Video rants

But I hope our electeds don’t take the easy way out and ban livestreamed comments. Because by inconveniencing the many they would hand a victory to those seeking to undermine our communities.

No, let’s start by remembering such outbursts can occur in person … and rarely do. Why? Because few people want to have themselves known as vicious, stupid cranks. As the My Pillow guy is learning, painfully, your reputation in the political arena can impact many other parts of your life.

Let’s require anyone who wants to livestream a comment do so with their face fully visible to the public. That’s no different than what happens when anyone steps up to the lectern to make a traditional public comment.

Of course, being outed in, say, San Carlos, may not matter to someone living in another state. But we can deal with that, too, by running the feed through a delay system. Which can be used to route material a body has deemed offensive to only the electeds. Fulfilling the speaker’s constitutional right to be heard, while avoiding the community harm that would otherwise result. That would also give our electeds a chance to react to these diatribes in a constructive way, too.

Mark Olbert

San Carlos