Written by Roberta Biros (a.k.a., “Roberta in Mercer”)
This has been quite a week. Within three days time, I’ve been accused of being Michele Brooks’ “Gal Pal” and now I’ve been called out for “Brooks Bashing”. What’s next . . . is someone going to refer to me as the “liberal media”? As usual, allow me to explain further . . .
As my previous post outlines (“Woodland Place: A Real “Pickle” for Mercer County — Will there ever be a real solution?“), I posted a comment to the Sharon Herald Forum regarding Woodland Place. The point that I “tried” to make was that the current County Commissioners need to take “ownership” of this issue and the Commissioners and residents of this great County need to stop blaming past administrations for current problems.
Initially, in the Herald Forum, Michele was referred to as my “gal” . . . implying that I am somehow in Michele’s back pocket. Now, last night, I received a comment through a mirror blog stating that I had been unfair to Michele Brooks due to misstatements of facts. The comment is repeated here for your review:
Anonymous December 4, 2008 at 1:31 am
I feel I must correct some statements in this blog, Michele was not one of the commissioners responsible for obligating the county for Woodland Place, it was the prior board. Michele did not want to pay the bond payments any more than Brian did, but was obligated by law to do so. She fought with the Ounties Controller to insist that the money being paid in behalf of Woodland Place only be a loan from the county and that by paying their obligation would require oversight on their board from a proffessional of the counties choice. Like many of the media one must understand the problem before suggesting a solution.
First, I cannot apologize enough for my error. “Anonymous” is completely correct in that I did misunderstand the dates of Michele’s involvement in the Commissioners office. I stated that Michele was involved in the original bond issue in 2002. This was a misunderstanding on my part based on dozens of articles that I compiled from the Herald archives (one actually stated Michele being in the Commissioners Office in 2001). “My Bad” . . . Further fact checking shows that Michele was a member of the Jamestown Borough Council until December 2002, and did not take office as County Commissioner until 2003. I obviously failed in my fact checking and I apologize for any problems or confusion that this has created. Believe me, it was not my intention to “damage” Michele Brooks’ name in this blog. I appreciate the correction by “Anonymous”, but I’m a little upset at the statement “Like many of the media one must understand the problem before suggestion a solution.” Gosh, my solution was that we move forward in an attempt to fix Woodland Place and, therefore, stop blaming Michele . . . an angle that most “local media” does not support. Being lumped in with “the others” goes against the whole purpose of this blog.
That said, I’d like to clear up something. Since I’ve been accused of being both “with” Michele Brooks and “against” Michele Brooks, I’d like to set the records straight.
Myth #1: I’m a “Michele Brooks Basher” (just like the rest of the media)
Wow. Where do I begin. For anyone to imply that I’ve attempted to negatively impact Michele Brooks name illustrates that they are new to this blog. I hope that they take time to really read the things that I’ve written here. I’ve made every attempt to be fair and polite in all of my comments about everyone. I attempt to state facts, although it is clear that I’ve made honest errors at times. I apologize for my misstating of facts in this case, but to diminish my reputation for the error seems unfair.
Myth #2: I’m Michele Brooks “Gal Pal”
Unless you are all aware of something that I don’t know about, I wouldn’t classify myself as Michele’s “Pal”. I’ve met Michele only a handful of times . . . in total, I’ve probably spoken to her for less than 30 minutes. I’m a pretty good judge of character, and she immediately impressed me as honest, straight forward, intelligent, and very likeable. I’ve sensed numerous similarities between her political philosophies and my own, and I feel compelled to “protect her good name” for some reason. Most of what I know about her political past comes from second hand stories (from new friends), blog posts, and the Sharon Herald archives. I’ve never had the opportunity to discuss any of these issues with Michele Brooks personally, although I wish I could. Unfortunately, I don’t have that level of “access”. If I ever had the chance to sit down and talk with Michele, I’d value her opinion on local issues, and I’d ask for details about her past experiences with the Commissioners Office. I’d ask her questions to help me understand the best direction for the County in the future . . . not to make accusations about the past. Lastly, if I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Michele Brooks, I’d probably devote a large portion of that time to “non-political issues”. Why? Because I get a sense that she is a “really nice person to know”. Yes . . . “a person” . . . not just “a politician”. Sometimes it isn’t just about facts, figures, and dates. The people that represent us locally, in Harrisburg, and in Washington DC are “people” too. They have families and lives outside of the public venue, and I think that that we all need to be reminded of that from time to time.
In closing, I will triple check my facts from this point forward, and I expect that my readers will correct me when I’m wrong. I “slipped and fell” on this one, but I’ll work to see that it doesn’t happen again.
Thank you to all of my readers that “keep me on my toes”.
BLOG POST ADDENDUM
On the evening of 12/4/2008, I received another comment from “Anonymous” regarding this post. The comment was received through a mirror site (and, therefore, cannot be included here in any automated fashion). In an effort to be complete, I’m posting the comment and my response here. The conversation speaks for itself . . . maybe I’m not a “Brooks Basher” afterall.
Comment by “Anonymous”
December 5, 2008 at 1:30 am
In no way was I trying to imply that the originator of this blog was Brooks bashing. My comments were meant to be directed specificly to the media at the time of the Brooks bashing which was taking place when she was a Commissioner. The media at that time had no concern for the truth. I am glad that some of the facts are beginning to come out now that the current Commissioners have to deal with the reality of the situation. My applogies for the implications that I may have made falsely.
Comment by “Roberta in Mercer”
December 5, 2008 at 2:33 am
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for the clarification. I’ve been accused of lots of things, but “Brooks Bashing” was the LAST thing that I expected to hear from one of my readers. I’m glad to know that my comments were not REALLY taken that way.
I’d like to also thank you for pointing out my error. While I painstakingly review my facts before on-line publication, I admit that I dropped the ball on this one. Please keep an eye on my facts in the future, and let me know if I mess up . . . I’ll take any help that I can get.
I originally started this blog in an effort to combat bad press that was being fabricated about Michele Brooks by “less responsible bloggers”. I knew very little about Michele, so I was researching information about her and other candidates that were on the ballot for the 2008 General Election. When I “Googled” the term “Michele Brooks”, I was appalled by the “trash talk” that was out there . . . much of it quite offensive. I decided to educate myself, and I sought the real truth. Out of a sense of fairness, I decided to publish a conservative blog that would offer truthful statements to combat the lies . . . positive comments to combat the negative . . . and conservative views to combat the liberal garbage. My first blog post is an example of this:
In Defense of Michele Brooks, a Conservative Candidate
( go to http://mercerconservatives.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-defense-of-conservative-candidate.html to read the post)
Once I laid the groundwork for the blog, I decided to run with it. I’ve always enjoyed writing, and the blog has offered me an outlet for my political opinions and commentary. I’m glad to see that my message is finally getting out . . . and that the effort is appreciated by fellow conservatives. The majority of the feedback that I’ve received has been positive, but I still take a great deal of heat for “taking a stand” and sharing my opinions. It seems crazy, but it seems that liberals are offended by “Conservative Women”. The work that I’ve done makes them even more aggravated . . . I’m a Conservative Woman openly defending another Conservative Woman . . . it is like a double whammy . . . It really ticks liberals off, and I’ve received some backlash for it. I don’t mind, though. It always gives me something to talk about!
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Mercer County Conservatives 