[Vision2020] My Column / Megaloads & Hippies

[Carl Westberg]

Well, regarding our town's 2011 version of hippies, I can only say.... Henry, I hung with hippies, I knew hippies, hippies were friends of mine. Henry, these are not hippies.  (apologies to Lloyd Bentsen).....  If you don't smell patchouli, anyone claiming to be of the real, vanishing breed is a 21st century poser.....

From: hearseboy85 at gmail.com
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 19:29:36 -0700
Subject: [Vision2020] My Column / Megaloads & Hippies










Viz Peeps -
 
First with an apology of sorts - I wasn't trying to 
be defensive in my original email - its just that the last time people started 
asking about where I lived and where I worked in regards to a column my 
workplace was incorporated into it and it didn't end well. Despite what 
I may had written for my closing column last time, I was basically 
told to give up my column or quit my job.  Since writing for the Daily News 
pays beer money and my job at RadioShack paid career money, I think its obvious 
why I had to choose.  Which is why I must stress that my column and the 
opinions expressed therein are separate from my job duties at my present 
employer.  I am able to keep my private/opinion self separate from my work 
self.
 
I'm also glad to know that there won't be an angry 
mob outside my home or workplace with pitchforks and patchouli oil.
 
Second, I think you really need to know me as a 
person to get my style of humor.  It seems that the crux of everyone's 
hatred of me is the "hippie" comment.  I'm not going to apologize for it 
because its humor.  Moscow has hippies - anyone who denies it either lives 
under a rock or is one and can't admit it.  I think its groovy and its why 
I've stayed in Moscow long after my stay at the UI was over.  It is what 
makes Moscow unique and, sometimes to my chagrin, flavors the political climate 
much different than the rest of the state.  
 
And seriously folks, does a gay guy really have a 
finger to point at a hippie? No.  
 
Please, just shrug off that 
particular paragraph and laugh a little.  I don't dislike hippies 
anymore than I dislike my mother-in-law. :-)
 
The DNews has a 650 word limit and trying to put 
enough background information for readers who might not know the issue you're 
speaking of and interjecting your own opinion/positions to form a cohesive 
column that is readable is tough.  I would encourage you to try it sometime 
and see if you could fit everything you wanted to say within the word limit 
without sounding like a poorly edited radio commercial.  I do the best I 
can with the space given and sometimes am forced to oversimplify things, 
sometimes with a kick of humor, in an effort to conserve 
space.
 
I'm not certain what Roger Falen meant when he 
called me a maverick.  I've seen the term used both ways to portray Sarah 
Palin as either good or bad so I'm still scratching my head at that.  I 
guess the only way I can confirm what he said is yes, I left the Republican 
party after it was decimated in the primary by the Gresham Bouma/Ike Young Tea 
Partiers.  The party took a severe swing to the right and pushed out 
moderates like myself and the Schroeders.  Perhaps it was a good thing 
because it caused me to give up my party label (other than independent) but 
as I've grown I've learned to look at every issue independently and form my 
opinions based on the information I take in.
 
Now, to the core of the issue at hand. 

 
Sunil had asked if I felt that the environmental 
impacts of the Kearl Oil Sands were the same as a single earth burial.  No, 
I don't.  But my personal opinions on the Kearl Oil Sands are irrelevant to 
the megaload issue.
 
Why?
 
Because what happens at the end of the line cannot 
and should not be regulated by people who are not directly impacted by the 
results of what happens at the end of the line.  If anyone paid attention to my column I said that I was sympathetic to 
the issues surrounding the oil sands - who can't be - the whole thing is 
disgraceful.  But the fact remains that Highway 95 is just that - a 
state/federal highway - regulated by the Idaho Transportation Department under 
whatever permitting process is established for larger loads.  
 
If you don't like the permitting process then work 
to change the law - not stop the loads. 
 
As far as the action of the council goes - it is 
what it is.  Walter made a political statement more than anything and the 
council agreed with him.  It wasn't a resolution - if you watch the video 
the language was changed to make it a positional statement.  And does 
anyone really think that public input would have changed anyone's mind on the 
dais?  I doubt it and would suggest that anyone who thinks it would is just 
as delusional as thinking the right amount of pro-Wal Mart public input 
would cause Aaron Ament to become a fan of Big Blue.
 
Overall I don't think that the folks on this forum 
discussing this topic are too far apart from me.  If you want to get to 
know me I'm more than game - I love making friends and a good debate.  I'll 
buy the coffee if you ask (when I have spare time from work, of 
course).
 
Take Care -
Henry

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