I attended the Gainesville District Townhall meeting and here’s a quick update.
- Transportation projects include the widening of 15, widening of 66 and the Linton Hall Corridor Project are all on track to be completed either early or on-time. And let me just say, I stand in awe of these transportation engineers who are able to squeeze a lane out of nothing. Unfortunately, new project funding is in doubt because of current economic conditions and funding issues related to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and Bob Marshall’s lawsuit where the Virginia Supreme Court ruled the collection of the funds unconstitutional.
- There was literature available concerning the Journey thru Hallowed Ground designation.
- Transmission Lines have been approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission conditional on West Virginia and Pennsylvania. West Virginia has given the go ahead while Pennsylvania has not. Also, there’s this interesting article in today’s Washington Post about Maryland regulators requesting electric utilities to draft conservation plans.
- USDOT representative reports federal highway funding legislation runs out at the end of September 09 and will need an overhaul.
- Stirrup again refuses to answer question about his membership in ‘Help Save Manassas’ instead decides to call me an ‘illegal alien apologist.’ Okay, if you think McCain and Reagan were apologists then so be it.But I did seem to learn who’s Stirrup’s spin meister is – Mr. Murphy. By the way, you were not his first choice for the job, greater men with more integrity declined this position. Better get back to crunching those numbers since ER visits have not decreased.
Are we lacking in self-confidence and feeling under appreciated this morning Censored? The two quotes you offer refer to childish behavior with the name-calling issue, given far worse is bandied about here on a fairly regular basis. I notice that, unless you PERCEIVE an opening to personally attack me, you seem to be unable to participate in any genuine dialogue with me…and most other people for that matter. Your comments are generally personal attacks against people with whose opinion you take exception, whether by commenting here or on the other blog. I try very hard to stick to the issues, but when someone wants to get personal that crosses a line. In that, yes, I guess I am traveling a higher road than, most certainly, you are.
AWC,
you said to Juturna:
“You ever considered the possibility, Juturna, that being constantly, and unfairly, scourged by extremists such as yourself could drive anyone into the arms of the opposite extremists? You know the old adage don’t you…”The enemy of my enemy is my friend?” ”
If Juturna is an extremist, that would make me a SUPER extremist. My point AWC, is that if you say nothing to hate speech, then I believe your silence connotes approval. As far as MRSA goes, what are yout talking about? Did you believe the false information plastered over on BVBL? I believe that was immediately and soundly debunked. You say to want to find middle ground, but your comments have not necessarily reflected that view. I have not called you hateful names, but that you seem to imply that anti is the same as BVBL is simply untrue. There may be times when it gets a little heated, but all we ask is for indepth debate, not simple sound bites like “illegal is illegal” which prevent real solutions from being found.
Haha. Maybe that’s an option you should ponder.
AWCheney, let me try this again.
Please stop apologizing for John Stirrup. It is sending the wrong message to a group of readers who have proven quite impressionable over the past 18 months.
Stop running interference every time John Stirrup does something to embarrass and discredit himself. Stop attacking anyone who dares to point out his astoundingly base miscalculation in anointing immigration hysteria the savior of the Republican party for the 2008 election.
And if, as you so speciously argue, ridding a few neighborhoods of indigent and ethnic-looking people was such a noble banner for John Stirrup to waive, why did he drop that banner, change cheerleader skirts, and so zealously cartwheel for John McCain, the man who vanquished his cause in the Republican primary?
(Do I need to remind you that John Stirrup was pictured on national TV at McCain’s convention, swooning and screeching like a schoolgirl at a Beatles concert??? Does this not prove that he saw immigration demagoguery as little more than an electioneering tactic?)
