Besides listing the many events that occur each month by state and featuring tips and places to participate in the sports listed above, the magazine and website promote these silent sports. Many times this includes railing against ATVs, Snow Mobiles, and Motor Cross; and criticizing downhill skiing.
Recently, however, the editor of Silent Sports magazine, Joel Patenaude, took it upon himself to inject the presidential race into this topic on his Blog. In his post "VP Candidate's Family Profited By and Illegally Rode Off-Road Motor Vehicles," Mr. Patenaude tries to indicate that Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin might not be a friend to the environment; especially the silent sports environment.
Mr. Patenuade uses the idea that Sarah's husband Todd had a DWI in 1986 and operated a off-road vehicle illegally in a game refuge in 2002 to try and indicate that, in his words, "the Palin family harbored a love of motor sports for fun as well as profit – public land be damned, apparently – that would tell us more than enough about her values."
Mr. Petenuade, when you use stretch arguments and Liberal Democratic talking points veiled in the defense of silent sports, it comes across as idiotic. Not only is it obvious that you were simply trying to make a political point that you think we should all vote Democratic, it is hard to take you seriously when you sound like even participating in something 'with an engine' makes a person evil; at least not eligible to be vice president.
I believe all sports motorized and not motorized deserve their place and if people want to ride a motorcycle instead of a bike that is their choice. I believe there should be rules that control when and where you can ride an ATV, but I also believe people should be able to ride them and/or buy and sell them.
Your brand of extreme liberal nonsense does nothing to promote silent sports in a worthwhile way and actually gives those of us that support silent sports less credibility in the arena of public opinion. We cannot gain support for our 'agenda' by taking away the rights of others; that is just more liberal nonsense.
I am disappointed in you, but I am more disappointed that a great magazine has to be associated and edited with such an extreme viewpoint.
My rights are important, but not more so than the rights of others.
Big Mel
1 comment:
Big Mel,
Thank you for responding to my post. But I believe you misread it.
As my blog post clearly says, my suggestion that "the Palin family harbored a love of motorsports for fun as well as profit – public land be damned, apparently" is based on two facts:
1) that the Palins owned a snowmobile and ATV dealership (ie. profit) and
2) Todd Palin pled no contest to illegally operating an off-road vehicle in a game refuge (i.e., fun, public land be damned).
I believe, like you, that "all sports motorized and not motorized deserve their place and if people want to ride a motorcycle instead of a bike that is their choice."
A protected wildlife refuge is not, however, a place Mr. Palin should "choose" to recreat in with a motor vehicle, hence the illegality of his offense.
These are neither "liberal talking points" (at least I haven't read or heard anyone making the observation I did) nor is it "extreme" or "nonsense" to suggest that these facts raise doubts about the Palins' commitment to environmental conservation.
Sincerely,
Joel Patenaude, Editor
Silent Sports Magazine
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