Friday, May 13, 2005
Senator Biden means us
Seeing Senator Biden (D-Del) getting all snide yesterday implying that President Bush had nominated John Bolton as our Ambassador to the U.N. in order to appease a faction within the Republican party reminded me that I meant to get around to telling everyone that we, the Republicans of Halifax County, are sort of on record as being among the radical right-wingers that President Bush has to appease.
To the Democrats, of course, getting tough with the genocide-ignoring, child-raping, secretary-molesting, despot-legitimating, anti-American, diplomatically immune kleptocratic factory of hot air and double standards on Turtle Bay is unthinkable and constitutes prima facie evidence of the closed-mindedness of us evangelical provincials. Surely a responsible president would ignore us and govern from the center, allowing America's informed elite to continue our slide toward international standards of diplomacy and one-world government.
But, as I said, we are part of the problem, as Senator Biden sees it. We're even more radically conservative than President Bush, who only wants a forceful negotiator to reform the U.N.; we're on record as wanting the U.S. to leave the U.N. entirely. Yes, I didn't get up fast enough to get a word in between the call for discussion and the call for a vote at the 1st Congressional District Convention down in Goldsboro on 23 April, and so I didn't even get to speak out against it (as I would have, see my post of 30 March below). Speaking with other delegates long before the vote I'd established that at least a good minority of them really only wanted to "give the President some leverage" by showing rage at the U.N. I think this is the same resolution passed by the Wayne County Convention, but I don't know exactly who was pushing it. Oh, well, this is what we passed (all sic):
A Resolution in Favor of Restoring American Sovereignty
Whereas in the light of recent investigations of wrongdoing in the United Nations regarding the "Oil for Food" scandal, it has become obvious that the United Nations is increasingly becoming a runaway organization.
Whereas the refusal of Kofi Annan to resign shows lack of leadership in the organization.
Whereas The United Nations has refused to help the United States in our last two military operations
Whereas In this day and age of threats of domestic and foreign terrorism, it is becoming more urgent that the United States reclaim its national sovereignty.
Therefore be it resolved that the undersigned Convention (1st District, NCGOP Convention) urges the United States of America and President Bush to reclaim our National Sovereignty and remove us from the United Nations, by repealing the United Nations Participation Act of 1945
Update 15 Mar: Mark Steyn summarizes the state of the U.N. and its American allies here. Cox and Forkum have wonderful Bolton cartoons here and here (hat tip to RightThinkingPeople, a fine pro-American blog from Canada).
To the Democrats, of course, getting tough with the genocide-ignoring, child-raping, secretary-molesting, despot-legitimating, anti-American, diplomatically immune kleptocratic factory of hot air and double standards on Turtle Bay is unthinkable and constitutes prima facie evidence of the closed-mindedness of us evangelical provincials. Surely a responsible president would ignore us and govern from the center, allowing America's informed elite to continue our slide toward international standards of diplomacy and one-world government.
But, as I said, we are part of the problem, as Senator Biden sees it. We're even more radically conservative than President Bush, who only wants a forceful negotiator to reform the U.N.; we're on record as wanting the U.S. to leave the U.N. entirely. Yes, I didn't get up fast enough to get a word in between the call for discussion and the call for a vote at the 1st Congressional District Convention down in Goldsboro on 23 April, and so I didn't even get to speak out against it (as I would have, see my post of 30 March below). Speaking with other delegates long before the vote I'd established that at least a good minority of them really only wanted to "give the President some leverage" by showing rage at the U.N. I think this is the same resolution passed by the Wayne County Convention, but I don't know exactly who was pushing it. Oh, well, this is what we passed (all sic):
A Resolution in Favor of Restoring American Sovereignty
Whereas in the light of recent investigations of wrongdoing in the United Nations regarding the "Oil for Food" scandal, it has become obvious that the United Nations is increasingly becoming a runaway organization.
Whereas the refusal of Kofi Annan to resign shows lack of leadership in the organization.
Whereas The United Nations has refused to help the United States in our last two military operations
Whereas In this day and age of threats of domestic and foreign terrorism, it is becoming more urgent that the United States reclaim its national sovereignty.
Therefore be it resolved that the undersigned Convention (1st District, NCGOP Convention) urges the United States of America and President Bush to reclaim our National Sovereignty and remove us from the United Nations, by repealing the United Nations Participation Act of 1945
Update 15 Mar: Mark Steyn summarizes the state of the U.N. and its American allies here. Cox and Forkum have wonderful Bolton cartoons here and here (hat tip to RightThinkingPeople, a fine pro-American blog from Canada).
