Well, I hate to use excuses but my plan was to have this debate take place the first week of June. Little did I know that I would be spending the past two weeks at Mayo with my mom. She's doing fine but it's been far too stressfull the past 3 weeks for me to try take time to hold a debate.
However, if the candidates are willing, perhaps we could throw some questions out here casually. Only those who have put their real names as their avatars can ask the questions. If the candidates don't feel the question is fair or needs to be answered they can simply reply with a "no comment" or something to that extent. Or if the questions go unanswered then we can assume they have chosen not to participate.
Also, they can send me an email if they are offended and I can simply moderate from that point.
Would everyone be fair game for that? It's only the 7th so there's still some time.
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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. – Philippians 2:3-4
On the other hand....what have we learned after this last little public forum AND with an election coming up in just a few days that will affect many people in the community? What else do we now know about the candidates and their positions on issues based upon that forum? What kind of hard questions have been asked? And answered?
Not much. And not many....
So we now have a handful of ads in the newspaper and on the radio, a few signs in front yards, and a handout for candidates with basic questions that will be printed in the Herald. We are expected to vote based on that....? I am sorry if I sound so negative, but it is frustrating. The power of the vote is so underutilized it is scary.
The thing with the coyote sports thread is an inevitable result of at least one attempt to communicate, discuss, and have a civil debate, albeit a heated one. Some of the subject matter was simply not pursued any further and other parts simply died a slow death, although that is not to say that they won't be brought up again. My part in that thread, while well intentioned, was not well received by some of the parties, although others seemed to think the effort was worthwhile...in the end however, I apologized to Darin K, and he has graciously accepted my apology. We have moved on.
Sometimes people have to go through a learning curve and the internet is not going to go away. I still firmly believe that on-line discussion forums can serve a valuable need, and might allow a lot of worthwhile knowledge and insight to be assimilated and shared. When you debate, whether live or otherwise... you are going to find that the people debating are going to be disagreeing, that's what debates are about, and I believe you can learn a lot about a person through their ability to communicate through many different channels rather than a one-dimensional manner.
A point in case...at least to me, is nader/moore. The original posts were pretty antagonistic, but they are much more civil and logical now. It is obvious that he/she can handle himself/herself quite adequately in a written forum, and while it is also quite obvious he/she is a "raging" Left wing liberal (I say that tongue-in-cheek), I am extremely happy to see him/her on the forum and look forward to some dialogue.
Writing something and putting your name to it, is no small task for the faint of heart, but I would wager that there are a LOT of people reading what is written on this and other forums. There are a lot of what they call 'ems, Lurkers, out there reading but not writing and I can guarantee you that they are talking with their friends and associates, so in a way, we are making a difference by posting here by stimulating conversation and discussion.
I think Steve had a good idea, and would have really liked to see his candidates fourm come to fruition. Maybe next time.
I completely understand the risks involved. Who moderates the questions in a verbal debate? If you put your name on the question you ask, don't you hold the same accountability either way?
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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. – Philippians 2:3-4
It is an inescapable fact that today's world is based upon internet communication.
My generation is generally far behind the curve on this form of communication. The younger people have grown up with the internet and keyboarding, while us older ones still remember the dread of a six week typing course in high school, and "the quick red fox jumped over the lazy dog" (at least I sure do).
In addition to teaching martial arts courses both privately and in the State College system, I am the owner of a small family oilfield service oriented business. The college system requires that I do all of my course grading online; the introduction of that program was a real eye opener. Many of the Teachers and Professors still have trouble with this, and many of us still have to ask for help on a regular basis.
As an International Referee to the Olympic Sport of taekwondo, I have considerable interaction with other Officials and National Organizations...most of that is also done on-line.
In our family business, the greatest majority of our communications with customers, as well as invoicing, accts payable and accts receivable are done on-line. Basically, it sucks. But there is no question that it is more efficient.
Once you finally bite the bullet, and dive in....it is not so scary. As Steve was saying, if you compose a statement, or letter, then you have time to walk away, then come back and revise it, or double check what you have written. You don't get that luxury in a live conversation...you say it...and it is done.
I think this is a fantastic media for communication. Go ask Obama...he has almost cornered the market with the younger people, and I would hazard a guess that his online programs have played very large role.
The public forum on May 31st will be an good educational resource to find out how the candidates feel, but it will undoubtedly lack much substance due to time constraints, and the natural reluctance of people to look a person in the eye and ask tough questions.
The key, is for people to be open to a give-and-take conversation and not turn it into an attack.
I understand how comments made here can be taken out of context, but doesn't the same hold true in verbal conversations as well? In fact, it seems to me we see people's comments being misconstrued by the media all the time.
So verbal versus text... 1. A person doesn't have time to really digest a comment in a verbal conversation and can have a knee jerk reaction causing the conversation to get further out of hand. Whereas in a text conversation a person can read, re-read, walk away, and read again before replying. This allows the individuals an opportunity to level their heads and reply in a much more calm manner....in theory .
2. Text conversations give people more time to choose more appropriate words in questions and in answers. I would argue that a text conversation has a better chance at bringing out more clear and concise conversation.
I'm sure there are many more advantages and I know there are disadvantages but I still personally think a message board is an excellent means for a debate. What say you....people?
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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. – Philippians 2:3-4
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