Nerditorial: Spotlight on the Whatcom Excavator

Let's examine the Whatcom Excavator, shall we? 

There are many things I like about this blog... (you heard me.)

There is a twinkle in the eye of the writing, and there is a lot of content. The energy that is necessary to keep a blog readable, and Chock Full of Bloggy Goodness ™ is difficult to overstate. And this energy is conspicuously present in the Excavator.

If you want to get your finger on the pulse of the conservative spirit in Whatcom County, then the Excavator is the place to take that pulse.

And, oh, do they let their (Gadsen) freak flag fly!

Now, I don't agree with much of the conclusions to which the writers of the Excavator arrive, but I suspect that they would say the very same about my writing here on Latte Republic.

On the matter of the anonymity of the staff of the Excavator... well... that is part of the Excavator brand. (For those of you who don't know, the articles written for the Excavator are attributed to the name Plubius.) My unsolicited advice to critics of the Excavator's reinforced anonymity is... come to terms with it. Anonymity is a component of the blogosphere, and it will remain so for the foreseeable future.

But more to the point, the Excavator is stuck with the limitations that attach to this anonymity.

Compliment time is over, folks.

[Neck crack]

You see, the Excavator has leveled some very serious accusations about public officials. The Excavator has attributed motive to public officials who have no opportunity to face their accuser.

And while public officials may have to put up with this to one degree or another... the Excavator has also leveled serious accusations about private citizens, too. And that is an entirely different matter.

The Excavator formed the spearhead of the attack on the Reconveyance, and that attack was largely successful. But in doing so, the Excavator has made some pretty serious accusations about the motives and actions of private citizens like Lisa McShane and Rand Jack in their zeal to advocate against the Reconveyance.

Bravo Sierra, Plubius.

As I see it, anonymity is supposed to be used as a shield, not a sword. Publicly attacking private citizens from the fastness of anonymity says a lot more about you than it does about the people you are attacking.

Then there was the matter of the Excavator trafficking in unsubstantiated rumors about Steve Oliver last year, who was running for office at the time. Rumors that were initially distributed by clearly partisan interests. And this rumor mongering was dropped like a hot rock after election day, which pretty much demonstrates precisely how much merit the accusations possessed.

When I lodged an ethics complaint in 2011 about Sam Crawford (regarding my concerns about the Birch Bay Rezone) I filed the complaint after election day. And that was by design. And I have not regretted that decision once. I am a partisan who is gifted with a limited amount of self awareness. I knew that if I filed the complaint during the election cycle that it would be percieved as an attempt to affect the election. Because that is precisely the effect it would have had. Intent notwithstanding.

Like Plubius, I am not exactly shy about calling into question the ethics of public officials. But unlike Plubius, I don't rely on innunendo. And I don't ask such grave questions from a position of anonymity. And when the question is answered, I accept the answer.

Throwing around accusations with impunity has a tendency to erode the credibility of the accuser, particularly when the accuser is sniping from the clock tower of internet anonymity.

I actually have some credibility with people who don't agree with me. This is in large part due to the fact that they know who I really am.

Plubius? Not so much.

Enjoy your anonymity, Whatcom Excavator. It is a self-imposed prison.