Be The Change You Want In The World

Ghandi, who broke the British control over India in the early 20^th Century through civil disobedience and non-violent protest coined this phrase.  The point was to convey to all of those who sought the same ends as he did, that those who seek positive change in the world must lead by example.  He was later joined by Dr. Martin Luther King, as he advocated for Civil Rights for blacks in America.  Both Ghandi and MLK were the change that they wanted to see in the world and if all of us who seek a return to simple and traditional values were that change as well, there is no doubt that our world would be a better place.

Does their advocating for non-violent protest and civil disobedience mean that they were not critical of those policies that they opposed?  No.  Both Ghandi and MLK rightly and openly criticized tyranny and the restriction of personal freedoms and liberty.  Both advocated for peace, friendship, decency and universal civil rights.  Both were wildly successful in their movements and approaches and both were murdered for their ability to achieve change without violence.

Both of these men sought a better and more peaceful world and both used love, respect and decency to get there.  They disagreed deeply with their opposition but they did it without being disagreeable.  Their path is difficult to stay on and even Ghandi, who largely opposed any violence, said, “where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.”  MLK sought the right to arm himself and despite owning several firearms, he was denied the right to carry them.  Both encouraged supporters and themselves practiced a refusal to give up natural rights and called on governments to recognize the rights of the individual to basic, unalienable and universal truths.

They looked upon their societies and both found oppression abhorrent.  Neither could bring himself to stand by and do nothing while those abuses took place.  Rather than lash out against what is an overwhelming task of overcoming widespread bias, they looked instead at themselves and searched for what they believed in and how THEY could encourage and inspire others to join them.  So too, must we today, refuse oppression and stand in opposition to assaults on our liberty.  A government large enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have.  We must oppose growing and tyrannical government while improving how WE combat the real and serious problems within our society.

For instance, on the subject of abortion, we can no longer simply oppose abortion, which we know as the murder of innocent children.  While certainly that is a worthy cause, it does not address the societal problems that lead often very young girls to the conclusion that murder is the answer.  Often, young girls turn to abortion because they do not know or feel like they have any other option.  Likewise, young girls often turn to sex because they feel it is the only way to find love, attention and paradoxically, the respect of their peers.  We must look beyond the actual abortion itself and address the root causes.  Namely, we must advocate to encourage our children to be children but also to teach them dignity, decency and responsibility.  Often we see cases of young men and women and young boys and girls imitating pop culture and we rush to condemn the movies, music and TV shows that portray the indecent behavior.   The reality is that these TV shows, video games, movies and music wouldn’t be able to influence our youth if we as a society didn’t support them or watch them.  That’s not to say that we should call for wide scale boycotts or government restrictions on content but rather that we as parents and influencers ought to train up our children with positive moral values that reject the very ideas that these performers and developers cater to.  Each of us, must be the change that we want to see in the world.   We should and can antagonistically support positive values, urge our friends and neighbors to join us and speak out against injustice wherever it lives but we should do it with class, dignity and respect.  We should do it by living and showing the example to those around us and by that example, inspiring others to join us.

So what’s stopping you?  Go be the change you want to see in the world.

    Often when I write here I make it clear that I am merely speaking as a private citizen and that I am not speaking as a representative of either the organization known as Delaware Right, or for that matter as a representative of the GOP.

   However, this time I want to make it clear that I am speaking as an E D C of the Sussex County Republican Party. It will be perfectly clear why it is important that everyone understand this point as they read further.

  On Monday night I attended the monthly meeting of the Sussex County GOP in Georgetown. To be honest I was supposed to drive to Frederick Md. for my job, but I had anticipated any number of reactions to the events at the state convention. None of which occurred.

   What I was witness to however was an attack on the First Amendment. I have to say that being a Republican and a conservative, I had not expected to experience this at the hands of the Sussex County Executive Committee of the Republican Party, but that is exactly what happened.

  Last month a resolution was put forth, which by the way was not done according to the rules, since it was done completely verbally and was not put in writing. The committee voted to send it to the resolutions committee, which actually ended up writing the resolution, and then brought it back this month to have another vote to send it to the state committee to have it adopted as policy for the Delaware State GOP.

  First let me tell you, it most likely doesn’t have a chance in hell of passing at the state level, which is nothing new for resolutions coming out of Sussex.

  The resolution was presented to the Executive Committee by the Vice-Chairman Fred Silva, who also sits on the resolution committee.

 The resolution read as follows,

   “The Delaware Republican Party stands for traditional family values and all representatives of that organization shall, in that capacity, publically reflect that view”.

