Very soon, you are going to begin to read an inordinate amount of postings come out against the candidates that appear to be gaining momentum on this site. Don?’t forget that the ?“father of PATA?” is at risk of losing his throne in this election. For that matter, you may believe that a lot of the postings in favor of these candidates are over the top.
Much like most of us in life, we can find someone that can say negative things about us regardless of our character. It might be a neighbor who doesn?’t like that you put your trash can out early or bring it in late. It might be the parent of a kid that your kid beat out for a position on a team.
Character is a vital facet of the makeup of the candidates. Personally, I am supporting Wisniewski, Hackworth, Barletta and O?’Brien because of their character. For the two current councilmen and the former councilman, I cannot say that I have always agreed with their decisions or things they have been quoted as saying in the papers, but at no time have I doubted the character of these men. For Mr. Barletta, whom I have met and talked to numerous times, I think he is also of sound character.
However I feel about these men and however I feel about the opposition and their character, I think that we should stick to debating the issues and character of these candidates and leave out the personal attacks. You might think I am contradicting myself by offering to allow character attacks and classify them differently that personal attacks so let me clarify.
If a person says that the end always justifies the means or the results justify the tactics, I think it is more a statement of their character that can be debated and not classified as a personal attack. I think it is indicative of how they would or do perform their public duties.
If a person signs a letter to the residents claiming millions of dollars in tax revenues without a single piece of data to back the claim, I think that is a statement of their character and debating that would not be a personal attack. I think it is indicative of how they would or do perform their public duties.
What do you think? Am I near target or way off base?
I guess the reason I am writing this is that I would like to see the frequent PATA posters ignore personal attacks and not precipitate those strings. Let?’s make a conscious and mature decision to debating issues and character in this forum. So many people have been put off by the personal attacks and the inability to stick to debating issues that some of the best minds in the community that used to be frequent contributors to this site have gone away and may never come back. Even if we can?’t get them to come back, let?’s not try to lose more insightful and thoughtful posters to any tabloid mentality.
Much like most of us in life, we can find someone that can say negative things about us regardless of our character. It might be a neighbor who doesn?’t like that you put your trash can out early or bring it in late. It might be the parent of a kid that your kid beat out for a position on a team.
Character is a vital facet of the makeup of the candidates. Personally, I am supporting Wisniewski, Hackworth, Barletta and O?’Brien because of their character. For the two current councilmen and the former councilman, I cannot say that I have always agreed with their decisions or things they have been quoted as saying in the papers, but at no time have I doubted the character of these men. For Mr. Barletta, whom I have met and talked to numerous times, I think he is also of sound character.
However I feel about these men and however I feel about the opposition and their character, I think that we should stick to debating the issues and character of these candidates and leave out the personal attacks. You might think I am contradicting myself by offering to allow character attacks and classify them differently that personal attacks so let me clarify.
If a person says that the end always justifies the means or the results justify the tactics, I think it is more a statement of their character that can be debated and not classified as a personal attack. I think it is indicative of how they would or do perform their public duties.
If a person signs a letter to the residents claiming millions of dollars in tax revenues without a single piece of data to back the claim, I think that is a statement of their character and debating that would not be a personal attack. I think it is indicative of how they would or do perform their public duties.
What do you think? Am I near target or way off base?
I guess the reason I am writing this is that I would like to see the frequent PATA posters ignore personal attacks and not precipitate those strings. Let?’s make a conscious and mature decision to debating issues and character in this forum. So many people have been put off by the personal attacks and the inability to stick to debating issues that some of the best minds in the community that used to be frequent contributors to this site have gone away and may never come back. Even if we can?’t get them to come back, let?’s not try to lose more insightful and thoughtful posters to any tabloid mentality.
