A Matter of Interpretation

I had to laugh at the e-mails I received regarding my IJ

West Oct. 25 Editor’s Note. Talk about different interpretations! According to several different readers, I’m either 1) obviously a Kerry/Edwards supporter, 2) neutral on both sides, or 3) happy that Bush won the election. You don’t say?

Kenneth Hausmann, an agent in Texas, wrote: “Your column in the Insurance Journal leads me to think you are very out of touch with your readers. Do you really think that we want a personal injury attorney sharing the presidency with a very liberal senator who has a long history of bashing big businesses? He has been especially hard on insurance companies. The economy was already tanking from the dot.com bubble bursting before Bush got there. Add on 9-ll, and I think we are doing amazingly well. Unemployment is only 5.4 percent, which is historically very low. Those are facts.”

Contrast that with this brief note I received from John Chesebrough, an insurance consultant based in California: “After reading your last editorial between the lines, I imagine you are very happy with the national election results.” Really?

Yet another reader thanked me for providing a balanced editorial and agreed with me that the election had created a divided country!

As I explained to the many readers who took the time to e-mail me, I was trying to convey a neutral standpoint in my comments from my previous editor’s note. The opinions offered in the note were actually those I’ve gathered from friends, acquaintances and complete strangers who felt compelled to share their feelings about the election with me; they were not my own.

Regardless of who I voted for (yes, it will remain a secret!) as it has been said many times before AND after the election results were announced, we must come together to cease this divide that has created such a rift in our nation.

However you interpreted it, I want to thank all of you who took the time to send me a note based on my editorial, and I encourage you to continue to send me your feedback. Now that the election is over and done with (and I must say, it was a bit nerve racking!), what do you think about the results? What do you foresee happening in the next four years?

Right now we are in the midst of one of the most exciting and controversial times for the insurance industry, and I would very much like to receive your feedback on it. What are your thoughts on the twists and turns of the Spitzer investigation? What else is on your mind?

I’d love to know. Please e-mail me at cbeisiegel@insurancejournal.com. Thanks for reading!