  Now do you see why it is important that everyone understand that I am speaking as a representative of the Republican Party?

   When discussion was opened to the floor I rose in opposition of this resolution.

   My first point was to the vagueness of the wording. I asked what exactly does traditional family values mean? And whose family values are we talking about, mine, yours or someone elses?

   I then asked when exactly I was considered a representative of the GOP? I was told by V.C. Silva that anytime I was speaking as an E D for the party.

   I asked what if I didn’t share the so-called Party line? V.C. Silva told me then I should just shut my mouth.

   When I brought up the fact that the Republican Party was supposed to stand in defense of the freedom of speech, I was offered the argument that if I work for a company, I have to abide by their rules. My counter was that I was not an employee of the GOP, but that I am the GOP, as well as everyone else in the room is the GOP.

  I was told that we must all be on the same page.

  Now if we take the point of this resolution to its logical end, when I am at the monthly meetings, acting in my role as an E D C, then I can never rise in opposition to anything the Party has determine to be the Party position.

 I ask everyone, is this the freedom that the GOP so often speaks of? Is this the new view of Liberty?

  Vice-Chair Fred Silva seemed a little, how can I say?, angry that I would dare to suggest that this resolution went against a person’s right to freedom of speech, he actually seems to think, that when we become a sitting member of the committee we give up our rights.

  I find this particularly odd, since V.C. Silva is an active member of the 912 Delaware Patriots, an organization that holds our Constitutional rights in very high regard.

  One has to wonder, would Mr. Silva seek to impose such a restriction upon the members of the 912 Delaware Patriots, and if so, what would their reaction be?

  Since the number eight principle in their creed states,

 ” It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.”

   While Mr. Silva may believe it is not un-American to disagree, he obviously thinks it is un-Republican to disagree.

   Now for the truth of the matter. This resolution has grown out of the controversy created by the fact that the Executive Director of the Delaware State Republican Party, John Fluharty,  made public statements in support of gay marriage. Let me add that the position is a paid position.

   What those who put forth the resolution really wanted to say was that they don’t want homosexuals in the party, but did not have the courage to come out and say it, so they cloak it in the words, traditional family values, and just for good measure they include every member of the party, not just paid positions.

   It is one thing to say a paid employee was insubordinate and to call attention to it, it is something totally different to pass such an asinine resolution, that is not only destined to fail to pass anywhere beyond Sussex, but that is written in such vague terms as to be open to the broadest interpretation and will allow power-hungry totalitarians such as Mr. Silva to use it to silence any and all opposition.

  It is these types of purity test that continue to shrink the GOP, it is this type of intolerance to opposing points of view, even within the party that will condemn the party to failure.

 If this piece of hateful, restrictive garbage somehow were to pass the state level, I will continue to exercise my freedom of speech, and those such as Mr. Silva are free to do whatever it is they think necessary to respond.

Recent events on both the national and state levels have led  me to make a decision, one that I do not make lightly. One that may have far-reaching implications for not only myself, but for my family and my friends and acquaintances. It may cause me problems in my employment, and certainly may affect how I am received in the political realm.

I have had long conversations with my family and felt that I should first tell them of my decision before going public with it. I have prayed on this matter, asking for guidance in this matter.

In recent days we have seen many people on the national level praising Jason Collins, the NBA player who came out publicly about  being gay. Even President Obama called Collins to say how proud he was that the man had the courage to come out of the “closet”.

Right here in Delaware during the passage of the so-called “Marriage Equality” bill, we had  state legislator, Sen. Karen Peterson (D), come out on the floor of the legislature, talking about her twenty-four year relationship with her partner Vicki.

The nation and the state are moving in a direction of being more accepting of an individual’s life-style and the choices they choose to make. It is because of this new-found acceptance that I have been encourage to make the following announcement.

I now recognize that it takes an immense amount of courage for people such as Sen. Peterson and Jason Collins to come out in such a public manner. For an average citizen to make their personal life public knowledge must be even harder.

Here in Delaware our legislative branch, in working with Gov. Markell, has been determined to make Delaware one of the most inviting states in the nation to any and all life-styles. With the passage of laws such as, the gay anti-discrimination bill, the civil union bill, and now redefining marriage to include same-sex couples, Delaware has said to the world, we respect you, no matter what you choose to be, be it transvestite, transgender, transsexual, gay, lesbian or anything in between.

Now, I know that because of my public writings and my public stances on controversial issues, what I am about to tell you may be hard for some to believe, but those closest to me will know that it is, and always has been, the truth. I may have been over compensating to cover up that which I could not face as the truth.

