At 12:12 PM 3/27/01 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>Why is an apology necessary for kicking someone off the list who publicly
>villifies his/her neighbors? A chilling effect on free speech occurs when
>people don't post because they fear being publicly trashed. Even the first
>amendment is tempered by libel and slander laws. People form opinions about
>others' characters based on what is published on this list. We owe it to
>ourselves and others to back up assertions with facts and avoid namecalling.
>
>Jude Poseley
>Lowry Hill East
As I read David's message, is he was not appologising for kicking the
particular member of the list off the list. He was appologising for
forwarding a message from a non-list member which made some unsubstantiated
attacks on list members. I was the person who wrote and made an official
complaint about those two posts.
As one who has been chastised by David for various posts (sometimes David
feels I'm not keeping to Minneapolis issues, and sometimes he has thought
I'm pushing on the decorum rule with some of my posts about the proposed
Motel on the Healy block--which is a subjective rule, and so hard to
enforce), I also feel that David works hard to make this list a safe place
for folks to post their ideas.
It is a tough balancing act to play both a participant and a moderator of
the list. I think David does that well. I don't agree with all his
rulings, but I think he has been willing to appologise publically when
warranted. (That is more than most people in this type of position are
willing to do). He appologised to Russ Peterson publically a few weeks
back, and he also appologised this time to Walt Gutzmer and David Piehl.
That's a class act in my book.
Personally I'd rather see the nasty little attacks on people on an email,
where folks are taking responsibility for what they are saying, than
through the phone tree rumor mill--where folks will often deny saying what
they obviously said when confronted. Peter Bell was a victim of such a
rumor campaign when he ran for county commissioner. A gay friend of mine
voted for Peter's opponent because he believed a gay friend of his who told
him that Peter was a Quistanista type of Republican. That was a total lie.
Outfront Minnesota made a similar claim about Peter Bell after the
election. I believe I wrote a public response and posted it here to that
rediculous claim. In this election cycle, these types of rumors were
clarified on list. An example is whether Gary Schiff was supported by
Jackie Cherryhomes. Different people on the list had different versions of
this story--and the story was ultimately substantiated by Gary Schiff. He
had claimed support from Cherryhomes during a DFL gathering.
Regarding whether or not Lisa McDonald is a Republican or not--this is my
take: Personally, I'm not sure why it is so relevant whether someone is
a Democrat or a Republican for city races. I'd assume that Lisa is called
a Republican because she is a fiscal conservative. With regard to Steve
Minn's posting about Sabri's record, is this information available online?
Or do people have to physically visit the Hennepin County Government Center
to look this up.
The altercation between Lisa McDonald and Buck Humphrey from the Mayor's
office was interesting. My question is this: was Humphrey posting on his
own behalf, or was he speaking for the Mayor? Did the mayor see his post
prior to the post being published? This type of thing wouldn't be relevant
if the Mayor would post directly to the list.
Eva
Eva Young
Central
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