Got a call from a concerned Magnolia resident last Tuesday. At the moment, I was neck-deep in production deadlines, and while I try to make it a policy to treat every reader's inquiry with due respect and interest, I just didn't have the time to engage this good woman's opening shot. "What is a community paper for?" she asked, a note of challenge in her voice. This is what's known as a rhetorical question.
She was good enough, when I made it clear that I would have to put off a deeper discussion right then, to get to the point: her concern with the apparent abundance of liberal-leaning columnists in the Magnolia News, coupled with a seeming lack of a conservative voice. In other words, all Al Franken and no Rush Limbaugh.
I think I surprised her a bit by agreeing. Regardless of my own political stance, which inclines somewhere due east of Chairman Mao, I believe that it would behoove this paper to run a regular column by an intelligent, articulate conservative commentator.
The key words being "intelligent" and "articulate." It's not so easy, in the current landscape, to find writers who rise above the insipid clamoring of belligerent rhetoric, predictable blather and ad-hominen hooey. I'm as tired as anyone of the breezy, easy, passive-aggressive punditry of Seattle liberals cozying up to rote political bumperstickers in order to assuage their own middle-class misgivings and existential inertia. Likewise, it's almost impossible for me to stomach the by-the-numbers maliciousness and smug victory dance of right-wing wackos in print and on the airwaves. Such a waste of oxygen.
These days I crave - from both sides, but especially from the Right - the sort of thoughtful analysis that leads to useful debate rather than aggravation and resentment. Independence of thought is perhaps the most crucial qualifier when seeking out the sort of thinker that surprises, challenges and delights an audience - as opposed to the kind of proto-fascist polemical role-calling you typically find from those commentators who simply rattle off cliché after utterly predictable cliché while they amass the troops. What really galls me about the likes of Rush Limbaugh is that it's all about winning, as though American life has become such a cynically Hobbesian battleground that citizens are forced to tear at the scraps of privilege like rabid wolves.
Not that everyone needs to be overly nice to one another. Civil, yes. But what we really need now - what we desperately, desperately need right now - is to be engaged in a serious dialogue that moves, step by difficult step, toward the bright light of understanding and improvement.
My caller last Tuesday also expressed concerned that many articles and columns in the News are not directly related to Magnolia. I know what she means, and I will continue to keep our primary focus on Magnolia proper. I say primary, because, like it or not, Magnolia exists within the borders of this thing called the United States. Broader issues such as war, the workings of federal government and the fandango of presidential politics do have an impact - albeit often indirect or imperceptible - on every big or small neighborhood and every citizen in this country.
One of the jobs of this paper, I believe, is always to attempt to tie city-related - and, yes, national and international - issues directly to Magnolia. Priority One is Magnolia.
That said, I would like to extend an open, friendly invitation to anyone out there in Magnolia - a thoughtful someone with a well-reasoned conservative point-of-view who possesses a sense of humor and, hopefully, some fresh insights into local-cum-state-and-national issues - who might be up for writing a bi-weekly or monthly column. Sorry, I'm not remotely interested in giving space to some knee-jerk Champion of Bush, as it's almost impossible to conceive of any self-respecting Republican today who is not deeply concerned with the shenanigans of the present administration. Other than that, the field is wide open.
Give it a go.
You can send a letter of introduction and a sample column (between 400 and 500 words) to mageditor@nwlink.com, subject line "columnist application" or by regular mail to: Magnolia News, "Columnist Ap," 4000 Aurora Ave. N., Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98103.
Thanks, and best of luck.
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