An open letter to Chuck Jones

Having spent a good portion of my career as a journalist, as well as being, well, a Democrat in Georgia, I've been called my fair share of names. Some in jest, some with some venom behind them ... still, it's part of the game when you share your opinions and quips with the public. I've got a pretty thick skin when it comes to these kinds of things, though I do freely admit that it does pain me when people misunderstand me and confuse me and my beliefs with something they are not.

I say this because Chuck Jones called me 'an Internet clown who probably doesn't have a real job' during a recent comments exchange.

Why did he do so? Well, because in making comments about what I felt was a straw man of an argument he had posed, I closed with the following line:

Now, I'm no student of law, but I can tell you that if that's your line of argument in a courtroom, you're not going to get very far.

I said that because, quite frankly, I was going for a cheap laugh. His argument was silly to me and, in turn, I wanted to ridicule him. That, I'll freely admit, was wrong of me. I do my best to run a pretty fair blog here and not personally attack or offer false implications toward my commenters, regardless of their beliefs or stances. In this case, for some odd reason, I opted against that ... and that was pretty lousy of me.

So with that being said, I'd like to offer an apology to Chuck Jones who, despite our disagreements, keeps on coming back and plugging away on this blog and at others, like Athens Politics. Now, Charles was kind enough to defend me in the comments, and I do sincerely appreciate that. Charles pointed out his concerns with Chuck's original line of argument and than chastized him for resorting to his own level of personal attacks and name-calling. It's always nice to have someone on your side, but I fired the first volley in this particular exchange, so I bear the responsibility.

I don't know Chuck, and Chuck doesn't know me, which is pretty apparent from both of our immature comments. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, here's a brief history of me.

I grew up in Augusta, graduated Westside High School in 1996 and attended the University of Georgia, where I earned my A.B.J. in 2000. Upon graduation, I spent four years as a reporter and editor at the Athens Banner-Herald. I've done freelance work for a variety of other publications, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

In 2004, I left the enjoyable, yet long hours of journalism to pursue a career with a more stable work schedule. I was fortunate enough to find employment doing public relations at a local museum, where I continue to this day.

In addition to my career, I serve as vice president of the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens and am very active at First Baptist Church of Athens, where I am currently an associate deacon. I have assisted in minor roles with a variety of political campaigns, served on Clarke Central High School's Vocational Advisory Board and briefly worked with the Clarke County Multicultural Task Force.

I love to cook, work in my yard, read, write and tailgate with crazy people like this. My favorite TV show of all-time is Buffy the Vampire Slayer (that's right people ... I'm not ashamed), while my favorite book of all-time is Ethan Frome (followed closely by To Kill A Mockingbird).

I'm blessed to have great friends, loving parents and the best wife on the planet.

That's me. That's what I got.

And I'm sincerely sorry for using such a cheap shot. One of my greatest pet peeves is when people who aren't in my profession decide they know vastly more about my field of work than I do. Perhaps that's why I resorted to that statement ... who knows. But, as the Scripture commends us, do unto others as you would have done unto you ... and I failed in that regard.

All of that said, I'll be very honest with you Chuck, and I hope you take this in the spirit of good-natured criticism I intend for it to be, though at times I may be rather blunt ... I think you ran a lousy campaign that wasn't about the issues or even about you claim it was about, which was overthrowing a 'powerful elite which control the community.' While I don't believe the latter even exists, you came out of the gates insanely negative and began tossing borderline defamatory accusations at people all over this community ... good people who work hard for this community who merely differ in ideology and vision from you.

You don't like their actions or their policies? That's perfectly understandable. You draw the differences and you debate them. You pitch your vision and your plan to the people, and let them decide.

What you don't do is slander your opponents. What you don't do is deceive the voting public for your own political gain. What you don't do is demonize an entire neighborhood that isn't even in your district.

It's actions like these which have made so many folks so hostile toward you, and for personally harboring some of that hostility, again, I am sorry. But there is a rational reason for such hostility, and it's because of the arrogant, dismissive and, at times, immature approach you would take ... not with just discussions on these little, insignificant blogs, but toward your entire campaign in general.

Is that what you intend for your perception to be? Of course not. Is it really you? Most likely not, however all we know of you, as Charles pointed out, comes through interactions like this and from what we see on your site or in the paper. Thus we craft this unflattering vision of you in which in all likelihood, this perception doesn't match reality.

Yet, rather than win minds over, you visited a variety of blogs looking for a fight. And if that's what you truly intend to do, that's fine. I can dish it out with the best of 'em and think you'd find me a more than worthy adversary. However, as a candidate - as one who is expected to reach out to all citizens - I believe you owe it to the public to respond in a more thoughtful way to questions posed to you and to discuss the issues you believe in with more care and consideration.

You appear to be a bright fella, and you are obviously passionate about things like public service and political representation for students. Let's be honest, you and I disagree on just about everything ... but disagreement, I believe, isn't necessarily a bad thing. However disagreeing over a zoning reclassification doesn't mean you have to attack your opponent personally.

It is my hope the next time you decide to run for office, you take the approach of someone like, say, James Garland, who may disagree with me on any number of issues, yet argues for his positions in a civil and courteous manner and has earned my utmost respect.

Passion among the youth about public service is needed, so I hope you stick with it. If someday our paths cross in the political arena, and we're both vying for the same office, I hope you won't take the butt-kicking I'd hand you too personally.