When I made E-4 in the Navy, and took that first step into “Middle Management”, the Master Chief I worked for (ABCM Joseph) told me “Son, if you don’t get your name written on the shit-house wall once a week, you aren’t doing your job right.”

I find that sentiment continues to this day, as I am simultaneously under attack from Patella and his ConStemperaries, the columbian’s entire Editorial Staff, and a fair number of the readership here at D4V and elsewhere.

However much enjoyment I get from remaining unchallenged on my facts, I find it disturbing that anyone could possibly compare me or anything I say with any of the slime that regularly oozes out from Larry Patella camp. I’ve been his most vocal critic for at least the last five years, and in many cases his only critic.

It is misguided and uninformed to use anything Patella writes to describe me in any way. Patella operates an echo chamber with his “Local Mailing List” since there is no way to rebut him directly. I’ve been tossed from his mailing list three times because I dared to disagree with something he said. I have 2 dedicated rooms at Clarkblog where I document and prove what an outright liar and serial complainer about everything he is.

In reality, my opinions are clearly stated at clarkblog.org, are based on facts, posted in public where I have repeatedly urged people here in town to sign in and rebut me any way they chose since September of 2006 when we stood the site up. I have extended several personal invitations to many of you reading this, and I have yet to have one of you acknowledge the invite, or log in at Clarkblog to rebut me on anything.

Please consider that I actually take the time to attend as many of the Public Meetings here in town that I can, document what is going on there, and comment on what I think about it. By contrast, we are all expected to accept whatever Patella says, simply because he says so, even though his only reference for anything is his much reviled columbian.

Please consider that I had to go to the Oregonian last week to get what I consider a well-written OpEd published, that not only did the columbian reject immediately in favor of publishing another misinformed Patella letter to the editor; now Democracy for Vancouver is doing the very same thing.

Please consider that I actually had the guts to stand up in front of the Public at the CRCP Task Force meeting on November 27th, and tell them politely what I was thinking. To my knowledge, Larry Patella has never attended a single event that the Columbia Crossing has sponsored ever, yet both D4V and the columbian seem to value his “opinion” on the Columbia Crossing Project over anyone else in town. My oral comments to the Task Force included a specific reference to Patella and his Citizens Against Virtually Everything (CAVE).

Do I “incite” with some of the things I say?? I certainly hope so, but unlike Patella, I am trying to incite people to think, based on something other than my opinion, and I will always welcome anyone to join my in a reasonable conversation. I try and find ways to agree with people instead of trying to get them to vote against every issue in sight.

I acknowledge that there are subjects that thee and me will never see eye to eye on; but I remain steadfast in my long stated view that there are issues we all need to come together on in this community, and the more time we spend calling each other names only guarantees that we will never resolve anything.

I acknowledge that you don’t like some of the things I say, and If I come across as deliberatly confrontational for no other reason, then I apologise. But simply disagreeing with what I think does not make me automatically wrong, nor does it make me an agitator in the same caliber as Patella. I have repeatedly acknowledged your right to disagree with me, and I would simply ask for the same consideration…

I will repeat my open invitation for any of you to come and discuss any of the issues that I post at Clarkblog at any time. Larry Patella has had that same invitation since September 2006, and has yet to take me up on it either…

Stout Hearts.

Actually, Pridemore voted against the reinstatement of I-747, and it’s important to get the facts straight, or blogs lose what little credibility they’ve built.

Copy n’ paste content with no interaction from the original author is a prescription for disaster. That’s not dialogue, it’s the very definition of a monologue.

I’m just kind of dumbstruck here. This place was my original home, so it’s with a heavy heart that I move on.

For a web site originally inspired by Howard Dean and people powered progressive politics, what a long strange trip it’s been. It’s your nickel and you can choose to do with it what you may.

I would like to point out, IMO, that boundary-less free speech is a fallacy. To wit: am I to assume the racism of the Christain Identity Movement is welcome here? Perhaps Stormfront, or wholesale cut and paste jobs from the Freeper site, as Chief is want to do…(see his post on “What am I thankful for.” ) NAMBLA OK? No, I suppose not. You see, there are boundaries.

At a minimum, the requirements of discourse necessitate - if it is to be productive in a positive way - respectful exchange. If the desire is equal exchange of ideas, there are ground rules. Patella rants, Chief incites. That is not, at least to me, fertile ground for intelligent dialog.

I’ve been reading blogs and listserves for a loooong time. Open forums quickly become Horses Ass (at least over the last 5 years; and as such there are no intelligent exchanges. I can get about 3 comments in to HA before I give up.)

I do admire open exchange of people respectful of each other. And, as I become redundant, do not see that in the crowd already named. As a matter of fact, come to think of it, I have yet to see Patella ever bother to respond to any comment made by anyone. That is not dialog, that is a philipic.

