Do I take a stand?
I get this question today in my email:
I was just curious, have you considered endorsing any of the school board candidates on your blog? Or have you done so and I missed it?
The short answer to this is. “No”, I have not considered endorsing any candidates.
Here’s the long answer, and the explanation of why I haven’t been blogging on this subject.
I would need to have a far more developed sense of my own importance to “endorse” someone, and think it would carry any weight with my readership, such as it is. We’ve got so many papers and websites and organizations that are busy telling us how we MUST vote, that one more is really not necessary. I specifically avoid overtly political posts - mainly because I don’t want to have to deal with the comments associated with those kinds of posts, and also because it’s just not something I’m terribly interested in blogging about. Don’t get me wrong, I vote - I have an opinion, etc. So what is it you ask?
I suppose, if pressed, I’d have to say I echo the recommendations of (I think it was the Trib) one of the papers when I say I’d vote for Ruth, and David. I served a year on the SWNI schools committee, and can testify firsthand to Ruth’s dedication and competence with seemingly all school related issues particularly in Southwest. I do share the paper’s concern with how she will transition from the role of an activist/advocate/gadfly to an active member of the board and deal with the inevitable compromises that will ensue. As for David Wynde, I agree with the editorial stance that his financial expertise is needed on the Board. Beyond that - anyone who can block out the type of time that being on the school board requires for NO PAY should be commended.
However, I am also concerned that any of these finer concerns about whether or not someone is more or less “open to communication” or “active in the peace movement” are all moot considering the next board will likely spend the majority of its time attempting to replace the Superintendent.
As for politics in general, you’re not getting it here, sorry. If you’re looking for political posts, try The Red Electric, Bojack (Jack Bog’s Blog), or Amanda Fritz - all of which I read. All but Amanda, I should say, are frequently pretty anti-government and often overly alarmist but can be the source of some good information you’re certainly not going to get from the Oregonian. My capsule review of those three blogs is: Amanda is more liberal than Bojack, who is very anti-developer and no fan of the City government. The Red Electric is the strongest voice against the power of the media, the war, and the Bush Administration. Amanda will give you hard information about the specifics of what’s happening at the city government level and she’s personally involved in lobbying her agenda to various councils, etc. Bojack will give you the widest range of subject matter, and all the Blazer news you need.
They’ve got us covered. It’s not balanced, but it’s mostly fair, it’s their viewpoint and they’re putting info out that all of us should at least be aware of, so we can make our own decisions. I believe that ALL of those blogs have endorsed the candidates and measures.
So that’s enough politics for now.