While I am not expecting a call from the President, and not even Gov. Markell, to praise me for my courage, I do hope that those who this may offend, and those whom it may anger, will at least acknowledge the courage it takes to make this very public announcement of such a personal nature. Trust me it is not easy and was not an easy decision.

I am very proud and a little nervous today, to tell the entire world, that I am a lesbian trapped in a man’s body. I have known this since the first time, at the age of twelve, that I first saw Natalie Wood as Maria, in the movie West Side Story.  I knew right then that I loved women, and since their can be no such thing as traditional anything, I can’t be simply heterosexual, I have to be something more exotic, or I am not worthy of praise.

I have been with my female partner even longer than Sen. Peterson, I have been with my partner for thirty years, yet I do not receive the same accolades that Sen. Peterson did for this.

I have known that I was a LTIAMB (lesbian trapped in a man’s body) from a very early age, yet I wonder, will I now be ridiculed for coming out about my hidden life style, or will I be accepted along with all of the other alternative life-styles?

I would hope that many of my fellow LTIAMB, or “lesbimans” as I like to think of myself, would now have the courage to come out and proclaim their love of women as well.

I hope that everyone understands that this is not a choice for me, I was born a lesbiman, and it is all I have ever wanted to be and no amount of talking will convince me that I am anything but a lesbiman.

I expect that the Governor will soon be pushing for a new law to protect my unique life-style, since technically I am neither gay, nor trans-anything.  As more and more lesbimen come out the need will arise for legislation to protect us from discrimination.  I imagine the most negative reactions will come from the traditional lesbian community, since obviously we lesbimen  and the traditional lesbians are in competition for the female population.

I can see lesbian business owners refusing to hire lesbiman, not wanting to rent to lesbiman, and any number of other ways we will be scorned.

Of course the religious right will not understand this, and anything they don’t understand, they oppose.

I call on Rep. Schwartzkopf to sponsor a bill that would create  a law to protect all lesbiman from the coming discrimination, because after all, what is equality? If I am not free to be who I am?

Feels like Groundhog Day

Well here we go again, like Bill Murray in ” Groundhog Day ” The gambling issue rears it ugly head.  Personally I grow so tired of trying to protect what little social fabric is left in central and western Sussex County that I am exhausted.  Once again an elected official who is not even from Sussex County is proposing a gambling venue be built.  To this official I say what I told the speaker of the house ” If you want a casino so badly, build it in your district, not mine. ”

There are a lot of issues in play here, I will bring a few to light as they apply to how to move Delaware forward, not backward.  Delaware is in need of more skilled blue-collar workers.  We do not need a plethora of more minimum wage service positions.  Dover just reported a 1^{st quarter loss, and Harrington is struggling.  Surely the answer to gambling competition from other states is NOT to build a couple more inside our own borders.}

There is also a social aspect, that when studied in other gambling states, demonstrates that gambling gets the most revenue from people who can least afford to put their monies at risk.  It is a form of economic slavery imposed on an already struggling class of people.  I fought gambling before, and I will do it again.  I hope the sane elected officials see this for what it is and turn back this assault, or build it in Talleyville, right next to the officials house.  I could only hope that the trash dumpsters are up wind of the officials house.

What say you?

As allays these views are mine alone from the bridge of my ship, and not the views of management here.

Water Pirate

It was announced yesterday that a law suit has been filed against Sussex County Councilman Vance Phillips, the suit alleges that Mr. Phillips forced a teenage girl to have sex with him shortly after she turned eighteen, after encouraging her to become involved in politics.

One can only assume that the suit is charging that he used his position of authority within the then Glen Urquhart for Congress campaign to force the girl into this relationship.

Just last year the Delaware State Police investigated allegations in an anonymous letter to legislators that clearly was related to the allegations within this law suit. No charges were filed at that time.

Mr. Phillips was also involved in a physical altercation of some kind with the current Sussex County Sheriff Jeff Christopher that led to a complaint being filed by the Sheriff, but again the investigation found that there was no reason for charges to be filed.

Mr. Phillips has also suffered a fractured spine which he is still recovering from, that was the result of him crashing his ultra light aircraft in Virginia shortly after the original accusations of this relationship surfaced in the anonymous letter.

It seems with this law suit that Mr. Phillips’ troubles will continue and one has to ask, can his political future survive this constant onslaught of scandal?  Mr. Phillips has released a statement saying that he is, “looking forward to telling his side of the story”. But in politics the accusation is often enough to ruin a career.

Only time will tell.