I think it's worthy...

A letter from Mike:


I’ve been stewing about the inadequacies of our local government for some time. Margaret Griffin realized as soon as she took office (is it two years now?) that while the county is growing so fast with such economic vitality, the structure and TONE of local government and code is still living in the previous century or perhaps the one before.

What I see of council proceedings (admittedly I don’t watch much of it on the cable channel) is an endless discussion of ways to raise money. With my limited viewing I have yet to see proceedings which address the needs of the citizens or accountability standards that should be the first order of business for a county which is basically a new creation in the last ten years. Maybe they get around to this when I am not watching, but it does not strike me as their FIRST priority.

I worked in county government in Delaware County, Ohio, cited in numerous stories in the election as one where the “exburbs” came out to give our President his victory. Delaware has gone through the same explosive growth as Beaufort and undergone a transformation in local government AND the party structure. It was that transformation in party structure that made it’s contribution to Bush’s victory so memorable.

I may post on this subject to the GBRC Blog (feel free to post this note if you think it worthy). http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/ reaches a wider audience that may not be as interested in postings on sound, RESPONSIVE, local government.

Haven’t learned much about the plans for 278. Another toll road? Where does the tax money go? On talk radio they replay a suggestion from some rocket scientist suggesting we open the lights up for four minutes. While this may be fine for TOURISTS who are LEAVING, what does it do for the LOCALS who need to make roundtrips requiring us to wait twice as long at traffic lights to enter 278 or turn left from 278???

This double standard must not stand!

And this from my GOP 2008 Newsletter. Go to above hyperlink for entire article. Interesting as heck.

Robert Byrd: Involvement with the Ku Klux Klan
Byrd was a local leader of the Ku Klux Klan for a period of time in the early 1940s, holding the title Kleagle; Klan recruiter. In a 1946, three years after leaving his KKK brethren behind, in a letter, he wrote to Georgia's Grand Imperial Wizard, "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." However, when running for Congress in 1952, he announced, "After about a year, I became disinterested, quit paying my dues, and dropped my membership in the organization. During the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan."

Political moves perceived as racismStill, in 1964 he opposed the Civil Rights Act by filibustering it for 14 straight hours. He was against U.S. President Harry S. Truman's integration of the military. He opposed the nomination of Thurgood Marshall to the United States Supreme Court in 1967.

In addition, some conservatives contend that Byrd's 2004 opposition to some of George W. Bush's judicial and Cabinet nominees who are black, notably Appeals Court nominee Janice Rogers Brown and Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice, was motivated by racism. Byrd's defenders note that both nominations were widely opposed on the left by people of many different ethnicities and that Byrd has not opposed other people of color that Bush has nominated in the past, such as Secretary of Education Rod Paige and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

2001 racist remark and controversyOn March 4, 2001, an interview with FOX News Sunday host Tony Snow was aired. In the interview Byrd was asked about race relations: "They are much, much better than they've ever been in my lifetime," Byrd said. "I think we talk about race too much. I think those problems are largely behind us... I just think we talk so much about it that we help to create somewhat of an illusion. I think we try to have good will. My old mom told me, 'Robert, you can't go to heaven if you hate anybody.' We practice that." Then Byrd warned: "There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time; I'm going to use that word."
"We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I'd just as soon quit talking about it so much."

Byrd's office later issued an apology.
"I apologize for the characterization I used on this program. The phrase dates back to my boyhood and has no place in today's society. As for my language, I had no intention of casting aspersions on anyone of another race."

American conservatives have pointed to Byrd's comments as evidence of a double standard in the treatment of Democratic and Republican political figures in regards to controversial statements about race (see Trent Lott, Rush Limbaugh). Limbaugh made this point loudly, more in reference to the Lott controversy than the one surrounding himself, when fellow Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd said in praise of Byrd, "There has never been a time in U.S. history that he would not have been right for. He would have been right for the Founding. He would have been right for the Civil War ..." Limbaugh stated that as Byrd had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan, he would have undoubtedly been on the side of the Confederate States of America, and hence slavery, during the Civil War, and wondered if Dodd really thought that was a justifiable position. Again, because no general outcry in the mainstream media ensued, and the incident was hardly mentioned outside the venues of right-wing talk radio -- a silence was cited by those sources as evidence of a liberal bias in mainstream media, protecting the Democrats (Dodd and Byrd) and yet loudly attacking Republicans (Lott and Thurmond) for similar behavior.

