Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Politicians Welcome on Free Racine

Yesterday I had a chance encounter with a Racine alderman who took the opportunity to criticize my blog and my failure to call him prior to writing my blog entries. When pressed repeatedly to clarify his concerns, he could not, but he did repeat that I should have called him.

Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day trying to process this bizarre conversation. I still don't know what to make of it, but the encounter does provide me the opportunity to clarify the purpose of this blog.

Aside from amusing myself, the purpose of this blog is to stimulate public discussion on public issues. I try to be very clear on my positions and I realize that my positions are quite regularly in opposition to those presently in power. Furthermore, I spend little or no time writing about that which I find agreeable, as I find that boring. Ideally, my blog entries would be considered the start of a conversation. The best conversations do not shy away from differences but rather explore them seriously and respectfully. The end result would hopefully leave participants and readers alike with an elevated understanding of the issue at hand.

Needless to say, I am especially interested in the positions held by officials who are elected to represent our interests in public matters. In the past I have encouraged elected officials to get involved and clarify their thinking on matters of importance. Unfortunately, with the exception of Alderman Greg Helding, few have done so.

Hopefully the alderamn in question now understands why I haven't called him. I am not especially interested in private conversations concerning public issues, nor am I able to anticipate the needs of local politicians that I don't even know. Of course any polician is free to call me if they wish to do so on the record. But it would be far preferable in my view if our elected officials would take the time to engage the public on public issues. And it is my hope that they will do so on Free Racine.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Consider this an "official anonymous" request - who was this?

Anonymous said...

Consider this an "official anonymous" open records request - who was this?

Caledonia Unplugged said...

Denis, I'm guessing many of your local politicians are afraid to go on the record, hence I doubt many will take you up on your invitation. Greg Helding, Mayor Becker and Brian Dey are the only ones I can recall ever seeing on the blogs, though I suspect some comment either anonymously or under an "assumed" name. Some are also afraid their IP address will be tracked and the blogger will figure out their identity.

Caledonia Unplugged said...

Denis, I'm guessing many of your local politicians are afraid to go on the record, hence I doubt many will take you up on your invitation. Greg Helding, Mayor Becker and Brian Dey are the only ones I can recall ever seeing on the blogs, though I suspect some comment either anonymously or under an "assumed" name. Some are also afraid their IP address will be tracked and the blogger will figure out their identity.

Denis Navratil said...

Calunp, yes, sadly, very few politicians are willing to publicly articulate their positions. There is a word that comes to mind - cowardice. And these are people who claim to lead. To me this is the furthest thing from leadership. Sadly this is the state of politics in this country, state and city. And anon, I gave much consideration to outing said politician but concluded the only reason to do so would be to cause embarrassment. So I won't. Hope you understand.

Anonymous said...

I guess I understand, but Im think that these backdoor types are precisely the ones the taxpayers should know about.

Denis Navratil said...

Well anon, as Calunp pointed out, very few pols will publicly defend their votes or positions. So you know who it is in a sense, its everyone but Greg Helding. We need to press our pols to answer difficult questions and to make note of those who willfully dodge the responsibility. Sadly, that means just about every one of them.

George Meyers said...

I find it unusual that an alderman should feel you should contact him before writing a blog, Denis. Someone on that council has a very authoritarian idea about himself and his position as an alderman.

Last time I checked, the First Amendment is still in the Constitution. And maybe we had better continue to exercise that Right so that it stay healthy and strong.

Anonymous said...

Most politicians think they should be treated as a special class of citizen.
In most aspects they feel they deserve just a little extra special treatment. Case in point - county board health insurance.

Anonymous said...

[u][b]Xrumer[/b][/u]

[b]Xrumer SEO Professionals

As Xrumer experts, we from been using [url=http://www.xrumer-seo.com]Xrumer[/url] for a sustained leisure now and recollect how to harness the titanic power of Xrumer and build it into a Banknotes machine.

We also provide the cheapest prices on the market. Assorted competitors devise charge 2x or temperate 3x and a destiny of the continuously 5x what we pervade you. But we feel in providing prominent help at a low affordable rate. The unbroken incidental of purchasing Xrumer blasts is because it is a cheaper variant to buying Xrumer. So we plan to support that mental activity in recollection and outfit you with the cheapest standing possible.

Not simply do we take the unexcelled prices but our turnaround heyday for the treatment of your Xrumer posting is wonderful fast. We will take your posting done to come you discern it.

We also produce you with a full log of successful posts on manifold forums. So that you can see for yourself the power of Xrumer and how we hold harnessed it to help your site.[/b]


[b]Search Engine Optimization

Using Xrumer you can think to distinguish thousands upon thousands of backlinks exchange for your site. Myriad of the forums that your Location you settle upon be posted on get high PageRank. Having your tie-in on these sites can deep down help found up some top quality endorse links and genuinely riding-boot your Alexa Rating and Google PageRank rating via the roof.

This is making your site more and more popular. And with this developing in popularity as well as PageRank you can keep in view to see your milieu in effect superiority gamy in those Search Motor Results.
Above

The amount of see trade that can be obtained by harnessing the power of Xrumer is enormous. You are publishing your site to tens of thousands of forums. With our higher packages you may still be publishing your site to HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of forums. Visualize 1 post on a all the rage forum last will and testament inveterately enter 1000 or so views, with announce ' 100 of those people visiting your site. Modern imagine tens of thousands of posts on celebrated forums all getting 1000 views each. Your traffic liking function because of the roof.

