Dumber, Dumbest, and A Flash of Smarts

I hate it when the dumb gets dumber in my home town. At least someone had the good grace and the intelligence to apologize formally and publicly. [With a big thanks to Belinda, my Meredith buddy, for sending this my way.]

The Greensboro News And Record:

"Sorry For Violation At Constitution Rally

By Tom Green

As the organizer of the Aug. 14. Restore the Constitution Rally in Greensboro’s Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, I give credit for the success of the rally to the National Park Service rangers and the Greensboro police. Their help in managing the traffic and getting all the rally participants in and out of the park made the event run very smoothly. 

The only real incident we had was from the unexpected behavior of one of the guest speakers, Dr. Dan Eichenbaum from Asheville. During Eichenbaum’s speech, he made the mistake of unholstering his sidearm and, while holding it over his head, proclaimed some major point of his speech.

This was a serious mistake, as it was a clearly stated rule for the rally that all sidearms were to remain securely holstered at all times, and the last person I expected to break that rule would be one of the guest speakers, especially one who had been running for a North Carolina congressional seat. You can’t be at a rally protesting others not adhering to the laws of the land, while breaking them yourself.

I know this was his first time speaking at a Restore the Constitution rally and he’s used to speaking at tea party rallies, so maybe it was a combination of excitement and the August heat that made him forget those rules. However, that’s still breaking the rules and his little mistake should have given the park rangers a reason to shut down the rally and tell us all to go home. Since I’m responsible for the actions of the speakers I invited for the rally, I want to publicly apologize for Eichenbaum’s actions to the rangers, the police officers and to the other speakers and those in attendance, from 11 different states, who managed not to break the rules at the rally. 

His actions were definitely not part of what these rallies are about. We’re in the early stages of putting together two more rallies, one in October and another in November, and I’m pretty sure he won’t be speaking at either.

The writer lives in Burlington

From One Penny Sheet

And/Or....We could just give up on states and nations, just let churches be the sovereign entities. Oh, yeah, that's the ticket!

Friday, Sept. 30th, 2010

OPINION

"Let Churches Determine Who Can Bring In Guns

I just read Doug Clark’s piece (Sept. 1) about concealed arms in church and agree with the discomfort felt by some on this issue, but if the church is OK with it, then why should it bother him?

In America, different denominations are allowed to have varied views, and any who do not agree may attend services elsewhere or change policy through their own internal debate.

Statistical evidence of violence invading a church from without is probably as rare as that of terrorists commandeering passenger jets and crashing them into occupied buildings.

Instead of condemning a congregation from without, why not visit and view the church in question from within, thus making an informed judgment?

By the way, sir, I am unaware of any gun shop uncomfortable with patrons who carry a pocket Bible onto their premises.

Jack Little, High Point"

Ya'll, I am so embarrassed for being Southern today, and you know that's just not right. Make a chick feel better, please. Somebody pass the sweet tea.

From Charm of The Carolines