[at-l] The Reverend and sundry matters

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley7)]

At 01:58 AM 5/20/01 -0400, RoksnRoots@aol.com wrote:

>    ~~~ This answer should follow the logical progression of the statement 
>before giving too obviously a generalized reply. I honestly feel that so many 
>people have been hating this "place" for so long that they aren't aware of 
>the actual good it has done of late.

It's too easy, R, to dismiss the local sentiment re Dan as hate.  Read the
archives and see who used to defend Dan here.  Maybe you'll see that
there are other sentiments and realities in action.  Many of us have parted 
ways with Dan because he did things we didn't agree with.  Hatres isn't
a factor.

>   There are several false statements I can respond to right away here. The 
>first is that the e-mails don't generate a reaction. It was reported in 
>writing from the Tennessee congressman's office that WF's campaign for the 
>Gulf Tract was the deciding factor in Washington for the appropriation of the 
>3 million in public monies for the purchase. No, I don't have the time or 
>effort to do so, but it could be proven that this is true by researching the 
>facts. That was 10 or 12 thousand acres added to the Trail's natural buffer. 
>Nothing to scoff at in an off-handed way or deny credit for because of waged 
>prejudice or blind contempt that only makes the poster look silly.

If this is true, i am amazed.  Having worked in the business, I know what the
attitude re generated mail of any sort was.  The first question was, can they
vote for me?  If not...so what....who cares.  After that, the content and I'm talking about 
originality/passion  was appraised.  It took no passion, and little effort, for someone 
to roboform for Dan.  What moved my pol, was tear stained ink letters, warm 
bodies and money.,,,not necessarily in that order.

>    ~~~ Not entirely true. The e-mail form I participated in gave the 
>congressman's address and urged a private letter also. 

Which one was that?  I know of one TPer who was chastened for requesting
snail mail addies.  And you were just told of another who was booted for 
trying to get people to do more.

>     The glaring glitch here is that it really isn't that important for the 
>Trail's sake what the organizer's motives were if he could gain some affect 
>for the Trail. As far as I am concerned he could put a header at the front of 
>the form spelling out the pure need for ego fulfillment in his participation 
>and I would still work with him if it helped the AT. 

Ohhh.....I get it.  There's an old saying.  He may be a son of a bitch but he's
our son of a bitch.  Sorry....I have had it up to here with that mindset. That's
the mindset that kept hundreds of people silent re the 99 handbook.  I was one
of them.  I kept quiet when some of the class of 00 asked to buy/borrow a
copy of the 99 handbook because the 00 would be late.  I didn't speak up and
tell them they'd better find other resources with which to plan their hike because
no one would be lending a 99 book because it was never published.  I couldn't
do it privately because of dan's set up and I didn't do it publicly because I
didn't want the boot.  There's the rub.  If you sleep with dogs you get fleas.
If you accept one lie from your leader, how do you trust what he says on any
other issue as truth.  It's easy to characterize other's sentiments re dan as
hate.  A little harder to deal with it if the issue is one of trust.  If he seeks
to lead me, I 'd like to be able to trust him.  And beyond that, I need to 
agree with his aims and methods.

>     There is no doubt that all of us AT people failed to mount an adequate 
>campaign for Saddleback. However, I would say that the origin of this failure 
>was indicated by the ATC's preferred position on preservation. From there we 
>were at a great disadvantage to win a better deal for the Trail.

I won't pretend to speak for the ATC re viewshed.  But it is a troublesome issue.
My husband/s family owns 100 acres near a state forest.  An old railroad once
ran thru it and while abandoned, the bed is there and perfect for a railtrail.  People
approached Gram for permission to open the trail as a connector to our MidStateTrail.
Most of the third generation and some of the second in the family, were hikers and 
were thrilled.  Gram was adamant.  "First they want to use it, then they'll want to 
take it".  

Recent events seem to be proving her point.  We are greedy.  Not only do we
want to pass thru private property, we want to control what the people who own
it can do with it.  And now we even want to control what happens as far as the
eye can see.   With that mindset, no wonder so few new trails are opening.
No wonder the locals are animated and afraid.  

You say it's Dan's way or nothing.  What about raising money or pressuring
pols to allocate money to buy the land?  Could that be the reason the numbers
of people who supported the Gulf effort and Saddleback were different?  I guess
it's easier to blame it on hatred of dan, rather than to acknowledge that some
people have strong issues concerning rights and freedoms re land ownership
even if they treasure the Trail.

>helping the State of North Carolina 
>in revoking the mining permit, which can be legally touchy in such a case 

So what you are saying is that the state of N Carolina did an illegal thing
because of public support.  Yep..that's pretty much sums it up.  My memory
is always a problem when I try and debate even recent history, but IIRC,
a man wanted to start a limestone quarry.  He did what was required by law
to fulfill the eco studies and regulations and build the infrastructure to gain
the permission of the government to mine on property he owned.  A permit
was granted.  He spent more money tp begin operations.  Only then, did someone
say wait a minute....  Then the state of N C revoked the permit with little or 
no compensation for the man who had spent his own money to follow the
existing rules.  This was not a good thing in my book.

Have you considered that the decrease in support, from issue to issue, was not
a dan hate thing, but a reflection of the personal views re the "rightness" of each
cause?

>Please, let's not let our personal 
>feelings get in the way of helping the AT any way we can with whomever is 
>willing to do so.    

Sorry, we part ways.  I have personal feelings that supplant my feelings for the 
trail.  And they have to do with fairness and rightness and little to do with dan.
You assume we are idiots who would let personal animosity alone, endanger the Trail.
Speaking personally, that's crap.

>_______________________________________________
>AT-L mailing list
>AT-L@mailman.backcountry.net
>http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l
>
>
>
>---
>Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
>Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
>Version: 6.0.252 / Virus Database: 125 - Release Date: 5/9/01 


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.252 / Virus Database: 125 - Release Date: 5/9/01


--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/mixed
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
---