[AMRadio] hecklers (II)

[Larry Szendrei]

Hi Paul!

I think you misunderstood me. I don't disagree with anything you say 
below. My comment was in reply to the one advocating burying the FCC in 
heckler complanits. I was advocating restraint (except for the most 
extreme or recurring cases) because of the potential for unforeseen 
adverse consequences.

I wasn't even thinking about the ARRL at the time.

73,
-Larry/NE1S

VJB wrote:
-snip-
> Larry, on your point of dissent within the ranks of
> ham radio.  Much of the argument we see on various
> points is fomented by the closed door political
> philosophy by the group in Newington, which once upon
> a time was the representative lobbying group for the
> hobby.
> 
> The knee-jerk reaction to criticism against the ARRL
> typically focuses on a call to elect different
> volunteer leadership if there needs to be a cure.  But
> those "directors" individually are not the problem. It
> is a systemic issue of how the place is run, which
> perpetuates the lack of interaction with active,
> law-abiding licensed Amateurs.
> 
> Their bandwidth scheme is a product of that
> closed-door approach, and Comments in the FCC database
> are running heavily opposed. Many of the Comments cite
> a feeling of having been left out of the process --
> and I'll bet the League's lawyer will be hard-pressed
> to defend against that criticism during the Reply
> Comment phase upcoming.
> 
> So, with most of us on the outside of that system, the
> responsibility for effecting change comes from out
> here toward their group. The FCC has already spanked
> them a few times on earlier issues, and they've
> certainly been slapped around in public by the greater
> Amateur community, the electric industry, and other
> government agencies besides the FCC.
> 
> It's not a matter of electing different volunteer
> leaders. The problem is the need to reform their way
> of doing business advancing our interests. I predict
> the ARRL will continue to shrink into merely a
> publishing and subscription group as more of us will
> realize their lobbying and representation is a farce,
> as things stand.