<div>Donovan,</div> <div>Anyone who KNOWS me, knows that I am not a liberal. I am a moderate, at times disenfrachised by both parties. Perhaps a progressive, if you prefer labels. But everyone that KNOWS me, also knows that I am very fiscally conservative. Do the two of those ideals collide? Yes! I also profess my Christianity publicly. You might be surprised to know that some of the "liberals" on this forum actually attend fairly conservative denominational churches. I am proud to say that Aaron is a friend of mine. Does he go to church with me? No. Do I condemn him because he doesn't? No. Does he not like me because I am a Christian? No. For you to not be willing to sit down and discuss ideas and ideologies with him makes you as closed minded as you say he is. Just because a person is willing to sit down and discuss ideas doesn't mean minds have to be changed. Sometime!
s that is
the end result. Other times, it leads to an understanding of where the person is coming from in their beliefs. The understanding part doesn't mean that you have to agree with their stance on an issue but at least you know where they are coming from. You know, it is possible for people to get along with each other and still disagree on issues. Aaron is a moderate on most issues, conservative on some, and a liberal on others. Look at this from another perspective. I have had my moments with many Council people. I will openly tell you that I voted for Marshall Comstock, twice. Do I agree with everything he did? No. Jon Kimberling was a fine Council person. I actually like his demeaner and thoughtfulness. But I did disagree with him on a particular issue. I talked to him about it and discussed it with him. We didn't agree on the issue. I still like him, !
end of
story. Some people will only vote for a person because of their stance on a particular issue. That is just a political fact. But the other side to that coin is the fact that some people will look at the whole picture too. They may disagree with a particular issue the candidate stands for and yet vote for them because they like where they stand on other issues. I will tell you that I have done both. Some people voted for Aaron because of where he stands in regards to NSA being downtown. Some people voted for Aaron because of where he stands on the Third Street issue. Some people voted for Aaron because of his openness and accessibility. While others voted for him not because of those things, but because of other values he holds. They are all his constituents and for different and various reasons, not just one. <BR><BR><B><I>Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE
class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Tom,<BR><BR>What you and so many liberals in Moscow fail to understand is that conservatives do not have an monopoly on bigotry and discrimination. Aaron is the same as Jesse Helms only toward Christians and conservative thinkers.<BR><BR>He is not a moderate, and he is not an open minded person. So I would not sit down and have coffee with him, as it would be a waste of my time unless I wanted to do it only for extracting his ideas, which is again, a waste of time. I think the guy is an embarrassment to the office he holds and to the other people in city government. I cannot thank enough the Mayor and other council members for blocking his wild crazy and bigoted ideas and comments. <BR><BR>He may love Moscow, but he sure dislikes a lot of the people in it.<BR><BR>Take Care,<BR><BR>_DJA<BR><BR><B><I>Tom Ivie <the_ivies3@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">Wow! Donovan, have you met Aaron Ament? Some would characterize Aaron as an extreme liberal because he openly voices his opinions. I find that refreshing. In my opinion, there is nothing worse than a politician that won't state where they stand on the issues. With Aaron, you always know where he stands. If you would take the time to get to know Aaron, he is very much a centrist. Believe it or not, he is a fiscal conservative with social values. That puts him right in the middle of the mix, a moderate. Another refreshing thing about Aaron is that he is very accessible. He likes to sit down and discuss ideas with constituents. Give him a call and meet him for coffee. He loves coffee and Moscow! -Tom<BR><BR><B><I>Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT:!
5px;
MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid"><PRE><TT>"I'll give you an ex!<BR> ample:<BR> for more than a decade, Jesse Helms was a <BR>commentator on WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina. You complain about <BR>Aaron having referred (on his radio show) to NSA as an education free <BR>zone? Jesse Helms spouted off about miscegenation, the joys of <BR>segregation, his hatred for gays, lesbians, non-Christians, and <BR>Democrats, you name it." _Joan Opyr<BR><BR>Interesting that Aaron Ament's bigotry can only be defended by<BR>contrasting his behavior to racist Senator Jesse Helms. And<BR>that contrast is from his friends. <BR><BR>Take Care,<BR><BR>_DJA <BR></TT></PRE><BR><BR><B><I>Joan Opyr <joanopyr@moscow.com></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">Dear Visionaries:<BR><BR>Greg Dickison has filed a public records request asking for, among <BR>other things, recordings of !
