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Date Posted: 09:45:23 10/14/01 Sun
Author: Naturally
Subject: Another salvo in the Dracut Jihad!

I’ve often scoffed at celebrities who moan and groan about their lack of privacy. They work all their lives to become famous and once they do, they suddenly develop a contemptuous holier-than-thou attitude about the public nature of their lives. To me, it’s kind of like an auto mechanic complaining about getting grease on his hands or a carpenter who hates sawdust. My way of looking at it is, “Hey – what did you expect?”

The same question can be asked of some of the thin-skinned politicians in town. Webster’s defines the word political as: Competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership. This would seem to indicate that by its very nature, politics is controversial and those that participate in the process should expect some of that to land at their feet. This forum is a venue for political discussion among other things. Therefore, we can expect that this forum will spawn controversy and competing ideas.

So, if that’s the case, why are we seeing all these histrionics from two of our Selectmen? While discussing the omnipresent grinder pump issue, someone wrote that if Dennis Williams couldn’t dazzle them with brilliance he would baffle them with BS. Now anyone whose ever had a 10 minute discussion with Dennis understands that he has no problem dazzling them with brilliance. This is a man who is not an empty vessel. So I was taken aback when he melted down and accused his critic of slander and vowed not to post on this forum again. C’mon Dennis! Slander? I don’t think that will hold up in court. More to the point, you gratified this guy but having a hissy fit and you’re guilty of taking yourself too seriously.

Now to Mr. Shaw. Holding court on his talk show yesterday morning, I found out that people who post on this forum who are perhaps critical of the political process or a politician and who post anonymously are, in Mr Shaw’s own words, a terrorists! Geez! I have no beard and I don’t get my clothes from Bed & Bath. No Hyphens in my name. I have an opinion. I am a terrorist. Warren, I’ve told you a million times not to exaggerate!

Given these events and others like it where it has been asserted that the politicians in town have no respect for this forum, I can only conclude the following. When the politicians can control the discourse they are very content to engage in it. But where they can’t they refuse to participate. Mr Shaw has a radio show and a local access TV show. He has plenty of opportunity to get his views across and he takes advantage of them as he should. This is really the only venue for the electorate to engage the discourse and yes, some who do so aren’t the brightest bulbs in the circuit. But that would fall into the category of the mechanics greasy hands. It comes with the territory.

Like Harry Truman said, “If a man can’t stand the heat, he ought to stay out of the kitchen!”

No I’m going back to my cave with the other terrorists!

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