We know from Matt that he is Allentown's first Latino mayor. We know from Victor Martinez that Allentown is now majority Latino, and should have more Latino elected representatives. But who is speaking up for the other 49%, especially the elderly poor.
Allentown's elderly poor, many descended from a previous dominant demographic called Pennsylvania Dutch, by culture never availed themselves to whatever subsidies were available. Their family motto was Make It Do, Wear It Out, Use It Up, Do Without.
While the squeaky wheel gets the oil, they never said a peep. You can still catch a glimpse of this yesteryear at a farmers market, or a Lanta bus stop. I'm not even sure that you'll see their names in the paper's obituary column, the paper charges for that now.
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This is a very real, and very large demographic in Allentown. It’s fair to say they show up at the polls with more consistency than newer residents. There is opportunity there.
ReplyDeleteanonymous comments are being phrased out on this blog
ReplyDeleteFirst, it’s phased out and not “phrased out”.
ReplyDeleteBut why are anonymous comments being phased out? You can do that immediately if you wanted to. And if readers wanted to, they could still set up a pseudonym to comment.
So what is being gained?
Maybe I’m missing something here, but it seems that whenever someone makes a logical point that contradicts something you write, your first instinct is not to address the comment on its merits, but to attack it for being an anonymous comment. That doesn’t make the comment wrong and even if it is, a “wrong“ comment can still lead to discussion and foster understanding. That’s something that is sorely lacking in today’s discourse.
To us readers, it doesn’t appear that you’re overwhelmed with comments on any post. If you don’t want to read opposing thoughts, you might as well just send yourself an email every morning. It has the same effect.
Joe Nonymous
anon@8:52: I never have an issue with comments that disagree with me. (It does get tiring to disagree with a Trump policy and be told that it must be TDS, as opposed to the policy itself.)
ReplyDeleteI'm instituting the new policy not because of Trump centered posts, but because I find many comments repetitious on any topic.
I think what is "sorely lacking" in blogs today is accountability, people taking ownership of their opinion. I anticipate that my new policy will decrease the number of comments, I accept that consequence.
Guess in the end we can chalk this latest evolution in your comment policy as a win for the undefeated litigant, he's having a great year; Cousin Jeffrey jailed, DA Jumbo Jimbo croaked, and MM's minions muzzled, V is for VICTORY!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to compliment yourself on marginalizing Abe's blog, although he doesn't "get" that yet.
DeleteWho knows, maybe Gunther will have you back on :)