Introducing agnosticrat

In case you haven't noticed, this is now officially a group blog. I've asked agnosticrat to come on board and provide his unique and caustic commentary to issues that affect West Michigan. I was at a point where it was either ask for help or call it a day. I found myself at a point where I couldn't check in often enough to watch comments to ensure a relatively civil discourse or to post often enough to keep the trolls from dominating the conversation. From my discussions with agnosticrat and his comments here, as well as his too-infrequent posts on his own blog, I thought he could help me out in this regard. You've been warned...

Lights Out

Wow. The entire city of Hastings is without power and estimates seem to be getting pushed back as to when it gets restored – yesterday, I kept hearing maybe Wednesday while today I'm hearing it might be Thursday. Makes me wonder where all those people I saw driving around town were headed since it was after morning rush hour when I drove through town Monday morning- up to Grand Rapids to buy generators perhaps?

One has to wonder how many people spent much of Friday's check on groceries sometime during the weekend, only to have a lack of power and 90+ degree temperatures turn the food into worthless mush. Luckily, my in-laws have a generator and some extra room in their refrigerator and freezer or I'd have been throwing out a good chunk of the $100+ I spent on staples this weekend without money to replace it.

The weird thing was that I was without power most of the weekend (we're on Great Lakes Energy out here at the Pol Watcher Compound- sometimes it seems as if every stiff breeze knocks out our power, if only for a few minutes), it seemed to get restored from Saturday's storms just in time for the wave of Sunday storms. I thought power had been restored around dinner time Sunday night but it lasted only for a brief minute or two before going back off until sometime after midnight. Hastings seemed to be in clear and was fine for a few hours after the storm passed Sunday afternoon before the lights went out.

I'm taking my chances with this post since many of you regular readers might be among those without power, but for those with some juice feel free to share your story about how you made it through the weekend. Enjoy your weather-related 3 day weekend... and give some sort of thanks to the crews working 'round the clock to get everything back up and running even as you wish they could do it even faster.

P.S. For the political junkies, I should be getting around to doing some kind of round-up of local elections as time allows sometime in the very near future. A Clash of the Titans going to head to head for Sheriff, the entire county running for Drain Commissioner, not one single Democrat filing for county-wide office – it's almost too much to put together.

Seek the truth, but not from a liar

If you’re a regular reader of West Michigan Politics (and given my infrequent postings of late, there’s still a surprising number of you), there’s a good chance you’ve read one of the many messages from a certain Seeker of Truth in the comments. This “truthseeker” often leaves off-topic comments in various posts that repeatedly charge Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf or his staff members of various charges ranging from the silly to the somewhat serious.

As many regular readers also know, “truthseeker” has always been a vocal defender (if not the actual person, something that many people who know him have suggested- I will leave that to readers to decide) of the former County 911 Director, Charlie Nystrom, who was recently forced to retire prematurely after being caught handing out “bonus” payments for overtime to select employees despite there being no evidence that was made public that those payments were authorized or deserved. Nystrom was first charged in a very high profile way by the Barry County Prosecutor, Tom Evans. The charges then went to the Sheriff’s Department where they disappeared for an overly-long period of time, then were sent back to the prosecutor who hasn’t been heard from on the topic since. Since then, truthseeker has spammed local political blogs with endless counter charges that at least deserve to be dealt with, since merely deleting the comments or even continuing to ignore them would only increase the chance of less-informed people thinking there’s validity to them.

Recently, I directly asked 2 members of the Barry County Board of Commissioners about the charges made in this blog and Dave Young’s Compulsory News blog regarding supposed corruption or malfeasance in the Sheriff’s Department. Neither of the commissioners I spoke with was even aware of the allegations. So, I will ask you this simple question: How are we supposed to take these charges seriously when the people making them have not even brought them up to those charged with oversight of the county government? Why have these charges been made repeatedly and local bloggers bullied, when the charges aren't credible enough to merit someone getting them on the public record?

I STILL have yet to see ONE letter to the editor of the local paper or hear of any ONE person standing up at a public meeting to air these grievances. I'd even settle for a yard sign or some kook with a billboard strapped to his car in a parade, but yet we have nothing. How can we take these charges seriously when the people pushing them refuse to do so on the record? From what I can see, this is nothing but another attempt to confuse the issues, spread the blame, or otherwise change the subject from the corruption that was entrenched in the County 911 system and is hopefully in the process of being remedied.

