Meet Lee Ann Wiseheart and Danita Burks. They'd like you to vote them to the public school board. Their kids attend Christian Academy.

Roger: We have a new beer called Nan Brown. It's really good. Want to try it?

Customer: Sure (takes a drink) ... but this is Elector with a different name!

Roger: Precisely. Our next new release is called Amy Adams.

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Meanwhile, for those keeping score (as you should be, alibi-ridden partisan apologists), this makes two weeks, two columns, and two majestic upper deck home runs by Amanda Beam.

Last week, she popped the deceptive lid on local identity dysfunction, and NAC felt the chill of so many ghostly "conversations" past.

Those "phantoms of Facebook" have quite the pedigree -- right, Amy?

... All was fine and dandy with dear, sweet Nan (Brown) until she decided to reply to a post I had written a few days back about an upcoming school board race. The lovely lady disagreed with my opinion, which wasn’t a big deal. But when I asked her about being a teacher and if she had children, her answers didn’t match up with her profile identity. A quick search online revealed that, for all intents and purposes, Ms. Brown didn’t exist ...

... A couple of these accounts posted in other mediums too. Amy Adams enjoyed commenting on the News and Tribune’s website frequently these past few years on all sorts of political topics. Another young gal even said no good columnists wrote for the paper anymore. (Insert evil laugh here).

This week, Beam's bat meets ball -- again: "To me, if you choose not to send your child to a public school, then you shouldn’t be making fiscal and policy decisions for those of us who do."

BEAM: The power of choice

 Most of us can agree parents have a right to send their children to the schools of their choosing. Some select private institutions, whether for a parochial education or specialized ways of teaching, and pay out of pocket for the tuition. Others home-school.

Both are fine alternatives to public schools. Notice I didn’t say they were in any way better than the public offerings, just different.

That’s the parent’s choice.

But what if those parents decide to run for a position on a public school board?

Here’s where the situation becomes a bit hairy.

Let's face facts.

The current school board isn't exactly a shining symbol on the Grant Line Road knoll, but Lee Ann Wiseheart and Danita Burks plainly represent a theocratic view of the world, one that has no place in public school decision-making.

While we're at it, the superannuated Don Sakel also is undeserving of a seat, although for entirely different reasons.

Me?

Yes, I actually did vote, though not for very many, and firmly against a couple. The object was to view the process, because the 2015 insurgency will be here quite soon. In the balloting for school board, I voted for Jan Anderson, and that's it. She makes sense and is always responsive.

Thanks to Amanda Beam for her last two News and Tribune columns, and to Daniel Suddeath (and Jerod Clapp) for their reporting. They've restored a dollop of faith in the ability of the local newspaper to make a difference. More, please.