I am such a slow person sometimes I think I should give up on
the Minneapolis Issues List. Y'all are just too fast for me!! By the
time I can read it, think about it and maybe write something down,
I'm usually four days late on the thread. So I give up and lurk.
Maybe it's because I get the List in Digest form. Maybe it's because
I'm genetically hard-wired to live in the 19th century, so modern
life is a continual challenge for me.
But anyways, a couple days ago (the equivalent of decades in
cyberspace), someone posted Down With Wizard Marks and said that on
the basis of her posts she shouldn't be elected to public office. And
I thought, heck, I'm voting for Wizard Marks for Library Board
precisely BECAUSE I've been reading her posts for the last 18
months--and they've showed a wonderfully fierce intelligence,
independence and pragmatic sense of how folks use their local library
and other public services. (Although I do tend to scroll quickly
through some of the Central Neighborhood/8th Ward Internecine
Warfares because it starts reminding of the Iraqi-Iranian war, which
went on forever and in the end I couldn't follow it.)
I am also voting for Michael Hohmann and Sheldon Mains for
Library Board....also because of their consistently smart posts.
Ditto Annie Young for Park Board. (Let it be on the record that I,
the Notorious Bitch Who Ten Days After The November Election Closed
The Door On The Poor Guy From Clean Water Action After He Told Me He
Had Voted For Nader, this same DFLer is indeed voting for a Green
Party candidate.) Tracey Nordquist for Park Board. Denny Schapiro
for School Board and the list goes on and on. And of course, I'm
voting for RT Rybak--who has also been a frequent poster.
In general, I think Cyber-communities are poor replacements
for the real thing. What I love about this List is how it has
connected me with my own local community and put me in touch with
real people who care passionately about where they live. The media
gives us almost no coverage of local politics. And most of the few
local scraps in the press are either drenched in cynicism or seems to
be simply the unquestioned view of "Political Insiders"....i.e.
Whomever Is In Power.
So this List has been invaluable to me. Especially during
this election. Thanks to all, especially Listmaster David Brauer.
Without him, this thing would have collapsed long ago. Instead, it
keeps growing.
Lynnell Mickelsen
Ward 13, Linden Hills
--
_______________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
