A voice from the wilderness is what I thought when I read Linda Atkin's My Word in today's Saturday, July 30, 2011, Times-Standard: Democracy and dissent go together. Once again the newspaper adds another page to the ongoing saga initiated by the firing of police Chief Garr Nielsen for no cause. In a way Linda Atkins had no choice but to confront the personal diatribe and invective assaulting her from those wanton wannabe Eureka Elites, our Gang of Eight.
The contrast between what that self-righteous Gang of Eight hypocritically (“Progress or protest? We need to work together to move forward”) wrote and Linda Atkins said is stark indeed – an open hand versus a clenched fist. What struck me was her reasonable, if not a bit naive, response of a sensitive representative. The voters are ultimately responsible for the government they choose, whether they stand accountable or not. You want corrupt whores telling you what to do, how to live, what to think and how to believe – pay the price. A “though cop” mentality makes you accountable whether you like it or not.
A majority of Americans voted for a Democratic President that said one thing and has an inviolate record of doing the very opposite. Based upon what Linda Atkins says it appears her approach to Democracy is to enforce the people's right to hold such people, their representatives, accountable. What the Gang of Eight and those that support them fail to realize or, perhaps never understood, is that once elected they represent ALL people as their constituents. Not just their monied, philosophical and ideological backers and supporters.
It is curious, however, to see where the newspaper editors placed her My Word article. Week after week Steve and Cokie Roberts' article appeared below the fold. Today their faces appear prominently right under the cartoon. We certainly don't need to guess how or what the newspaper editors think about Councilwoman Linda Atkins. Which would explain why they published the personal, racist, invective, attacking a class of people represented by Councilwoman Linda Atkins in the first place.
Come join the club, because we're just like you - The "club" being our little Nanny Club or Gang of Eight. Conrad Gregory's attempt at satire is worth a read. It's encouraging to see the push-back against the matter-of-fact attitude castigating everyone's rights of citizenship.
