Letters to the Editor...
Dear Editor:
It was good to see you back online with your "Observer" last week.
The first requirement of government is to obey the law both in practice and spirit. The conduct of the government is the example for its citizens and influences the attitude of the citizens towards the law. It will be interesting to see the comparative behavior of the new City Council to that of the old. The voters as a whole, not you or me individually, make the final decision as they did decisively in this past election. Their representatives will decide on such issues as whether or not Chief Devitt or his successor have a presence at City Council meetings as part of official duty. I would think that an "armed intruder blasting away with an AK-47" would target uniformed officers, first.
I know it is difficult to distinguish between a newspaper and a blog, and I guess a hybrid of the two is possible, but when you refer to "rumors persist", that is a blog. When you express an opinion as to the police presence at a Council meeting, that is a blog. When you try to minimize what the new Council will do, by referring to "menial items", that definitely is a blog and very weak satire.
As for your reminder that "we do have an Open Meetings Act in place", I hope it is enforced, not, as in the past, just in place. Whether the Council votes "as a block 4-1" would represent the recent decisive vote of the citizens of Grove. We must assume that, prior to the election, the consistent 3-2 vote represented the will of the people, until it was changed by the election results.
Shifting to your "Observations . . .", for my own clarification, I will assume this is posted either as an editorial comment or it merely reaffirms that "The Grove Observer" is a blog, not a newspaper. As for the six-page letter mailed to all registered voters in the City of Grove on March 29, the courts will decide if this was an act of criminal libel. If you will check the email that was submitted to but not published by "The Waterbug" in answer to your earlier "Waterbug" submission, I made it clear that I posted the reward for information as to the persons responsible for the mailing. There was nothing secret; it was a submission to "The Waterbug." Whether you care about who wrote the six-page letter, doesn’t really matter. The people who were libeled, do care. Every effort possible will be made to identify the participants in the preparation and circulation of the letter. Prior to the election on April 3, only two people requested from the Delaware County Election Board a list of all registered voters in the City of Grove. That public record has been obtained. Information from several sources is being pursued to obtain the full story as to the origin and circulation of the six-page letter.
A final observation: The voters in the City election BY LAW could vote for candidates in two Wards and one candidate At Large. David Adzigian ran fourth in the election, not first, second, or third. The law is not silly, it is the law. If you believe that a law is silly, then you have the opportunity by political organization, explanation and education, to change the law, by elections if necessary. If you believe that dead people voted, how do you know they did not vote for David Adzigian? The basic rule in politics is, you win or you lose. If you lose, and you don’t like it, all you have to do is go to work and do what is necessary to win the next time.
Jack L. Forrest
(Editor's Note: This is first, a blog, in a news/information format rather than a chat room. For some of our readers, it is a way to Flog. As we stated nearly two years ago, printed newspapers carry "news analysis columns, editorials, and straight news." Blog articles usually offer more freedom to comment than a straight news story. We realize that some of our articles would never pass muster at a printed newspaper, but then we are not a printed newspaper). To read Oklahoma's #1 rated blog, go to www.dustbury.com.
And yes, we will work to change the law; and no, we never said dead people voted, we said that they can vote if no proof of ID is required. Your twisting our comments to allow you to attack them is not kosher.)
And, did it occur to writer that there are a thousand direct mail houses that one can purchase lists from? Maybe even voters?
It was good to see you back online with your "Observer" last week.
The first requirement of government is to obey the law both in practice and spirit. The conduct of the government is the example for its citizens and influences the attitude of the citizens towards the law. It will be interesting to see the comparative behavior of the new City Council to that of the old. The voters as a whole, not you or me individually, make the final decision as they did decisively in this past election. Their representatives will decide on such issues as whether or not Chief Devitt or his successor have a presence at City Council meetings as part of official duty. I would think that an "armed intruder blasting away with an AK-47" would target uniformed officers, first.
I know it is difficult to distinguish between a newspaper and a blog, and I guess a hybrid of the two is possible, but when you refer to "rumors persist", that is a blog. When you express an opinion as to the police presence at a Council meeting, that is a blog. When you try to minimize what the new Council will do, by referring to "menial items", that definitely is a blog and very weak satire.
As for your reminder that "we do have an Open Meetings Act in place", I hope it is enforced, not, as in the past, just in place. Whether the Council votes "as a block 4-1" would represent the recent decisive vote of the citizens of Grove. We must assume that, prior to the election, the consistent 3-2 vote represented the will of the people, until it was changed by the election results.
Shifting to your "Observations . . .", for my own clarification, I will assume this is posted either as an editorial comment or it merely reaffirms that "The Grove Observer" is a blog, not a newspaper. As for the six-page letter mailed to all registered voters in the City of Grove on March 29, the courts will decide if this was an act of criminal libel. If you will check the email that was submitted to but not published by "The Waterbug" in answer to your earlier "Waterbug" submission, I made it clear that I posted the reward for information as to the persons responsible for the mailing. There was nothing secret; it was a submission to "The Waterbug." Whether you care about who wrote the six-page letter, doesn’t really matter. The people who were libeled, do care. Every effort possible will be made to identify the participants in the preparation and circulation of the letter. Prior to the election on April 3, only two people requested from the Delaware County Election Board a list of all registered voters in the City of Grove. That public record has been obtained. Information from several sources is being pursued to obtain the full story as to the origin and circulation of the six-page letter.
A final observation: The voters in the City election BY LAW could vote for candidates in two Wards and one candidate At Large. David Adzigian ran fourth in the election, not first, second, or third. The law is not silly, it is the law. If you believe that a law is silly, then you have the opportunity by political organization, explanation and education, to change the law, by elections if necessary. If you believe that dead people voted, how do you know they did not vote for David Adzigian? The basic rule in politics is, you win or you lose. If you lose, and you don’t like it, all you have to do is go to work and do what is necessary to win the next time.
Jack L. Forrest
(Editor's Note: This is first, a blog, in a news/information format rather than a chat room. For some of our readers, it is a way to Flog. As we stated nearly two years ago, printed newspapers carry "news analysis columns, editorials, and straight news." Blog articles usually offer more freedom to comment than a straight news story. We realize that some of our articles would never pass muster at a printed newspaper, but then we are not a printed newspaper). To read Oklahoma's #1 rated blog, go to www.dustbury.com.
And yes, we will work to change the law; and no, we never said dead people voted, we said that they can vote if no proof of ID is required. Your twisting our comments to allow you to attack them is not kosher.)
And, did it occur to writer that there are a thousand direct mail houses that one can purchase lists from? Maybe even voters?
Labels: Letters to the Editor
posted by Editor | 1:19 AM
1 Comments:
Thank you to Jack Forrest for the civics lesson. Don't know where we would be without this mentoring.
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