Dear readers,
I thought it was time to give you some feedback on the little survey many
of you participated in regarding a mandatory registration act for PDers
in YOUR state.I don't believe that you would have responded, in what I
thought was a good showing, if the issue concerned another state other then
our own. There were 40 [46 if one counts "mentioned" spouses} respondants
who authored some 104 messages ranging from a very elegant and clearly
stated but brief answer "I"m against it" to what I thought was an
eloquently stated defense [or offense ]of the Registry as it stood in
Nebraska by Rita Weeks
As could have been predicted from the get-go the results were as
expected.There were 7 clearly pro PD Registry. In addition there were 5
fence sitters. For them it's was a question of being able to see some quick
results; like some substantial money being directed in to the state to
address the results that would somehow magically appear from this
registry.I don't believe that many of us have any idea how long it takes
for money especially, government money, to begin to flow. The remaining
28[34 If counting "mentioned" spouses] respondants were against. These
folks were typically brief[---------->NO<-------],emotional.."I'd have to
be dragged,kicking and screaming" and matter of fact [but spoken with much
conviction]..."I would be very surprised if this measure has one scintilla
of an effect on research funding for PD in Nebraska."........ And then
there is my favorite respone from Thea and Gordon Seese "why indeed,a
state-mandated registration? For what reason? I can see none.This is from
Thea, CG for Gordon,but he's not much for registering for anything,either"
THank you Thea and Gordon for putting it so well !!.......The biggest fly
in the ointment of those who opposed the Registry was the distrust of the
government and it's agents; be it local, state or the Federal. Another
concern was that the money doesn't necessarily follow the vote [or the
registry] so why invest the trust?
There is a great deal of cynicism out there in our land and one would
be hard pressed to find fault with it given that it comes amid the Udall
bill going down the tubes for this year. And I'll tell you one more of my
personal opinions and that is that there is no way the Udall bill was going
to pass this year .You could [and you should] have sent out another million
cards and it would have come out the same. This was not to be our year.
It's pure politics; nothing more, nothing less.
I thought there was some emotional blood letting going on as people
responded to the survey and I"ll bet Rita Weeks is still wondering what hit
her. One minute she regards many of you as friends and the next minute she
is picking herself up off the ground but she did a fine job in articulating
her position. She can well take care of herself but there is something
stirring in this group... may be it is simply some steam being vented
following the nonpassage of the Udall bill or perhaps it the growth rate of
this group. Are we taking on an increasingly large number of new group
members? Or are we changing tactics ......When I joined this group last
January the rule seemed to be that if you disagreed with someone you would
ignore or shun them but today you whack them with the nearest coal shovel!
In the Digest of Oct 12 1996 Jeff Jones write a telling piece on how he
view us as we interact with one another...."I wonder if the electronic
Lord of the Flies is actually coming to pass when I see some of the
messages." Now I don't mind a good verbal battle but I like to see my self
as one who plays by the rules of the "Loyal opposition" but I'll back to
you to share some thoughts about where I think we may go from here.
My Very Best
George Lussier [[log in to unmask]]
PS If someone would like to check my stats please fell free to do so. My
figures can always use checking.
PPS My plan is to destroy all the individual messages with in the next
week or so.Just because I'm
paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get me!!
[log in to unmask]
