"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Thursday 21 June 2012

Life Is A Stage

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "It's taking time for some readers to understand wh...":

Evelyn:

You are far too modest when you say that you don't create the drama, you just relate it.

At times you wax lyrical with your prose. At others you tend to overshoot the mark.

You are certainly a part of the drama, not merely a reporter.

Do reporters normally sue a sitting mayor and five fellow councillors, for good reason I might add?

At times you are a fresh breeze blowing aside the cobwebs. At others you can confuse some of us.

But, be it as it may, keep doing what you do and let the rest of us try and figure out what you are saying.
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I didn't say I wasn't part of the drama. I said I don't create it.
It  is live drama.. And I do enjoy it.
But it's not theatre as we understand it. Our lines are not writ large upon the page.
We need to compose them as we speak. 
Sometimes I do it well. Sometimes not so much. If I take too long, my time, according to rules , will be up and the Mayor will cut me off.
It's not an excuse. The  problem is the extent of my background. The degree of history.. 
Filling in details that  only make sense to the people who have shared my experience yet I think are relevant.
I try. I do the best I can. If  part of my contribution is encouraging  colleagues to get the same satisfaction in participating that I do, I am  content. 
No Aurora Council  I have been a part of, has had Councillors who sat out the questions.  Everybody gets into the act.
To some that is a melee. To me, it is as it should be.  
We represent thousands. People are watching at home as decisions that affect them are made by nine people who may ask to be re-elected.
Whether decisions are right or wrong, people are entitled to know the reasons and make their  judgement about what they might have done in the circumstances.
They watch the play unfold.
Only at the municipal level do politicians have to think on their feet.so to speak, during a debate. 
At  senior levels,parties have caucus where positions  are  taken beforehand .behind closed doors,  in secret. with members bound by party discipline  and single spokespersons. 
Among  York Region municipalities.only in Aurora is the debate  lively,provocative, spontaneous and unpredictable.
Yes it shows flaws in reasoning ,depending on one's perspective. It charts a Councillor's growing confidence in his own voice. It encourages him to risk.It make him real. 
I think it's a good thing.
If people want to credit or blame me for it. I can accept that.
Thank you. 

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