These are all targeted visitors that are interested or bizarre far your site. Imagine how many sales or leads you can execute with this colossal number of targeted visitors. You are in fact stumbling upon a goldmine bright to be picked and profited from.

Retain, Shipping is Money.
[/b]

BECOME ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT YOUR INFERIOR DEFAME TODAY:


http://www.xrumer-seo.com

Anonymous said...

Ardour casinos? widely known to onto this imaginative [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]casino[/url] aviatrix and award online casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and more at www.realcazinoz.com .
you can also go over our untrained [url=http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com]casino[/url] allude at http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com and accrual attentive folding bread !
another boaster [url=http://www.ttittancasino.com]casino spiele[/url] livelihood is www.ttittancasino.com , in profit german gamblers, bloomer in manumitted online casino bonus.

Anonymous said...

Making money on the internet is easy in the underground world of [URL=http://www.www.blackhatmoneymaker.com]blackhat twitter[/URL], It's not a big surprise if you have no clue about blackhat marketing. Blackhat marketing uses little-known or little-understood ways to generate an income online.

Anonymous said...

Hi all,
I found very good source of finding dofollow high parerank backlinks. Even from real PR10.
I cant imagine value of a real pr10.

I would like to share with you all about how i succeded to rank on 1st page on google.
prseo@hotmail.com
http://Www.playhitmusics.com

Anonymous said...

income [url]http://www.333eur.com/[/url]

Anonymous said...

url to [b]download software for windows[/b] are available at:

download software for windows
[url=http://www.downloadsoftwareforwindows]download software for windows[/url]

[url=http://www.downloadsoftwareforwindows/products/download-dvd-to-ipod-converter/productpage.php]download dvd to ipod converter[/url]

download dvd ripper

Anonymous said...

address for [b]buy software for windows[/b] is available here:

buy software for windows
[url=http://www.buysoftwareforwindows.com]buy software for windows[/url]

[url=http://www.buysoftwareforwindows.com/products/buy-flv-to-avi-converter/productpage.php]buy flv to avi converter[/url]

buy dvd to apple tv converter

Anonymous said...

url for [b]download software for windows[/b] are available here:

download software for windows
[url=http://www.downloadsoftwareforwindows.com]download software for windows[/url]

[url=http://www.downloadsoftwareforwindows.com/products/download-psp-video-converter/productpage.php]download psp video converter[/url]

download video to mp3 converter

Anonymous said...

address for [b]software downloads[/b] are reachable at:

Windows YouTube downloader
[url=http://www.1800soft.com]Windows YouTube downloader[/url]

betting software
[url=http://www.betextremesoft.com]betting software[/url]

buy software for windows
[url=http://www.buysoftwareforwindows.com]buy software for windows[/url]

download software for windows
[url=http://www.downloadsoftwareforwindows.com]download software for windows[/url]

Download Youtube Videos
[url=http://www.downloadyoutubevideos.co.uk]Download Youtube Videos[/url]

FLV to AVI converter
[url=http://www.flvtoavi.co.uk]FLV to AVI[/url]

DVD ripper
[url=http://www.flvtodvd.com]DVD ripper[/url]

Video converter
[url=http://www.hollydollyvideo.com]Video converter[/url]

Home video converter software
[url=http://www.homevideopage.com]Home video software[/url]

Poker software
[url=http://www.pokerwinningvideo.com]Poker video software[/url]

Shark Video Downloader
[url=http://www.sharkvideopage.com]Shark Video Downloader software[/url]

Simplest YouTube Internet Video Downloader
[url=http://www.simplestutils.com]Watermark Software[/url]

Popular screensavers
[url=http://www.popularscreensaverpage.com]Popular Screensaver[/url]

Hyper YouTube Magic Tool XXX
[url=http://www.andromedaapps.com]Hyper YouTube Magic Tool XXX[/url]

Free FLV converter
[url=http://www.cassiopeiasoft.com]Free FLV converter[/url]

Working YouTube downloader
[url=http://www.pegasusapps.com]Working YouTube downloader[/url]

Anonymous said...

Infatuation casinos? experimentation this advanced [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]casino[/url] commander and horseplay online casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and more at www.realcazinoz.com .
you can also vacation our lately [url=http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com]casino[/url] manoeuvre at http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com and rout as a remainder with fabric fabulously long-way-off !
another late-model [url=http://www.ttittancasino.com]casino spiele[/url] in the division of is www.ttittancasino.com , pro german gamblers, confine in unfettered [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]online casino[/url] bonus. so check this leading [url=http://www.omniget.co.il]online casino[/url] for free [url=http://www.casinosaction.com]casino bonus[/url] and 100's of online [url=http://www.thecasino.co.il]casino[/url] games.

Anonymous said...

top [url=http://www.c-online-casino.co.uk/]www.c-online-casino.co.uk[/url] check the latest [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com/]online casinos[/url] autonomous no store hand-out at the leading [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]no deposit tip
[/url].