On what grounds do you celebrate 2007’s back-up cheerleader for a policy that has failed in every conceivable measure? The kindest words we will be able to say for John Stirrup will be: “He really wanted Republicans to win.” If you want to apologize for him, just leave out the anti-immigrant hate-mongering, and you’ve done your partisan duty. There is no need to lower yourself any further. The blood is on his hands; not yours. And even if you wanted to defend him, you are hurting your own cause by typing what you type here. You are enshrining the blind foolery of Stirrup’s hate-mongering disguised as electioneering, and enshrining the needless injury he has caused his own community, in particular his followers who, months later, still suffer scars on the soft tissues of their brains.
It’s clear you have analytical and rhetorical skills, but look around you, and take measure of those who are still marching with you in this perverse parade of celebration for people like Stirrup, Duecaster, and Letiecq. Do you really want to go down in history as the preeminent mouthpiece for a small, resentful minority who, even after the 2008 electoral disaster, even after the full onset of the Bush Recession, remained blinded the previous year’s ethnic scapegoating / economic bloodletting?
Indeed, the economic impact of John Stirrup’s Immigration Resolution, in and of itself, has damned this policy and any policy like it, to failure. The tactic of using racial or other cultural divisions as an electioneering strategy has been exposed as, not only morally bankrupt, but also tragically counterproductive. It has not only caused a resounding defeat in 2008, it has ensured a decade of defeats if the party is unable to reverse course.
Stop apologizing for Stirrup. You have apologized a thousand times for his folly and he has not apologized once. That alone should tell you something.
It happens, Elena, that, based upon her comments and perpetually strident attitude, I have felt that Juturna IS an extremist on the issue…meaning that there IS no middle ground, nor possibility of common ground, with her. Until that comment of yours to me out of the blue, as it were, I’d given you more credit. Silly me.
Insofar as me not speaking to hate speech, I have on many occasions. There are some people, however, who are encouraged to escalate that hatefulness when they are called on it…and those folks are best ignored unless they get out of hand. There are also some people whom I know personally and, when they start to get out of hand, I’ll email them privately and call them on it. The fact is, I’ve spent little time over there in recent months, nor have I hung around here regularly either…and I certainly didn’t spend much time on other blogs when I was trying to keep up with my own.
As far as that MRSA outbreak some months ago, I agree that the cause (of that specific outbreak) could not necessarily be linked to the illegal alien community, however, there is a reason that the immigration laws of EVERY country require health certificates to one degree or another. Along with the many millions of illegal aliens who have slipped into our country from 3rd world nations has come the reintroduction of some diseases which we had wiped out…and others which we haven’t seen here previously (such as the mutated, treatment resistant strains of a number of diseases). Also, outbreaks of these diseases have actually become far too common. The link to the most likely origin is undeniable, and frankly scary. Whether OUR outbreak has a direct or indirect link is irrelevant…the fact that we had an outbreak at all is what is telling. And the fact that no one knows for sure who patient zero might have been, obviously keeps it in the category of a mystery. As I said before, there are no absolutes when it comes to this issue. I’ve never denied that.
Well, I apologize for taking so long to post this…I was in the middle of it when I received a phone call which became rather lengthy. I hope no one was hanging with bated breath. I certainly won’t for a response.
As far as you’re concerned Censored, I’ve alway considered you irrelevant (not previously stated reason). As far as I’M concerned, I’ve seldom been lacking in self-confidence and I’ve NEVER required validation for my existence as you obviously have, considering the importance of it that you suggest in your comment.
That would be NOTE previously stated reason.
Now, on to WHWN: Repeating a lengthy comment hardly makes it any more relevant than it was the first time. If you are incapable of discerning the meaning of previous comments regarding John Stirrup the first time, I seriously doubt that you would gain any further insight to their meaning the second time around, no matter how they are restated.
Yuck! I could have done without the image of John Stirrup in a cheerleader outfit doing cartwheels.
But WHWN is correct in pointing out that AWC is putting her considerable brain power to poor use. Of all things she is twisting herself into knots trying to excuse hateful lies like the Letiecq MRSA propaganda! Poor soul. I just don’t understand it.