Senator Byrd was also against Janice Rogers Brown, and Miguel Estrada, two very highly qualified Judges !

Contacting Senator ByrdFax your letter to his Charleston office at 304-343-7144; Call his Washington office at 202-224-3954.
Call his Charleston office at 304-342-5855;
E-mail Senator Byrd: http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_email.html
http://committed.to/gobushmo

Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, Ex-Klansman

This interesting article from Michelle Malkin, especially poingant in light of his disapproval of Condi Rice. Hit link above for entire piece.


"The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth in West Virginia... It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state in the Union. Will you please inform me as to the possibility of rebuilding the Klan realm of W. Va?" Byrd's letter to the Klan's Imperial Wizard, 1946.

Byrd on "race mongrels." "[I will] never submit to fight beneath that banner [the American flag] with a Negro by my side. Rather would I die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds." 1947 letter by Robert Byrd. (Source: "The Democrats' Lott," Wall Street Journal, 23 December 2002.)
Byrd also filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The Duff's at the Inauguration Party 

From Jim Lee since his PC is down & out

Great Story.I haven't been able to get to the blog because my main computer is down, but I suggest everyone go to Michelle Malkins web site today. It's a must read. http://www.michellemalkin.com/
Jim

HWY 278 - The New (Proposed) Toll

They couldn't get their local option sales tax so they want to get the workers coming on the island? Let me repeat this theme, say it to your friends, write your representatives: Bed Tax. Tax those who make the traffic not those who must go to work in the morning. Taxing commuters is a good way to grow Bluffton business!! Maybe one of the readers can go to this and spy for me. I'll be working. No new taxes for locals!

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Forum

US 278 -- The Challenge To Finance Change
The Crowne Plaza, Shipyard Plantation, Hilton Head Island, SC
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 (9:30 am to 3:00 pm)

Sponsored by Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, The Greater Island Committee and The Beaufort County Council.

Morning Session(9:30 to 12:00 Noon)

9:30. Attendees may review Long Range Traffic Planning Study Illustrations (Arial Photographs, Maps and Drawings). Planning Department and Traffic Engineers will be available to answer questions.

10:00 (5 min.) Moderator - Forum Schedule and Procedures - Andrew B. Shapiro, Chairman, Transportation Sub Committee, Greater Island Committee

10:05 (5 min.) Welcome - Weston Newton, Chairman, Beaufort County Council

Technical Presentations

10:10 (15 min.) The bistory of previous 278 improvements and traffic counts - Colin Kinton, Beaufort County Traffic and Transportation Engineer.

10:25 (15 min.) SCDOT Requests Proposals for Innovative Public Private Partnerships - A New Approach to Finance Critical Transportation Improvements, together with an update on the approved 278-widening project. Rocque Kneece, SCDOT Regional Director.

10:40 (35 min.) Design Options. The Free Flow and Express Lane concepts - Stewart Rodman and Robert Probst, The LPA Group

11: 15 (30 min.) Toll calculations and income projections for 278. The potential financial benefits of reducing the Cross Island Parkway Tolls and contributing 6 million dollars to complete the construction of the Bluffton Parkway. Arthur Goldberg, Vice President Transportation Planning, URS Corp.

11:45 (15 min.) Technical questions and answers.

Lunch (12:00 to 1:00)

Informal discussions will continue during lunch with attendees encouraged to sit with presenters and panelists. Tables for lunch will be reserved in the Crowne Plaza Restaurant (advanced reservations not required). The cost of lunch will be at each attendee's expense.

Traffic Planning Documents will continue to be available for review (see 9:30 above).

Afternoon Session (1:00 to 3:00)

Panel Discussion and Public Comment

Community Panelists: 1:00 (50 min.)
Each panelist will be given 5 minutes for a brief presentation.