While I’ve stated publicly that I am greatly bothered by the Prosecutor’s silence (especially considering how vocal he was when making the original allegations) in the matter of former County 911 Director Charlie Nystrom’s alleged “embezzelment,” (once again, I’ll repeat that when a prosecutor goes public with a charge, he should damn well have the evidence to make the case and he should also most certinaly know the definition of the charges he’s making) but it doesn’t mean that Nystrom and his sock puppets will guilt me into joining their crusade to take down the Sheriff in their plot for revenge. In fact, I think Sheriff Leaf has done a decent job, considering my original reservations about his candidacy, and I think this campaign against him is part of a vendetta which is revenge for his part in helping to end the inglorious reign of Nystrom, which might be helped out by certain elements also harboring animosity over his ousting of the previous Sheriff in a bitter campaign. It is also convenient that these charges arise as we near a political season in which Leaf will again be on the ballot. In the past that I did not support the election of the County Prosecutor and Sheriff, yet somehow those with an ax to grind like to try to lump me into being a supporter or defender of them. It's a nice guilt-by-association tactic which truthseeker has become known for.

I’ll also add this last little bit of obviousness for anyone who still doesn’t get it: I started this blog because I had opinions about news and politics that I felt weren’t being aired. I am not a journalist or a news organization. I’m one person with a point of view. The beauty of the internet is that blogs are free. If you don't like what I write, feel free to start your own. You're still free to air your opinion here, but if you continue to spam the comments with the same old stuff we've heard before or outrageous allegations that you wouldn't make at a public meeting or in a letter to the editor, then I will feel free to delete the comments.

I'm sure we've now now all talked, read and thought a lot more about this than is necessary or warranted. Frankly, it's a personal vendetta and most people are DONE with it, those that aren't seem to have an obvious horse in the race and their comments should be taken with a huge boulder of salt. So, we hope to return to more pressing issues soon. It's not like there hasn't been anything in the news to talk about...

Building a better blog

I’ve been delighted that County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Callton decided to get into the blogging game with the “Barry Home Companion” blog in order to add another voice to serious cyberspace political and social commentary about Barry County and West Michigan. Dr. Callton, with a nod to Goldilocks and maybe Fox News, has billed his forum as “not too liberal, not too conservative, but just right,” but the Barry Home Companion has fallen victim, as many other blogs have, including this one at times, to the scourge of anonymity and its use as a way to hurl mud at political opponents, particularly the use of sexual innuendo to slime a public official. There’s absolutely nothing anonymous in the featured postings clearly identified as to who their authors are: Callton himself, State Rep. Brian Calley, Commissioner Jeff VanNortwick and Chuck Reid, a County Commission watchdog, all have written opinion pieces, giving the blog variety, a different approach than my lone wolf style and one that I enjoy reading.

However, comments in reaction to postings sometimes have gotten out of hand, just like they did too often on West Michigan Politics a while back. Buoyed by their anonymity, some people have made outrageous, questionable and personal attacks on public figures. I suppose this too often is a big risk when setting up and running a blog that invites everyone to the table to speak their minds.

Because of the nefarious nature of certain anonymous claims on this blog in bygone days, I changed my policy by not allowing anyone to post simply as “anonymous.” My compromise was that comment contributors must consistently use a handle in order to be able to post. And since I'm limited by the tools Blogspot and Google offer for free, I felt this was the best decision. Granted, those sending comments still don’t have to identify themselves by their real names, but with a particular handle, it becomes a lot easier to have back and forth debate and some people eventually give themselves away under their pseudonyms of choice. It's also easier for people to gauge how they line up with an author's point of view through repeated exposure to their signed blog posts and it works as a check against people saying things they might otherwise say if they were one of a number of comments listed as "anonymous."

I hereby ask Dr. Callton, customarily a reasonable man, to eliminate all anonymous commentary on his blog, to use his authority to block scurrilous charges and suggestions from these secret snipers who don’t have the guts to join the cyber discussion with at least a nom de plume of some kind so that others may judge their record of posts and encourage a responsible and civil discussion. I think automatically turning away anonymous commentary will cut down on the more outrageous tabloid-style attacks we have to endure in our laudable never-ending efforts for political discourse outside the usual channels. It won't end it, but those now more rare out of bounds comments can be deleted by the moderator. I have even cut out an offending comment and re-pasted the rest of the author's post when I felt they'd crossed a line but the rest of the comment was worthy of discussion.

