The turkey reminded me...

I couldn’t help but think of the Village Board as I cooked the turkey on Thanksgiving.

It’s nothing personal, mind you, just a connection that during the recent past that thinking of a turkey often connects to some of the antics by Board Members – both past and present – but mostly past.

The irony of it is the fact that the annual stuff-cook-eat turkey celebration comes within a week of an appellate court’s ruling that the identity of the now infamous “Hipcheck16” does not have to be revealed.

Turkeys aside, and you can read into that as much as you want, it’s a continuation of the “look at me – I’m always right and everyone is wrong” campaign by former trustee Lisa Stone.  In the past year I have mentioned Stone’s name only a smattering of time.  Her reign as a Village Board member came to a halt with the recall vote last November.

However, she continues her pursuit of her pet projects – the Land & Lakes landfill issue and the ongoing about who Hipcheck16 is.  That’s fine.  Everyone has his or her own pet projects and we know that Stone is passionate – obsessive if you will about Land & Lakes – even though she ignored it when she lived near the site.

The Hipcheck 16 issue is a different story.  It is, in some ways, a classic example of how folks who put themselves in the public eye don’t get it. 

When someone runs for public offices, accepts a high profile position, such as a school administrator or coach, their lives become an open book, whether they like it or not.  Lisa Stone is not the first public figure whose family has been brought into the public eye.  Former governor Jim Thompson had to deal with issues related to his wife, Sarah Palin’s daughter was in the limelight and comments about the wife of the late Edmund Muskie ultimately led him to dropping out of the presidential race.  These are just a few examples.

Public figures are not perfect and while some think their status puts them on a pedestal and makes them immune to such comments – they wrong.  Several clichés come to mind – if you can’t stand the heat, get of the kitchen and you live by the sword, you die by the sword.

The sword can be a vicious weapon – especially the written, verbal, or now, the online sword.  Stone did what any parent would do – defend a child.  Where she has tripped over her public figure ego is by not realizing that she, in turn, is playing the same game.  She claims Hipcheck16 defamed her son, yet she sees nothing wrong with comments made about former Village Manager Bill Brimm and, more recently, false insinuations that Village Board member Jeff Berman is connected to Hipcheck16.

She has done this through the very forum that she is upset about --- online comments via a media website.

Comments posted in media online editions are, if nothing else, a source of entertainment.  They are also an increasing source of irritation for media outlets.  Why?  Unlike letters to the editors, which many publications verify by phone, online comments are, for the most part, an open forum.  Actually, because of terms of service agreements, they are a limited open forum, which gives the media outlet the opportunity to keep objectionable comments from appearing.

What is missing, however, is verification as to who is the real person.  As noted by one poster, ectrip8 noted in a recent Daily Herald comment,  “Your son was using a screenname, (sic) not his real name. Furthermore, just because he claimed to be your son before commenting does not mean that he revealed who he was. There is no way for someone to verify who anyone is on these boards. You may not be the real LS, just as if I claim on here to be Barack Obama or Mitt Romney doesn't automatically make it so.”

Former Bears coach Mike Ditka once said that only two kinds of people live in the past – losers and cowards.  We learn from the past, whether we like what happened or not.  This does not apply just to Stone, but to any and everyone. 

However, I am not sure Stone realizes this as she includes numerous links about her performance as a Village Board member in her comments on the Daily Herald’s online edition.

Yet she missed one. http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101102/news/711039808/