1. Barry Connor Chairman, Bluffton-Okatie Business Council
2. Tom DeMint Sperry Van Ness, Bosley DeMint Realty LLC
3. James Mitchell Director, Native Island Business and Community Affairs Assoc. 4. Joe Fraser Director, Heritage Foundation
5. Andy Twisdale Hilton Head Area Hospitality Assoc.
6. Rochelle Ferguson Exec. Dir. Lowcountry Regional Transportation Author. 7. P.J. Tanner Sheriff, Beaufort County
8. Kim Schembra General Manager, Tanger Outlet Center
9. Bob Bartlett Former Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Highways
10. Rece Morgan President of Real Estate, Stafford Properties

Technical Panelists:
This panel will answer technical questions from the 1100r during the Comments and Debate
period.

1. Arthur Goldberg 2. Rocque Kneece 3. Robert Probst 4. Stewart Rodman

2:00 (60 min.) Questions, Comments and Debate from Forum Attendees.

3:00. Forum Adjournment.

The public is encouraged to attend this important Forum. Stay for 15 minutes or the entire day. Opinion Ballots, regarding the Toll Road question, will be available to all who attend, no matter the length of their stay.

For additional information contact Andrew Shapiro, Forum Moderator, 686-6868

Billions for Hate, A Pittance for Help

New York Post Online Edition: postopinion: "THE Saudi Arabian government and individual Saudis have spent billions of dollars spreading Wahhabi extremism and fostering hatred. No expense is spared to vilify Israel or the West. But when it comes to easing the misery of their fellow Muslims, the world-champ hypocrites in Riyadh just ain't interested.
As of last week, the Saudis had pledged a pitiful $20 million to the tsunami-relief effort. That's a Saudi prince's bar-and-bordello budget for a weekend in Paris. Even the devout Muslims of Indonesia's devastated Aceh province don't qualify for Saudi charity. The images of peerless suffering aren't enough to open any Arab wallets, for that matter.
It takes hatred to do that.
American government aid, private donations and military operating costs will approach a billion dollars before we're finished. The Aussies, the Japanese and even the Germans have pledged at least 500 million bucks each. But the policy of the Saudis and their oil-rich neighbors can be summed up in eight words: Big bucks for bigotry, peanuts for human suffering.
It isn't supposed to be that way. The Koran demands generous giving to needy Muslims as one of the faith's central pillars. Doesn't matter a bit to those holier-than-thou Saudis. They set themselves up as the arbiters of Islamic purity and perfection, but they demonstrate less moral integrity than prostitutes and thieves.
Outside of the Middle East, no population has been as eager to follow the Arab lead on Islamic practices as the Muslims of Aceh. They already had a thriving Koranic school in Mecca in the 15th century, where Acehnese mullahs making the Haj could study Islam's subtleties at the source. The Acehnese still turn to Meccan madrassas today, in preference to Indonesian traditions.
So much for Saudi Arabia's sense of Islamic brotherhood.
...
How the Saudis, with all of their self-righteousness and preaching about Islamic duties, can neglect the basic obligation of charity demanded by the Koran is so far beyond any recognizable sense of morality that words can't capture the shabbiness.
...
Meanwhile, U.S. Navy and Marine helicopters work around the clock to feed the starving — without asking for anybody's religious credentials. As predicted by The Post, Aceh's fundamentalist mullahs are already preaching that Allah punished the people for being insufficiently rigorous in their behavior, for being too tolerant. The same mullahs explain away Western aid as a plot.

But the people will know who helped them and who did not.

GBRC Newsletter

To the GBRC and Friends: Happy New Year!

The Greater Bluffton Republican Club had it's "revival" meeting in October, and new officers were elected that evening. They are as follows:

President: Dawn Duff
Vice President: Donna Huffman
Secretary: Dave Stortz
Treasurer: Diane Reynolds

A note of thanks to Diane Reynolds for serving as President for the previous sixteen months.