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
A letter re: the county commission Chairmanship
I wrote this yesterday in response to Ronnie Bell's piece titled "Is there an elephant in our living room?" in the Sunday Daily Herald, which criticized Gary Grant (of the Halifax County Black Caucus) for threatening to escalate demonstrations about the impasse in electing a Chairman for the Halifax County Commission, and (obliquely) the Commissioners themselves for not explaining their positions. Phillip Brown, the Herald's county government reporter, actually covered Commissioner Manning's statement at the 2 May meeting in good detail, but way down at the bottom of a long article, and publisher Bell's editorial shows no sign that he noticed his own paper's coverage of it, so I thought it bore repeating.
I thought this letter was too long (maybe 600 words versus the Herald's policy of 350 maximum for letters to the editor) and probably too clever by half, dependent as it is on one's remembering the 'elephant in the living room' conceit of Bell's editorial; I was going to cut it down somehow but I showed it to Phil Brown at the city council meeting last night and he liked it so, since it really should get out while it is timely and the Herald will cut it however they like anyway, I just entrusted it to him for the Wednesday edition or soon after. This issue isn't going to go away, nor should it, and it is important that the matter be aired lest Halifax County continue to look, at first glance, like some bastion of racist politics. Here's hoping it knocks loose a constructive statement from Commissioners Pierce, Johnson, or Whidbee. Text follows:
Dear Editor,
There may indeed be a good-sized grey animal in our living room, but we all remember what the six blind men each decided when they felt different parts of an elephant. Can't we all agree that those who expect a 5-1 vote for the county Chairmanship because five commissioners are Democrats are as wrong as the blind man who thought the elephant was a tree because he felt only the elephant's leg, and those who assume a 3-3 vote must be based on racism may be as wrong as the blind man who felt the elephant's trunk and called it a snake? Those who extrapolate from single labels like 'white' or 'Democrat' will invariably be disappointed when their subjects are human beings rather than automatons.
I've spoken to Gary Grant of the Black Caucus and Concerned Citizens of Tillery at his protests outside County Commission meetings twice now and found him to be fundamentally reasonable and well-informed. I would not worry that one of his protests would get out of hand or violate anyone else's right to enjoy an event. He just wants to keep his issue in the public eye, and his issue is (in my opinion) all symbol, no substance, but nevertheless real. He admits that Vice-Chairwoman Johnson (a black Democrat) is already exercising all the powers a Chairman would have, and he can't name any specific issue that could come before the board which would motivate white commissioners to deny the chairmanship to Commissioner Pierce. It is all about the symbolism of that wall in the County Commissioners' meeting room, from which portraits of nine county Chairmen, all white (and all male, for that matter) stare down on the public seating, an unbroken line stretching back to 1940 (or 1947, I forget). When I brought up the fact that there HAD been a black county Chairman, James Edward O'Hara, a Republican who was later elected to Congress during Reconstruction, Mr. Grant knew about him and found it a further affront: Rep. O'Hara's portrait is downstairs rather than on that wall in the meeting room.
I can't tell Mr. Grant that racism is gone from Halifax County. I can't tell him that he's wrong to want Commissioner Pierce as Chairman, even if only for symbolic value. And I can't disagree when he says that people from outside Halifax County may get a bad impression of us if all they know is that the Commission is deadlocked along racial lines. What I do fault him for is not considering other explanations for the deadlock, not feeling around for other parts of the big grey creature, as it were, or not listening when other explanations are offered. I've been told that the division is really small businessmen versus those from government and institutional background, i.e., Commissioners Minton, Manning, and Hux are working from an accountability model based on experience in having had 'to meet a payroll', as President Reagan liked to put it. And I am disappointed that Mr. Grant chose to walk out of the Commission meeting on May 2nd when Commissioner Manning tried to answer speakers who attributed the impasse to racism. Commissioner Manning praised both Pierce and Minton, but said that Minton's experience as a pharmacy owner and mayor, actually levying taxes, were more relevant to the chairmanship than Pierce's work as a department head at International Paper and on a school board, in both cases managing a budget but with no responsibility to restrict institutional growth, that is, to set tax rates. This is what Commissioner Manning meant when he said, "it is not about black or white, it is about green" while holding up a dollar bill. When I later went up to thank Commissioner Manning for giving a sensible account of his position, he told me that NO ONE HAS ASKED HIM WHY he keeps voting for Commissioner Minton! From what I've seen, the board works together in quite a proper, collegial atmosphere. We owe it to them to look beyond the first two labels, color and party. The big grey animal in the living room may be a donkey; it certainly has a mind of its own.
