Please note, quote wasn't taken out of context

I couldn't help but be amused by a minor controversy in Huntley Unit District 158 involving me.

Board President Shawn Green sparked the brush fire last week when he described board members Larry Snow and Aileen Seedorf as "terrorists" and compared their actions to terrorist attacks.

The day the story ran with Green's remarks, a couple board members and some local residents said I didn't provide proper context for Green's remarks.

One individual, who hid behind an online pseudonym, blogged this on the Northwest Herald site: "Too bad Green's comments were taken completely out of context by the Daily Herald."

Green, I'm told, took a few minutes out of last week's meeting to clarify his comments. His remarks at the meeting were along the lines of what he said to me on the phone a day earlier.

"(Snow and Seedorf's) actions are intended to demoralize the administration and other board members to the point of submission.

"This is quite consistent with the definition of terrorism, substituting physical violence with verbal abuse and intimidation," Green said in a statement.

Green also provided what he portrayed as verbatim quotes from his conversation with me to his board colleagues.

I don't know whether or not the quotes he provided are accurate, and I'm not saying they aren't. In fact, they seem to be along the lines of what Green said.

They pose the unimportant but interesting question of whether Green tapes his conversations with reporters or reads off prepared statements while I'm on the phone with him.

If so, he certainly has the right to, although I would find those actions paranoid and unnecessary.

Here's what my notes reflect of our conversation: Green called Snow and Seedorf "terrorists running roughshod over the rest of us. They bank on our good-natured and diplomatic responses."

That's all I have. Unfortunately, I couldn't get down the whole quote, as often happens (reporters aren't recording devices).

But I think that despite the truncated quotation, any reasonable person would have enough context to judge Green's remarks.

Does anyone think Green actually believes Snow and Seedorf are terrorists in the same way that Osama bin Laden is, or that their actions even remotely approach the enormity of the Sept. 11 attacks?

If so, please stop reading immediately. You clearly cannot grasp the "subtleties" and conventions of the English language.

But to the rest of you who are conversant with the rules of English, Green's statement was clearly metaphorical, comparing Snow and Seedorf's methods to those of terrorists.

Whether or not this is an apt description, I'll leave to you to decide.

As for me, I think almost every board member has crossed the line at some point, and probably will again.

But Green's comment was a low blow and entirely inappropriate -- regardless of whether you support him or the board members some bloggers have unaffectionately nicknamed "Snowdorf."