There's an old rule of thumb in politics as well as other areas of human endeavor - if you are in a hole, stop digging!
At least two of the three-member delegation from the Town of Oriental to the County Commission need refresher training on that point.
Mayor Bill Sage, accompanied by Commissioner Summers and Commissioner White represented the Town in an effort to obtain support from the County Commission for a proposed local bill from the state legislature to extend Town jurisdiction over adjacent waters to a distance of 200 yards. After complimenting the previous speaker (who reported results of the annual audit) for a succinct presentation, Mayor Sage proceeded to give a convoluted and lengthy presentation. So far as I could tell, he provided no visual aids except the text of a proposed bill. At one point, he mentioned "public trust waters."
When commissioners asked some fairly direct questions (was there a public hearing? did the Town Board approve the text of the proposed bill?, etc.), he avoided direct answers. The questions grew increasingly skeptical, if not downright hostile. Discussion about "public trust waters" was mostly in opposition to the Town's scheme.
County Commissioner Kenny Heath made a motion to the effect that the commissioners not only don't support the draft bill, but will not support it unless there is a county-wide public hearing. The motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Summers asked to speak during public comment period.
Bad idea.
When you're in a hole, stop digging.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today we honor the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I can't put it better than Keith Crisco of Ashboro and Oriental, former North Carolina Secretary of Commerce:
"Though Dr. King’s life ended far too early, his legacy of non-violent protest carried on to future generations and inspired others in the struggle for equality. Here in North Carolina, the Greensboro Four staged non-violent sit-ins in an effort to integrate department store lunch counters. That work by four courageous North Carolina A&T State University students helped lead a wave of change across this state and the nation."
I like what Keith Crisco has to say, because it highlights that the accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. were not just the work of a charismatic, eloquent and thoughtful leader - they were the accomplishments of a generation of leaders working together for a better America.
We should also not forget that, while protest demonstrations were non-violent, the reaction of the other side was not. Many brave Americans gave their lives so we could achieve a more perfect union. The names of those who fell in the cause of a more inclusive, a freer America, included black and white Americans; protestant, catholic and jewish Americans; unbelievers as well as believers; women as well as men; children as well as adults. In this respect, the forces of hate did not discriminate.
A few years ago my wife and I visited the Martin Luther King Jr. museum in Atlanta. In the bookstore was a well-illustrated book on the civil rights movement. On the cover, a headline declared that Martin Luther King Jr. had worked to insure freedom for African Americans. I disagree. He worked to achieve freedom for all Americans.
And the work is not yet finished.
I can't put it better than Keith Crisco of Ashboro and Oriental, former North Carolina Secretary of Commerce:
"Though Dr. King’s life ended far too early, his legacy of non-violent protest carried on to future generations and inspired others in the struggle for equality. Here in North Carolina, the Greensboro Four staged non-violent sit-ins in an effort to integrate department store lunch counters. That work by four courageous North Carolina A&T State University students helped lead a wave of change across this state and the nation."
I like what Keith Crisco has to say, because it highlights that the accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. were not just the work of a charismatic, eloquent and thoughtful leader - they were the accomplishments of a generation of leaders working together for a better America.
We should also not forget that, while protest demonstrations were non-violent, the reaction of the other side was not. Many brave Americans gave their lives so we could achieve a more perfect union. The names of those who fell in the cause of a more inclusive, a freer America, included black and white Americans; protestant, catholic and jewish Americans; unbelievers as well as believers; women as well as men; children as well as adults. In this respect, the forces of hate did not discriminate.
A few years ago my wife and I visited the Martin Luther King Jr. museum in Atlanta. In the bookstore was a well-illustrated book on the civil rights movement. On the cover, a headline declared that Martin Luther King Jr. had worked to insure freedom for African Americans. I disagree. He worked to achieve freedom for all Americans.
And the work is not yet finished.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
On Religion
“True religion invites us to become better people. False religion tells us that this has already occurred.” (Abdal-Hakim Murad)
Who Are The Rebels - Who Are The Anarchists?
“The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they
have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent
government. The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man
hasn’t; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have
sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always
objected to being governed at all. Aristocrats were always anarchists.”
(G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday)
G. K. Chesterton may have a point here. At least, the part about the rich objecting to being governed at all. As for the aristocrats being anarchists, they are one-way anarchists at best. Before letting anarchism loose, they do their very best to load the dice in their own favor. Both tendencies are at work among Tea-Party activists and Libertarians. Old-fashioned Conservatives, not so much, but there don't seem to be many of those around any more.
Today, not many of the rich would go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The natives are too restless and their own country (which many rich do in fact despise) lacks the power to rescue them if (when) things go awry. Instead, they are happy to fly away to Switzerland or some tax haven in the Caribbean.