- R. Kent Ross
(acting) Chairman, Halifax County Republican Party
400 Quail Court Rd. Apt. 207
Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870
(252) 535-3923
I thought this letter was too long (maybe 600 words versus the Herald's policy of 350 maximum for letters to the editor) and probably too clever by half, dependent as it is on one's remembering the 'elephant in the living room' conceit of Bell's editorial; I was going to cut it down somehow but I showed it to Phil Brown at the city council meeting last night and he liked it so, since it really should get out while it is timely and the Herald will cut it however they like anyway, I just entrusted it to him for the Wednesday edition or soon after. This issue isn't going to go away, nor should it, and it is important that the matter be aired lest Halifax County continue to look, at first glance, like some bastion of racist politics. Here's hoping it knocks loose a constructive statement from Commissioners Pierce, Johnson, or Whidbee. Text follows:
Dear Editor,
There may indeed be a good-sized grey animal in our living room, but we all remember what the six blind men each decided when they felt different parts of an elephant. Can't we all agree that those who expect a 5-1 vote for the county Chairmanship because five commissioners are Democrats are as wrong as the blind man who thought the elephant was a tree because he felt only the elephant's leg, and those who assume a 3-3 vote must be based on racism may be as wrong as the blind man who felt the elephant's trunk and called it a snake? Those who extrapolate from single labels like 'white' or 'Democrat' will invariably be disappointed when their subjects are human beings rather than automatons.
I've spoken to Gary Grant of the Black Caucus and Concerned Citizens of Tillery at his protests outside County Commission meetings twice now and found him to be fundamentally reasonable and well-informed. I would not worry that one of his protests would get out of hand or violate anyone else's right to enjoy an event. He just wants to keep his issue in the public eye, and his issue is (in my opinion) all symbol, no substance, but nevertheless real. He admits that Vice-Chairwoman Johnson (a black Democrat) is already exercising all the powers a Chairman would have, and he can't name any specific issue that could come before the board which would motivate white commissioners to deny the chairmanship to Commissioner Pierce. It is all about the symbolism of that wall in the County Commissioners' meeting room, from which portraits of nine county Chairmen, all white (and all male, for that matter) stare down on the public seating, an unbroken line stretching back to 1940 (or 1947, I forget). When I brought up the fact that there HAD been a black county Chairman, James Edward O'Hara, a Republican who was later elected to Congress during Reconstruction, Mr. Grant knew about him and found it a further affront: Rep. O'Hara's portrait is downstairs rather than on that wall in the meeting room.
I can't tell Mr. Grant that racism is gone from Halifax County. I can't tell him that he's wrong to want Commissioner Pierce as Chairman, even if only for symbolic value. And I can't disagree when he says that people from outside Halifax County may get a bad impression of us if all they know is that the Commission is deadlocked along racial lines. What I do fault him for is not considering other explanations for the deadlock, not feeling around for other parts of the big grey creature, as it were, or not listening when other explanations are offered. I've been told that the division is really small businessmen versus those from government and institutional background, i.e., Commissioners Minton, Manning, and Hux are working from an accountability model based on experience in having had 'to meet a payroll', as President Reagan liked to put it. And I am disappointed that Mr. Grant chose to walk out of the Commission meeting on May 2nd when Commissioner Manning tried to answer speakers who attributed the impasse to racism. Commissioner Manning praised both Pierce and Minton, but said that Minton's experience as a pharmacy owner and mayor, actually levying taxes, were more relevant to the chairmanship than Pierce's work as a department head at International Paper and on a school board, in both cases managing a budget but with no responsibility to restrict institutional growth, that is, to set tax rates. This is what Commissioner Manning meant when he said, "it is not about black or white, it is about green" while holding up a dollar bill. When I later went up to thank Commissioner Manning for giving a sensible account of his position, he told me that NO ONE HAS ASKED HIM WHY he keeps voting for Commissioner Minton! From what I've seen, the board works together in quite a proper, collegial atmosphere. We owe it to them to look beyond the first two labels, color and party. The big grey animal in the living room may be a donkey; it certainly has a mind of its own.
- R. Kent Ross
(acting) Chairman, Halifax County Republican Party
400 Quail Court Rd. Apt. 207
Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870
(252) 535-3923
