Where Have All The Singers Gone? - Long Time Passing

Learned with sadness of Pete Seeger's passing. I miss the gentle passion of the folk singers like Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and others who used song to remind Americans of our better angels. Good article in today's New York Times.

I was pleased recently to learn of the new Woody Guthrie museum in my home town, Tulsa, Oklahoma. As I read the lyrics of Guthrie's songs, I hear the voice of the ordinary people of rural Oklahoma from my childhood.

We need to recapture such voices and bring them forward to our own times.

Pete Seeger's was a giant voice in that tradition. We are fortunate to have lived in his time.

Cox v. Town of Oriental - South Avenue Suit

For those following my suit against the Town: last week the Town requested a 30-day extension of time to reply to my filing with the Court of Appeals. So we are now looking at March to complete the filings with the Court of Appeals. I'll keep you informed.

Elections In America: New Report By Presidential Commission

The Presidential Commission on Election Administration, a bipartisan commission co-chaired by Robert Bauer (democrat) and Benjamin L. Ginsburg (republican) has just issued its 112-page report: http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/pcea-final-report.pdf

Anyone experienced in the vagaries of elections and election law in the United States should read the report. The problems of election administration in this country are well summarized in the introduction:

"The United States runs its elections unlike any other country in the world. Responsi-

bility for elections is entrusted to local officials in approximately 8,000 different juris-

dictions. In turn, they are subject to general oversight by officials most often chosen

through a partisan appointment or election process. The point of contact for voters in

the polling place is usually a temporary employee who has volunteered for one-day duty

and has received only a few hours of training. These defining features of our electoral

system, combined with the fact that Americans vote more frequently on more issues

and offices than citizens anywhere else, present unique challenges for the effective ad-

ministration of elections that voters throughout the country expect and deserve."

That's the problem in a nutshell.

Problems were even worse before the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. There have been significant recent improvements in administration of Uniformed and Overseas Civilian voting.

The report sets forth many recommendations and best practices to improve the administration of elections for the benefit of voters. I have taken a quick look at the report. Up until last year, North Carolina election procedures stood up very well to the suggested recommendations and best practices. In Pamlico County, we have had very well run elections administered by very conscientious polling officials, many with long years of experience and training.

Unfortunately, in my view, the General Assembly has passed legislation introducing new and totally unnecessary obstacles to voting.

I'll have more to say about this in future posts.

January 21 County Commissioners' Meeting - Oriental Commissioners Lose

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.

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.

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.

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.