Lee.org

The battle of the political titans continues!

I had written to the ARL moderator, CC:ing Paul:

>Paul , Lee, please take this offlne.

I apologize. I felt that Paul’s unprovoked attack on my character needed a rebuttal. My interest is still only in the topic at hand, H1215.

Paul writes back just to me, all politic-ing slick-like

With all due respect, I never realized that the following items were
personal attacks:

1. Residency in the State of New Jersey. (I moved here from New
Jersey in 1989, my mother’s family is from New Jersey, and I like the
state.)

2. Your political leanings, relevant in a political argument.

3. Your friendship with Travis.

All of which, I believe, are well documented by entries on your website.

I will not engage in long political discourse with non-residents on the
Arlington list, as I believe people should have the standing of tasting
the benefits or pain of the political decisions in order to engage in
the conversation. I also think it would have been fair to the list to
disclose your residency before engaging in commentary on Arlington
politics.

And, yes, I am a liberal. Please note that, as an officer in the
Massachusetts Association of School Committees, I advocate positions of
interest to a statewide constituency, regardless of impact on any one
municipality. H1215 is consistent with my association’s desire to have
stable and reliable funding for public schools.

All power to the main deflectors!

>With all due respect, I never realized that the following items were
>personal attacks:

Dude, we both know exactly what you were trying to do.

>I will not engage in long political discourse with non-residents on the Arlington list

Unless you disagree with my points specifically, my questions about the bill are valid, no matter where they come from. If you don’t address them, they will continue to drag your bill down. If you want to help Massachusetts schools and teachers get the money you think they should get, you’ll address the questions.

>H1215 is consistent with my association’s desire to have
>stable and reliable funding for public schools.

But if critics (like me) poke gaping holes in it’s language and you can’t mend the holes, then public opinion will likely turn against the bill. And that won’t help your cause.

I should also say that other ARL posters have written similarly critical messages about H1215 in the past few days. You’ve got to stand on your own here but you might be able to give this a positive spin… if you quit with the petty personal-character attacks and issue-dodging. Right now, it’s not looking so good.

So, take your time, think it through and answer the questions:
—————————-
– Didn’t the override vote fail? So what is Override v2.0 doing in the House?
– Doesn’t this bill take a major and permanent bite out of 2.5?
—————————-

I’ll be waiting for your response on ARL.

lee