tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post2354285965019479757..comments2024-03-28T03:12:12.079-05:00Comments on Northern Valley Beacon: When people go up in flamesDavid Newquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04937837001343753140noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post-5687940600777644002009-11-12T07:27:05.818-06:002009-11-12T07:27:05.818-06:00[I regret the inclusion of folks who didn't wa...[I regret the inclusion of folks who didn't want to be on the list. I've never been fond of e-mail lists as forums for conversation; on online forum or comments section is better, as you can login, subscribe or unsubscribe as you wish.]<br /><br />"eat our own" -- yet there was a reasonable conversation about whether SHS is really one of our own. Maybe you're right, that if we had a primary, it would just get ugly. But the national party managed to turn a hard-fought primary into November victory last year; our state party could benefit from its own primary in 2010. There would be stiff disagreement, but we would come out the better for it.caheidelbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03261598066395322681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post-61710013362215663342009-11-11T23:09:18.747-06:002009-11-11T23:09:18.747-06:00Corey,
The first items circulated on the list ser...Corey,<br /><br />The first items circulated on the list serve were copies of letters being sent to Rep. Herseth Sandlin. They certainly deserve attention, hers and ours, and express what many of us are observing and thinking. However, the conversation changed from stating what the writers wanted to say and ask of SHS to statements addressed to each other, and they changed from shedding light to generating heat. The discussion degenerated steadily into the exchanges you refer to, which tainted the whole discussion for many.<br /><br />For some reason that we still have not figured out, a good portion of the Brown County Democrats e-mail list was among the addressees, and the county officers received many, many requests from people who wanted their names removed from the list. They were not concerned about legitimate criticism and questioning of SHS, but were offended by the spectacle, as one person put it, of watching Democrats eat their own.<br /><br />We had our annual turkey dinner Tuesday night and the subject came up frequently. There is a general perception that the discussion started out to be instructive but crashed in flames.David Newquisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04937837001343753140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post-1746869163378239632009-11-11T19:03:52.520-06:002009-11-11T19:03:52.520-06:00Hi, David! As a participant in some of that conver...Hi, David! As a participant in some of that conversation, I beg to differ with your characterization of the Dems e-mail conversation as "flames." The only real flaming I saw was a side distraction of two conversants getting nasty with each other. The bulk of the commentary I saw was reasonable criticism of SHS for bailing on Dem principles on a pretty important piece of legislation. And I don't think folks have lost sight of the big problems in the insurance industry and elsewhere in health care; but SHS's hard-to-justify vote and unwillingness to make the Democratic Party's case are valid topics for conversation and criticism. She should be helping us push that conversation and shoot down the misinformation from the right-wing defenders of the profits-over-people status quo. Her vote demonstrates she is more a part of the problem than a part of the solution. <br /><br />Is that a flame?caheidelbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03261598066395322681noreply@blogger.com