Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/12 December 2005/Jim Hightower

MEDIATOR ISSUED FINAL OPINION

Biography for Jim Hightower

 * Request made by (please sign below):
 * --Randomdeanna 16:03, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Status: Closing case, mediator issued final opinion. SteveMc 05:53, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Where is the issue taking place?
 * Jim Hightower


 * Who's involved?
 * Me (geek for Hightower, Randomdeanna); User:Laura74 (Hightower's research manager); anonymous user at IP 12.217.121.245


 * What's going on?
 * Laura and I are trying to correct inaccuracies about who Hightower has and hasn't endorsed. User at above IP address puts things back in after we remove them. We understand that people want to contribute to the bio page, but not only is the info just plain wrong, the user then left an unwarranted nasty comment for Laura on the Talk page (after she left the user a nice note on user's talk page). User has a history of participating/instigating edit wars.


 * ''What would you like to change about that?
 * It's now at the edit-war stage, and I'd like to get this resolved so that the three of us don't just keep reverting each others' edits and wasting time.


 * If you'd prefer we work discreetly, how can we reach you?
 * N/A

Mediator's questions
Greetings, so far, the discussion on the JH page seems civil enough to me, and I wonder why the pro-JH's (for lack of a better term) are critical of the stance taken by 12.217.121.245. Seems to me that the issue is over the reference quotations. To date, none of the pro-JH's deny the existence of these quotations, so are they in the referenced book or not? Steven McCrary 23:20, 21 December 2005 (UTC)


 * "I don't check the bio page of Jim Hightower often, so I didn't realize you had responded regarding Mediation. The person "edit warring" with me keeps putting up factually incorrect information. Looking at Jim's book, that the person keeps citing, there is no mention of Hightower casting his superdelegate vote for Jerry Brown. Hightower has stated to me that he cast his superdelegate vote for Presiden Clinton, because Cinton was the Democratic nominee. I'm happy to discuss this further with user or with you."
 * "I don't check the bio page of Jim Hightower often, so I didn't realize you had responded regarding Mediation. The person "edit warring" with me keeps putting up factually incorrect information. Looking at Jim's book, that the person keeps citing, there is no mention of Hightower casting his superdelegate vote for Jerry Brown. Hightower has stated to me that he cast his superdelegate vote for Presiden Clinton, because Cinton was the Democratic nominee. I'm happy to discuss this further with user or with you."

From mediator: To 12.217.121.245, please provide an exact citation of the reference quotation: author, title, publisher, page number. I realize that the title and page number for some other references have been posted; how about this one please? Is it possible that you could email me a scanned image of the page? My email address is stevelindamccrary@msn.com. Thanks, SteveMc 22:19, 4 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The following was posted on SteveMc's talk page from 12.217.121.245:
 * I can't give you a scanned picture, because I don't own a scanner, but I can give you the following information. The line is in There's Nothing In the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos by Jim Hightower, ISBN 0-06-092949, chapter 1, subsection "Vernon Jordan's Dream," page 41. The exact quote is, in reference to his activities at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, "I had supported Senator Tom Harkin's failed bid for the nomination, then moved to Jerry Brown when Harkin bailed out." -12.217.121.245 23:16, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
 * User 12.217.121.245, my tendency right now it to agree with Laura74, since the quotation does not state the Mr. Hightower voted for Jerry Brown, only that he "moved to Jerry Brown when Harkin bailed out." It would be speculative to state otherwise. Do you have any further information? Thanks, SteveMc 23:25, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Mediator response
Since User 12.217.121.245 has nothing more than the referenced text to substantiate the text, it appears that the statement should be modified to be more consistent with the referenced book. Laura74 I suggest that the text be modified, then it may become necessary to enforce your position in accordance with Wikipedia policy. Good luck, SteveMc 01:27, 14 January 2006 (UTC)