Entering The Fray…With Trepidation

Although I have been commenting fairly regularly on certain blogs for several years now, it had never occurred to me to take on the arduous, and very public, task myself. I don’t look upon myself as a particularly gifted writer (far from it) and I am most certainly not what you might call computer literate. I am also not usually a very impulsive person, yet I very impulsively decided to take this on at the spur of the moment.

I’ve been rather closely following the illegal alien debate for a while now, having what you might call a passionate interest given that I am myself an immigrant (legal) and naturalized citizen. I’ve noticed that the debate has been rapidly descending into what amounts to verbal fisticuffs on the existing blogs, often creating a hostile environment for the relative opposing viewpoint. Although I personally am very supportive of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors’ efforts to address the issue of illegal aliens, as well the “Rule of Law” Resolution, I also recognize that there are other reasonable viewpoints out there quite worthy of consideration and I’d like to have the opportunity to “hear” and debate them without fear of personal attack against either me OR those on the other side of the issue. I’m quite certain that there are MANY others, on all sides of the subject, who feel exactly the same way. Besides, this is such a multi-faceted issue that there really is no way that anyone can say with any certainty that they have the ultimate solution to the entire problem…THAT is just not reasonable.

That said, I hope that this will indeed become a forum for discussion and debate where ALL can come together with mutual courtesy and respect regardless of their viewpoint on this highly charged issue. The rules are clearly stated to the right, as are the consequences for violating those rules. I recommend that all read them first before commenting so that there is no misunderstanding. I hope also to eventually have guest contributors on all sides of the issue and, perhaps, one or two of them will remain to contribute on a regular basis. For myself, I intend to try and reserve my opinion for the comments area and post information on the issue(s) for debate without editorial.

This is all still a work in progress and definitely a learning experience for me. I trust that, as I grow in this experience, we can all grow in our understanding of this issue of such great concern to so many in our country. I happen to be a great believer in brainstorming.

Anke Cheney