Liberal
Island, a radio talk show that <BR>Aaron Ament hosted before he was elected to public office. Th! e key <BR>word here is "before." When Aaron announced his candidacy, he left <BR>KRFP and stopped doing his radio show. Why? Conflict of interest. <BR>It's bad form to run for office with a megaphone in your hand. Also, <BR>the KRFP board (and the FCC) have rules about these sorts of things; <BR>Aaron has cheerfully and correctly followed these rules.<BR><BR>About Gary Crabtree's questions regarding whether or not Aaron's <BR>statements on Liberal Island should oblige him to recuse himself from <BR>the New St. Andrews zoning vote: they're good questions, but the <BR>answer is no. Unless Greg Dickison, Doug Farris, or Gary can point to <BR>something/anything Aaron has said or done to disqualify himself in this <BR>matter since he ceased to be a private citizen and became an elected <BR>official, then there are no grounds for recusal.<BR><BR>I'll give you an example: for more tha!
n a
decade, Jesse Helms was a <BR>commentator on WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina. You complain about ! <BR>Aaron having referred (on his radio show) to NSA as an education free <BR>zone? Jesse Helms spouted off about miscegenation, the joys of <BR>segregation, his hatred for gays, lesbians, non-Christians, and <BR>Democrats, you name it. When he decided to run for the U. S. Senate, <BR>he stepped down from his job at WRAL and became Candidate Helms rather <BR>than Talk Show Helms. Not once during his four terms in the U. S. <BR>Senate did he recuse himself from a vote on civil rights, on employment <BR>nondiscrimination, on religious issues, gay and lesbian issues, AIDS <BR>funding, or anything else about which he'd spoken as a TV commentator.<BR><BR>What grounds do Greg, Doug Farris, et al, have for demanding Aaron <BR>recuse himself in the NSA matter? The personal opinions he expressed <BR>as a private citizen? Not good enough. You might also, while you're <BR>at it, ask B!
ob Stout
to step aside on matters relating to Moscow's <BR>police union -- he is strongly in favor of the police! union and, in <BR>fact, campaigned on this issue. Let's also Jon Weber to step aside on <BR>matters related to appliance sales as he co-owns the Sears store. John <BR>Dickinson could step aside if anything comes up having to do with the <BR>Kenworthy, as he's the founder of Sirius Idaho Theatre, and Linda Pall <BR>should never, ever speak on legal matters, as she's a practicing <BR>attorney. As for Mayor Chaney, well, God help us if anything to do <BR>with nursing should come before the City Council because she's a real <BR>live RN. I'll bet she has strong opinions on the subject of decubitus <BR>ulcers.<BR><BR>Finally, about recordings of Liberal Island -- until last fall, when <BR>KRFP began podcasting over the Internet, the station did not (as far as <BR>I know) record any of its programs. Not mine; not Aaron's; not even <BR>Emily Poor's wonderful Americana show. If a!
ny
recordings exist, it's <BR>because friends recorded the show off the radio. I have copies of my <BR>show bec! ause Tom Hansen very generously records it each and every week <BR>and makes it available on the web for download. This means that my <BR>grandmother in Raleigh can listen to me tell scandalous stories about <BR>the family and do impersonations of her views in her accent. (I love <BR>my grandmother to pieces, but she's often unintentionally hilarious.)<BR><BR>I am specifically named in Greg's public records request. He seems to <BR>be under the impression that there's a broad conspiracy against NSA <BR>involving Aaron and a bunch of unrelated folk -- I only know about half <BR>of the people Greg has named in his PR request -- a conspiracy that <BR>might have been preserved for time and eternity via recordings of <BR>Liberal Island and Aaron's City of Moscow email account. As fishing <BR>trips go, this one wouldn't pull up a tiddler. It's goofy thinking, <BR>and it's!
paranoid
-- it also reveals more about the inner workings of <BR>Christ Church than any critique I've ever offered. Bu! t, to show that I <BR>don't do conspiracies, that I have nothing to be ashamed of and <BR>certainly nothing to hide, I'll make Greg an unconditional offer -- I <BR>have two personal recordings of Liberal Island. One is Aaron's <BR>interview with Bill London, dated April 5th, 2005. The other is <BR>Aaron's interview with me. I went on Liberal Island in December of <BR>2004 to talk about Moscow's 49% Rally, a protest that took place on <BR>George W. Bush's second inauguration day. (If you want to know more <BR>about the 49% Rally, either visit my website and go to the links page, <BR>or Google your way through Dale Courtney's blog. He was at the rally, <BR>typing notes and taking pictures.) I will send Greg copies of both of <BR>these shows, and he can do with them what he will.<BR><BR>If he'd like a complete set of The Auntie Establishment and Brother <BR>Carl Show,!
I'd be
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