"Digger"

The title of Patrick Sampson's (President of the Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce) poorly crafted piece regarding the public's visceral reaction to the Chamber's singular endorsement of Rudyville, "Chamber Promoted Commerce," almost nailed it. What was left off was "And May the Devil Take the Hindmost."

In fairness, Sampson undertook, and failed, to defend the indefensible: the Chamber's sanction of Rudyville in the face of near universal community condemnation. As if intentionally adding insult to injury, however, he gratuitously portrays opponents of the Chamber's action as barbarians who exist "at the far reaches of any argument" and implies, contrary to all existing evidence, that many Borregans actually support the Chambers action but "choose not to go public" only for fear of suffering "a plethora of nefarious innuendos." Really?

Sampson claims that the Chamber stands for Borrego Springs' "economic sustainability" through "eventual growth" to a permanent population of up to 10,000 and "businesses to economically sustain the [population] growth" which by some sort of magical thinking he concludes will have a net-zero effect on water consumption. And he has the temerity to brag that the Chamber does it all solely "for the good of the community of Borrego Springs." The vast majority of Borregans quite obviously beg to differ.

For all of Sampson's melodramatic, self-pitying, purple prose the fact remains that if you are reckless or stupid enough to poke a hornet's nest with a short stick you should expect - and deserve - to be stung. Some lessons are hard-learned.