I also believe Commission Callton should set a higher standard simply because he's a public official. He already got in some hot water for having the blog linked to an official government web site which he has since rectified. But by having his name on the blog and because of his status as a public official, his opponents or those trying to damage his reputation or the power of his blog can use these gutter tactics against him by attaching him to the attacks. I think it's in his own best interest to clamp down a bit but not so much as to completely stifle discussion and dissent. Some will cry censorship but that rare minority is likely to be the one most willing to use anonymous attacks for character assassination.

When I started my blog, it was my intention to have debate, discourse and discussion about political issues crucial to people who live in Barry County and West Michigan, issues that might not be seriously discussed in traditional media formats because of fear of reprisal. I developed West Michigan Politics as a haven for that discussion. It may not be the perfect forum but I've done my best to live up to my own high standards. I admit to being a flawed person, an amateur political commentator who has made mistakes in my judgment and my grammar and not always lived up to my own intent and potential. My intention is not to promote the sleazy, slimy and salacious, it is, rather to promote a truly open, honest and illuminating discussion that the traditional media dare not offer. It is with humility and respect that I beseech Dr. Callton to do the same.

New links added

Just a reminder that I've added some new links under that section on the ride side of the front page. Included in the new additions are a link to Barry County Board of Commissioners Chairperson Mike Callton's Barry Home Companion as well as a link to the blog for the Marshall Chronicle newspaper. For those of you who haven't bothered checking out the links now is a good time to do so. I try to add something every couple of months and clean out the dead branches when possible, so if you find a link to a site that no longer exists please let me know about it. You can feel free to use the comment section for this post as an "open thread" where you can talk about whatever you want, especially things you feel I'm not properly covering (though I'd appreciate instead of asking me to do it, you would simply tell us what YOU think about it) or you can always just tell others what goodies you've found by clicking on those links to prove that you actually read this...

A Year in the Life

One year ago, on February 24, 2006, I started this blog with a short post. The idea, like all of them, had begun as a tiny nagging voice in the back of my head that grew louder and louder until I could no longer ignore it.

For anyone who doesn't remember, the first post consisted of this brief introduction...

Friday, February 24, 2006

Welcome to West Michigan Politics

The site will be your source for coverage of the West Michigan political scene (as well well as state and national politics especially when it affects our area). We hope to bring you the news that the mainstream media won't dare to cover. I will rely on you, the reader, to help by supplying me with leads and background info that will help to uncover the stories that will shape our area and our state for years to come. Stay tuned...

posted by Pol Watcher @ 2/24/2006 10:14:00 AM

For those who've wondered why I started this site, I figure an anniversary present to the readers of this site would be an explanation of why I'm doing this.

I found blogs, from the best my memory can construct, in the days and weeks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. I had become increasingly disturbed by the nature of media coverage in the wake of the tragedy as news sources became propaganda outlets for an administration more and more obviously using the horrific event to achieve unrelated parts of their political agenda especially as the smoke cleared and the NeoCon plans for an invasion of Iraq were becoming clearer. More likely, they'd been propaganda outlets all along but I was no longer immune to the fact that one of the world's largest defense contractors owned a major TV network and that war not only boosted their bottom line by demanding more weapons but it also was a ratings bonanza as Americans sat down to watch the newest Hollywood blockbuster meets reality show meets country music anthem. Yes, you could watch bombs kill foreigners while listening to Toby Keith and feeling like a red-blooded real American patriot.

At first I wasn't really seeking out blogs, at the time I doubt I had even really heard the term or even if I had most likely I still assumed them to be the bored ramblings of college students who thought all their friends and family would like to know what they ate for breakfast that day. I found that blogs were more openly questioning of the dubious claims that we all now realize weren't true. Anyone who cared to look could have found numerous instances of scholars and experts openly debating and discussing the lack of evidence or the cooking of intelligence to make the case for war, but you wouldn't find it in the mainstream, corporately-owned and advertising revenue-driven media.

As the country descended into war fever, not bothering to stop and ask if it was necessary or just, I went to blogs more and more for solace. During the dark days of Mission Accomplished and Last Throes, I found myself spending more and more time on-line. And while I saw many people attempting to start their own political blogs, I found most of them to be nothing more than people pointing to the blogs they read with little more to offer. The "link blogging" came to look like a snake eating its own tail or a circle jerk more than an effort to educate or make a difference. At this time I really didn't consider blogging myself since I knew I couldn't do it better than the top tier bloggers such as the front pagers at The Daily Kos.

