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Think about it
By Barbara Vice, Drumright Gusher
WINNING EDITORIAL- March 2002
Ms. Vice,
I am sending you this information because I believe the Drumright school board may have a member that has been convicted of a felony? I have enclosed the court records and details of what I have uncovered. I have also sent this information to the LOUD MOUTH, because I am almost certain the Gusher will not do any investigations or follow-ups on it.
A Concerned Citizen
Dear Concerned Citizen,
You are wrong on two counts. One, we did do an investigation on it. Two, there is no convicted felon on the school board. The evidence you provided us proved nothing.
In fact, the website you offered as proof of a felony
conviction proved you wrong. You sent us a printout of the web page, but you only gave us page one. We went to the website and printed out all five pages. Page two clearly indicates the charges were misdemeanors in Tulsa County traffic court.
We also checked with the Creek county Election Board, and the Center for Education Law where attorney Laura Holmes said, "I checked the Tulsa county court records available online and was unable to find any felony."
The person involved did plead guilty to two misdemeanors in traffic court nearly ten years ago, and at that time paid his debt to society in full. Who are we, or you, to punish him further?
We appreciate tips from concerned citizens in the community, because we can't be everywhere at once and cover (or uncover) everything. But we have a feeling the latest letter, and many more before it, are not so much from "concerned citizens" as they are from persons who just want to play "gotcha."
This game has been played before in every community, and it's not likely to stop anytime soon. But in our community it seems to have gone to epic proportions over the least year.
One can hardly make it through a day without hearing of a new rumor, speculation, accusation, or lawsuit. "Concerned citizens" and private investigator wannabes get only half the story–if that much–and pass it off as the gospel truth.
While there may be nuggets of truth in some of the rumors, most are simply crying wolf.
Single details from inconsequential situations are taken out of context and blown out of proportion, then offered as evidence of illegal or unethical activity.
Why does this Jerry Springer-mentality thrive among certain parts of our community? Because, usually, the truth is not nearly so intriguing as the lie. The facts don't titillate quite as much as the speculation. The real story doesn't entertain nearly as much as the imagined one.
And digging up the truth takes more work. It's easy to hear a rumor and spread it around as fact. It's far more difficult to take the time, energy, and resources to find out the truth.
Citizens who are truly concerned for the good of our community will do what it takes to get at the truth.
Those who are not, will simply continue to play the "gotcha" game, hurt others and make fools of themselves in the process.
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