G. K. Chesterton may have a point here. At least, the part about the rich objecting to being governed at all. As for the aristocrats being anarchists, they are one-way anarchists at best. Before letting anarchism loose, they do their very best to load the dice in their own favor. Both tendencies are at work among Tea-Party activists and Libertarians. Old-fashioned Conservatives, not so much, but there don't seem to be many of those around any more.
Today, not many of the rich would go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The natives are too restless and their own country (which many rich do in fact despise) lacks the power to rescue them if (when) things go awry. Instead, they are happy to fly away to Switzerland or some tax haven in the Caribbean.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Thoughts Of John Paul Jones
Generations of Naval Academy Midshipmen were forced to memorize the thoughts of John Paul Jones on the attributes of a naval officer:
“It is by no means enough that an officer of the navy should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor. He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the reward is only a word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though, at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well-meant shortcoming from heedless or stupid blunder. In one word, every commander should keep constantly before him the great truth, that to be well obeyed, he must be perfectly esteemed.”
"To be well obeyed, he must be perfectly esteemed!"
In fact, the quoted passage reflects the thoughts of Augustus C. Buell, in his 1900 biography of John Paul Jones, who thought it represented what Jones would have said on the subject.
It doesn't matter. The quote represents sound advice on leadership in any walk of life.
“It is by no means enough that an officer of the navy should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor. He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the reward is only a word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though, at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well-meant shortcoming from heedless or stupid blunder. In one word, every commander should keep constantly before him the great truth, that to be well obeyed, he must be perfectly esteemed.”
"To be well obeyed, he must be perfectly esteemed!"
In fact, the quoted passage reflects the thoughts of Augustus C. Buell, in his 1900 biography of John Paul Jones, who thought it represented what Jones would have said on the subject.
It doesn't matter. The quote represents sound advice on leadership in any walk of life.
Monday, January 6, 2014
The Invisible Hand And Kinky Indifference Maps
Someone long ago decided that economics is "the dismal science."
It therefore may come as a shock to learn that economists (at least the salt water variety) sometimes exhibit a keen sense of humor.
There is, for example, the economics professor/writer known to the world as Adam Smith. No, not the Adam Smith of 1776 who wrote Wealth of Nations. Rather the Adam Smith (pen name) who in 1976 received the "Invisible Hand" award.
Rather than attempt to describe the scene myself, I'll let Adam Smith himself (The late Jerry Goodman) tell the tale here.
And we can all join in a rousing chorus of "Wealth of Nations- Writ for me!"
It therefore may come as a shock to learn that economists (at least the salt water variety) sometimes exhibit a keen sense of humor.
There is, for example, the economics professor/writer known to the world as Adam Smith. No, not the Adam Smith of 1776 who wrote Wealth of Nations. Rather the Adam Smith (pen name) who in 1976 received the "Invisible Hand" award.
Rather than attempt to describe the scene myself, I'll let Adam Smith himself (The late Jerry Goodman) tell the tale here.
And we can all join in a rousing chorus of "Wealth of Nations- Writ for me!"
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Why I Am A Democrat
I have heard people ask, in apparent confusion: "Just what does the Democratic Party stand for?"
There should be no confusion. Here is what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said about it in 1932:
"There are two ways of viewing the Government's duty in matters affecting economic and social life. The first sees to it that a favored few are helped and hopes that some of their prosperity will leak through, sift through, to labor, to the farmer, to the small business man. That theory belongs to the party of Toryism, and I had hoped that most of the Tories left this country in 1776
But it is not and never will be the theory of the Democratic Party."
Here is what presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan said about it in 1896:
"There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it."
From Thomas Jefferson to the present day, the central idea of the Democratic Party has been to achieve "the greatest good to the greatest number of our citizens."
There should be no confusion. Here is what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said about it in 1932:
"There are two ways of viewing the Government's duty in matters affecting economic and social life. The first sees to it that a favored few are helped and hopes that some of their prosperity will leak through, sift through, to labor, to the farmer, to the small business man. That theory belongs to the party of Toryism, and I had hoped that most of the Tories left this country in 1776
But it is not and never will be the theory of the Democratic Party."
Here is what presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan said about it in 1896:
"There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it."
From Thomas Jefferson to the present day, the central idea of the Democratic Party has been to achieve "the greatest good to the greatest number of our citizens."
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Wheels Of Justice
Some say the wheels of justice grind exceeding slow. As a case in point, I filed my complaint against the Town of Oriental August 2, 2012. After a lot of preliminaries, My attorney has just today filed a brief with the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The Town has thirty days to file its brief. So it will be at least mid to late February before the Court begins to process the case.
Patience is a virtue in such circumstances.
Patience is a virtue in such circumstances.
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