Finally the storm clouds starting to part and hope appeared on the horizon. As the failing effort in Iraq and the White House's lies became clearer to the public in the form of flag-draped coffins and sinking poll numbers I was finally able to do something besides despair. It was obvious the political winds were shifting and I wished to be a part of helping to end this dark period in American history. But what difference could ONE person make when the media had ignored the millions who spoke out and marched against a war they knew was bullshit? I certainly couldn't cover national politics better than the people I was reading and besides, how would I be heard amongst the hundreds, if not thousands, of other blogs talking about important national issues?

Meanwhile, closer to home Barry County had been suffering through an extended period of incompetence and even dangerously close to criminal leadership in the county government. A lifelong resident of Barry County and graduate of Hastings High School, I began to feel a desire to help fix what seemed so obviously wrong at the local level. Finally, I decided that the stories I was hearing in coffee shops and in private conversations weren't seeing the light of day or heard by anyone outside a tight knit circle of insiders. Despite the fact that I think the Hastings Banner turned a corner and finally began hammering what was wrong at the county board with their decision to begin running editorials which often called local leaders on the carpet, I still felt like it wouldn't touch some stories that deserved to be aired. County board elections were coming and State Representative Gary Newell's open seat was going to be hotly contested as well as contests for Senator and Governor.

I finally made up my mind that if no one else would get the truth out, that I had to do it. I'd waited for someone else who might do it better but time was running out. Like many a politician, I drafted myself. Despite not having the least bit of knowledge of HTML or web design I decided to start my own blog which would be based on trying to make a difference where I felt I could actually do it- at the local level. I knew enough people who knew what was going on behind the scenes that would help to make up for my deficiencies and inexperience in local politics. The funny thing is that despite the fact I probably seem to think I have all the answers, creating this blog has been on the best learning experiences in my life.

Before I end this little look back and self-congratulatory pat on my own back, I have one more thing to say: Start you own blog! You see that little button in the top right corner? It's that easy. Hit the button and go. Blogger is about as dummy proof as you can get (I'm sure some think I'm proof of that). The hardest part is keeping at it.

Oh, and one more thing. I'd like to thank the thousands of people who've visited this sight. And I'd especially like to thank the dedicated core of readers who come here even more than I do and whose comments help make this a more well-rounded and well-informed place of public discourse, a virtual town hall. I hope you'll all stick around for at least another year...

The blog in your own eye

In case you weren't already aware, the recent WOOD TV 9 broadcast probably alerted you to the presence of Save Our Saxons, a web site dedicated to exposing some dirty laundry concerning the Hastings Public School system. Unfortunately, instead of tackling the actual issues at hand, the channel 8 story chose to focus on the less controversial issue (at least as far as a TV station is concerned) of whether such information is best discussed on a web site presenting "one side" of the issue. Once again, by completely missing the meat of the issue the media has shown in its handling of this story why blogs such as West Michigan Politics and sites such as Save Our Saxons have sprung into existence.

As HHS teacher Larry Christopher states on the Save Our Saxons site, he was forced on-line when the local media dropped the ball, as he saw it. I too decided to create this site when I heard several instances of stories suppressed or ignored by the local media outlets. While your average citizen doesn't get any favors from the press, if you're an important person the chances of your drunk driving arrest getting reported in the local media aren't very high. In this case, the schools are a solid source of revenue for certain news outlets and that, along with other possible conflicts of interest (family members of the HHS Athletic Director employed by the company which published the Hastings Banner, personal friendships or business relationships within a small town community, etc.), might possibly be coloring the news that is reported. Now, I'm not sure you could find someone more dedicated to improving our schools and our community than Banner publisher Fred Jacobs but one has to wonder why none of the allegations put forth by Christopher and others seems to have made it into the light of day before now. Now, the Banner is a far better paper than most cities the size of Hastings have- it has often made enemies that other publishers might have not made but I have heard too many stories about news that never made it to the surface because of a personal or business connection and I think some of the commentary on this issue has been a bit disingenuous.

In the story be Dee Morrison of channel 8, Jacobs is quoted as saying:

"The industry has guidelines. We're taught how to handle news, the ethics of good news reporting. When you're talking about just an open society where there's no rules or guidelines, that's when you get into trouble."
"Whether or not accusations on a website are true or false, or a little of both, how does an accused person respond? With reputations and careers at stake, what kind of responsibility is there for those who post on the internet?"
"Hundreds of people, thousands of people could see it. How is an innocent person going to go and reclaim their integrity? There's absolutely no control over it."