Many members of this club worked very hard for the November Elections. We volunteered at Headquarters, and made endless phone calls. We also held the "Bluffton Blitz", an event that had signs, posters, and flyers for all Republican Candidates, including the Presidential race down to the local elections, distributed all over Bluffton as well as other parts of Beaufort County. We got people out to see Joe Wilson in Sun City and Jim De Mint on Hilton Head. Some of us attended the October Fundraiser at the Marriot and heard the Governor speak. Many of us wrote Letters to the Editor of our local liberal paper.We called on our people to help out "old" Bluffton with the recent local elections. On Election Night we gathered together at the Squat & Gobble. Later that month, we had a great victory party, with many members of the other RCs showing up to celebrate with us. It was a glorious evening with incredible barbeque by Ted Huffman, and donations of food & drink by many who came. Also in November, we established the GBRC Blog, a forum for our members and invited guests to express opinion, post notices, and direct others to inportant online articles. Please visit and join us: http://blufftongop.blogspot.com/ In December, we decided not to have a business meeting, but we did have "A Time To Share - the Essentials and Gifts Drive" for the families of our troops deployed overseas. With the help of all our fellow RCs, we packed three SUVs full of mostly new and some almost new items for our military families. Thanks to everyone who gave, and especially to Dave Stortz, Jim & Alice Lee, and Howard Duff for collecting the items and bringing them to the Marine Core Air Station a couple weeks before Christmas.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday evening, January 11th at the Holiday Inn Express. Please come for social time at 6:30. The meeting begins at 7. We will be discussing the possibility of changing the night of our meetings to Mondays, as well as changing the location. There will also be a guest speaker. Details will follow. We also would like to direct you to the County Republican's site: http://www.beaufortrepublicans.com/index.php There is much good information there as well as a page specifically for each club in Beaufort County.
I thank you all for the opportunity to work with you, and Donna & I hope to see you all this Tuesday evening at the meeting.
Dawn Duff

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Schoolgirl Saves Nearly 100 Lives

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Schoolgirl Saves Nearly 100 Lives: "LONDON � A British schoolgirl who recognized the signs of a coming tsunami thanks to a recent geography lesson saved her family and some 100 other tourists at a Thai (search) beach, a British newspaper reported.
Tilly Smith (search), 10, realized they were in danger when she saw the tide suddenly rush out � an indication earthquake-driven tidal waves are only minutes away � and told her mother, The Sun (search) said in its Saturday edition.
She explained that she had studied tsunamis only two weeks before at her school in Oxshott, just south of London. Her parents, Penny and Colin Smith, warned nearby vacationers and staff at their hotel in Phuket, and the hotel swiftly evacuated Maikhao beach, minutes before the devastating waves struck, the newspaper said.
The Sun reported that the beach was one of only a few in Phuket where no one was killed or seriously hurt.
'I was on the beach and the water started to go funny,' Tilly was quoted as telling The Sun. 'There were bubbles and the tide went out all of a sudden. I recognized what was happening and had a feeling there was going to be a tsunami. I told mummy.'

Penny Smith, 43, said that she ran off the beach after Tilly explained what was going to happen.
'I dread to think what would have happened if we had stayed,' she was quoted as telling The Sun. 'Minutes later the water surged right over the beach and demolished everything in its path.'
Craig Smith, general manager of the JW Marriott Hotel where Tilly's family were staying, said the 10-year-old was a heroine.
'I think it's phenomenal that Tilly's parents and the others on the beach are alive because she studied hard at school,' Smith was quoted as telling The Sun.

Happy Kwanzaa, y'all!

Still Lacking That Old Kwanzaa Spirit, an article by JOSEPH H. BROWN, tells an interesting and factually correct tale of how the holiday came to be, but more importantly, WHO invented it. Here are more interesting reads:
http://www.akdart.com/aff4.html
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5251
http://christocentric.com/Kwanzaa/pagan.htm
http://www.dartreview.com/issues/1.15.01/kwanzaa.html
http://therightcoast.blogspot.com/2003_12_01_therightcoast_archive.html#107196208505935662
http://www.erickerickson.org/archives/000459.html
http://www.textbookleague.org/114kwanz.htm
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25998
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maulana_Karenga
http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/karengabio.html
http://www.nathanielturner.com/karenga2.htm
http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/bpp/bpp110569a_p7.htm
http://www.swankyconservative.com/index.php?p=395
http://www.citizen-journal.net/GadsdenFlag/archives/00000054.htm
http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_culture&Number=293204503&page=&view=&sb=&o=

While serving five years in prison for torturing two black women, this convicted felon became a Marxist. After his release, he became professor and chair of the department of Black Studies at California State University-Long Beach. From what I can tell from on-line research, he retired from that position in 2002.