Gadflies and Court or "Old Guard" Intimidation & Violence

It doesn't matter that the Arizona shooter is deranged. That goes without saying. Still, elected officials and candidates who engage in such provocative fan-flaming are planting seeds that encourage gun violence, and anyone with half a brain knows it.

It would be appropriate for the City Council to evaluate which politic was promoting fear and sometimes even violent images in their campaign or by their supporters. Those are the elements which perpetuated past abuse of power and management. In our little way Grand Terrace has a role to play in the bigger picture. This is why civil remedy or the courts or dealing with Facts and Records is so important to this blog's discourse.

There should be no room at the City Council Dias for persons who used or benefited from the "Stop Walt" (Bernardo, Sylvia being mindless puppets) flier. Add the video by J McConnell, editor of the Blue Mt Outlook published by the Chamber of Commerce which is paid by the city for "Services Rendered", on the net portraying violent acts against Grandpa Terrace or Grand ma Terrace , or the Gadflies of Grand Terrace. Sure he says it was produced as an individual, but who's his target for his beating down? Who may take up his example? Who was his intended benefactor?

When a flier or movement relies on the facts of a persons conduct be it negative than that is fair political conversation as we elect people and their conduct to represent us in and outside the community. So I do not see all "negatives" as the same. To say Walt is excitable and gets angry or impatient at times is fair use of language and may be something the voters should consider. The use of "he's a bomb throwing mad man" you never know when he'll go off type of language was used to differentiate Mr. Wilson and Mr Schwab from Mr Stanckiewitz. The projection of violence wet even further in the whisper campaigns against Walt in particular. Let's hope the Current City Council Members give this a great deal of thought. Which side of civic behavior are they going to stand on?

To compromise their decision so that those who wrote the "Stop Walt" flier and the videos with violence are the "Happy Half of the Community" is in my opinion a surrender to the dark side of politic. It will take courage to appoint Sylvia Robles at this point, but I still think it is the right thing to do all things considered. Sylvia Robles will be the collateral damage of the negative campaigns. Give them this crumb of a victory and you'll be empowering the behavior in the next election.