Shea Stadium and the 133,000 vehicles crossing Brooklyn Bridge every day like crowded ballparks and traffic jams are quality of life indicators.
As a PR tactic, the potential for postcard propaganda has serious limitations based on the geography of the sender. In Omaha, for example, the postcard rack at the corner Walgreens is filled with images of pigs, giant corncobs, cornfields, cattle and city skylines. The closest thing to a national monument shows Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium – home of the Omaha Royals and the NCAA Men’s College World Series. One postcard labeled “Nebraska After Dark” is completely black. Conclusion: If Omahans are to successfully defend the city’s credentials as a Potential Terrorist Target, they’ll need a more persuasive strategy than postcards from Nebraska “With Hogs & Kisses.”