The “about d4v” sections says:

Please forget political labels here. We are not a site for one political party or one political persuasion. The opposite of progressive is not conservative. A progressive is not a conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, independent, moderate, far leftist, far rightist, centrist, fascist, socialist, communist, etc.

What exactly is a progressive? The definition of progressive from dictionary.com: A person who actively favors or strives for progress toward better conditions, as in society or government.

Removing of all references to “progressive” from the site has been considered for some time now since this founder does not want a label to get in the way of having open discussions. Labels often serve to distract and diminish ourselves rather than focus on solutions and resolve our problems. “Tax and spend” is just such an example however so is conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, independent, moderate, far leftist, far rightist, centrist, fascist, socialist, communist, AND progressive et al, ad nauseum.

I have asked the designer of the site header to redo it removing the reference so that the change can be made.

Censoring people views because they do not fit a preconceived notion of what is politically correct or that doesn’t fit someone’s definition of striving for better conditions is not the intended purpose of d4v.

Isn’t the willingness to discuss both sides of issues, allow people to express their differences and form their own opinions the essence of a free society and what all people should and all “progressives” desire?

Or would you prefer the administrators remove any material that anyone arbitrarily deems to be not in keeping with their definition of a progressive site?

Once “progressive” is removed from the header, the “about d4v” will be revised as follows:

Please forget political labels here. We are not a site for one political party or one political persuasion. The opposite of progressive is not conservative. A progressive is not a conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, independent, moderate, far leftist, far rightist, centrist, fascist, socialist, communist, etc.

What exactly is a progressive? The definition of progressive from dictionary.com: This site is for all people who actively favor or strive for progress toward better conditions in our society or government.

And the video on the “about d4v” page will be removed. Please let the admin know if you find any other references to progressive that need purging on the site.

Hopefully this will put this labeling issue to bed.

When I hear “tax and spend” I know I am listening to someone who is clueless. Personally, if D4V wants to be a “free speech” or “sound off” blog, then it really needs to change its name. There is absolutely nothing progressive about Semper, Patella, or some other names that come to mind here. I just don’t get it.

Our own “progressive” Senator Pridemore voted for the reinstatement.

Things are not what they seem. Everything has been turned upside since spin and untruth increasingly replaces honesty and ethical behavior.

So much for labels meaning something. Actions speak louder than ideology.

I personally am tired of the cliche “tax and spend”. There NEVER were any tax and spend politicians; this was a “straw man” used by that most reactionary president - reagan - as a way to hide from his borrow and spend politics.

The deal is that “tax and spend” label is usually applied to anyone who wants to invest in the future like building better schools, librarys, etc. any kind of civic improvement; or improving services so that people can live.

Raising the property tax may be one of the more progressive ways of paying for property related services; rather than a sales tax or income tax, etc. In fact, maybe the fair way is to make the property tax rate equal the sales tax rate equal the average income tax rate so we don’t give preference to one over the other.

Hearing these reactionary rantings from the rabid right on what is supposed to be a progressive site is a bit scary. Isn’t there any one else paying attention?

I agree that their voting records need to be made available so people can make a informed judgment on returning these bottom feeders to office or not.

The “King Mayor” wants to annex a whole lot of the county. If he gets his way, the city will receive more money from the state and feds. DOES THIS MEAN OUR TAXES WILL GO DOWN, ALONG WITH ALL THE FEES?

Hell no they won’t. And as these bottom feeders will not listen to the people, and it will continue to get worse, what will happen?

We, the people, by our US Constitution, have the right to replace these bottom feeders. I would suggest to them they wake up, real soon.

When the majority of the people in this state, vote into law (such as the 1% property tax, etc.) the courts should not be involved. If the majority don’t like a law, they should be able to vote to do away with it.

These judges, will decide the way their party tells them to. We need to vote in a term limit on all bottom feeders, and they should be paid the minimum wage, for no more than what they do.

Also, the people of Clark County should be able to vote on this Light Rail BS. And that vote should decide if the new bridge will have it or not.

And its stupid to make plans for a new replacement bridge until Oregon fixes the bottle neck at Delta Park. Until the bottle neck is fixed, its stupid to start building a new bridge. Also, what is the traffic going to be across the river in 50 years? Don’t plan for 20 years, get a clue, this area will continue to grow, so the so-called educated engineers need to realize that their short term thinking is out of date. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, for crying out loud.

And talking about Pridemore, why didn’t you mention Wallace? She thinks it great that retired people (on fixed income) can defer some of the property taxes until the place is sold. But you have to pay a nice % of interest on the unpaid balance.

IMO, no retired person should have to pay property taxes if they are on a fixed income. You may be retired from one job, and working at another, that is not a fixed income.