While it's certainly possible that a web site could be used to slander people, it's happened often enough in the mainstream media that the log in the eye of most media outlets likely obscures their view while surfing blogs. When AM talk radio repeats slanderous smears devoid of factual content on an almost hourly basis, how can one turn to the Internet and expect a higher standard? When a prosecutor falsely accuses someone of something as bad as sexual assault or possession of child pornography and uses the local paper to spread the false charges (and once it's in print most people choose to believe no matter what facts get aired later, often buried deep inside the paper if at all), what right does the owner of that same paper have to complain about the hypothetical instance in which some other person's reports may contain minor inaccuracies?

I actually think bloggers are forced to higher standards since they often don't have the financial means to "lawyer up" and many aren't hidden beneath layers of legal trickery to protect assets the way a corporation can. In fact, right now a video blogger holds the U.S.A.'s record for jail time in a case for refusing to give up evidence where the FBI would like to know who was at a anti-globalization protest where minor property damage to a police car occurred and yet this case has received a tiny fraction of cases like Judy Miller who refused to give up her confidential sources in the case of the outing of covert CIA officer Valerie (Plame) Wilson in the Scooter Libby case. While many journalists can get legal counsel from their employers, an amateur with a web site is likely not equipped to do and faces a greater amount of legal exposure. In fact, I have had to peel back from stories I would have liked to get into just because I couldn't risk what might happen even though I felt the stories were 100% accurate.

Certainly, there is a possible "disgruntled employee" explanation for Christopher's motives, which he himself tackles on the site, leaving readers to decide for themselves whether they think this is sour grapes based on losing out on a coaching gig or righteous indignation aimed at a corrupt spoils system of good old boys excusing each others' bad behavior. In as much as Save Our Saxons focuses on cronyism and corruption one has to decide for themselves whether the evidence is strong enough to prove the case. But more troubling for me are the allegations regarding emails and instances where Hastings AD Mike Goggins engaged in behavior which at many jobs would have resulted in his immediate dismissal or at least some sort of reprimand or suspension.

In recent history we have witnessed the Columbine massacre and the murder of gay teen Matthew Shepherd. One of the connecting threads in the two events is how our culture treats teens who are different. Our school administrators, teachers and support staff should be working toward creating a positive and nurturing environment that lifts students up. On several occasions Goggins seems to have engaged in behavior that would probably garner a student a suspension, possibly even expulsion. But what disciplinary action has Goggins faced that measures up to the actions that have been recorded in email or by eye witness testimony? A letter in his file? A stern talking to? Ouch, I'm sure that's a pain that lingers...

Goggins' lawyer's contends that "the problem is, you get people who put themselves into the media on the Internet, and they don't have to have that same kind of accountability." From what I see, if the media had been doing their job and allowing people more access to the public soap box, the people who are posting on blogs probably wouldn't have found the audience they've now got. Now the media is trying to put the cow back in the barn and it's likely too late. Considering the way the major media outlets allowed the White House to spin a phony case for war or to paint anyone a traitor who opposed them in doing so, I fail to see where the so-called pros get off criticizing citizens for trying to expose the truth they failed to uncover or even intentionally tried to bury and yet they do so. If only professional journalists followed the real stories instead of trying to belittle anyone without a degree in the field doing it in their spare time, maybe people wouldn't be getting more and more of their information from on-line sources. Maybe if the sponsors of the news didn't get to dictate what appeared during the news, maybe the media would have a leg to stand on in this discussion.

Even if most of the allegations are ultimately unprovable or even false, there is enough to at force a public airing of allegations and evidence which might finally happen now that the media has decided this is news. Yesterday, Tuesday, February 13, was the final day for people to enter the race for school board where 2 seats will be up for grabs and we will likely see some last minute filing given the timing of the media exposure. I don't begin to know where the truth lies in all of this but I know that finally the parents, citizens and taxpayers of the area can make up their own minds. But only because some guy with a web site forced the issue into the open. And the beauty of the Internet is that if Mr. Goggins or anyone else doesn't like what's being said, there's always a little place known as Blogger than will give you a free space on the world wide web to present their own case. That's a better example of equal time than almost anything found in the mainstream media today.