Her fallback position in defending Stirrup is to whine about this blog as if she has no chance to get her point across. There are a lot of folks who are intellectually disadvantaged when it comes to voicing anti-immigrant dogma. For them I can understand the attack the messenger thing, but not AWC. If you read her posts, she is actually filling in all sorts of logical gymnastics that most of these fools would never think of. AWC will go down as the smartest person that got fooled by Greg Letiecq.
I was attacked, unjustly. What you give is what you get…and I still maintain that there is a dearth of reading comprehension around here.
Not a broad brush…it’s pretty obvious to whom I am referring.
Also, AWC never answered me. Perhaps others can help.
John Stirrup, Corey Stewart. Which one is the opportunist?
AWC tried her best in a post above, but is it really a good defense of Stirrup to say he is not an opportunist, that he sincerely wanted brown skinned people out of PWC?
WHWN contradicts AWC by pointing out that Stirrup didn’t hold it against McCain when he basically killed the “We-are-going-to-repel-this-invasion-one-way-or-another” movement. But Corey Stewart DID hold it against McCain, with great bitterness and no respect, I might add. In that case does that make Stewart the sincere bigot and Stirrup the opportunist?
My vote: both are both.
I’m getting that “the beatings will continue until morale improves” feeling……
Mother of God!
ShellyB
My observations have been that the Chair is the opportunist and the Vice Chair is the bigot. However I honestly believe we all have a bit of bigot in us, we have to be wise enough to avoid situations that might take advantage of that weakness….and recognize it when it surfaces.
Juturna, you are so right. We all do have the ability to judge others based on skin color, religion, or sexual orientation. It’s when people organize around bigotry, that’s when it gets a little scary. Actually a lot scary. We seem to be out of the woods. But a year ago I was afraid that John Stirrup’s vision would come to fruition in 2008.
“WHWN contradicts AWC by pointing out that Stirrup didn’t hold it against McCain when he basically killed the “We-are-going-to-repel-this-invasion-one-way-or-another” movement.”
I don’t see him as having contradicted me at all…I simply didn’t see the need to respond. Had I seen that need, I would have pointed out that, 1. Stirrup was merely doing what most Party loyalists do, and supported the Party nominee (unfortunately, being an elected official who happened to belong to McCain’s political party makes it a little difficult to do more than just not say anything on the differences…SOP), and 2. With regard to John being”… pictured on national TV at McCain’s convention, swooning and screeching like a schoolgirl at a Beatles concert???…only tells me that WHWN has never been to a national political convention where the selection of candidate has already been determined…such conventions are, quite simply, one big party (and not the political kind) where that “swooning and screeching” (which I doubt was an accurate description, but what the hey) is more the norm than the exception. Ya gotta have some actual experience with such things to really be able to intelligently comment on them, which is why I didn’t respond…I didn’t want to embarrass him. Oh well.
Given that reading comprehension problem, I should probably clarify…I didn’t want to embarrass WHWN.
I think we have moved out of the woods as this issue has been mitigated some by our economic woes…. However, the reputation of PWC is just awful. Washingtonian called our BOCS “Villans of the Week”. PWC was just on the verge of urbanization and just on the verge of attracting businesses requiring professional/technical employees.
Remember the Chair, a mere six weeks after the election, announced interest in running for Lt. Governor. I would call that opportunist and really no comittment to PWC. Stirrups nomination of Ducaster speaks volumes about him.
On another note, the failure by the automakers is going to be catastrophic and widespread and may mark the real beginning of a depression.
“I’m getting that “the beatings will continue until morale improves” feeling……”
You know it, Juturna! Jump in if you like…the water’s fine. I didn’t start it, but I have no problem finishing it…particularly since I don’t intend to be around much after this. What’s the point. This tells me that there certainly is NO difference between here and there.
Please, I’m beggin’ you finish it.
I’ve only been responding, Juturna…I suggest that you beg someone else.
No, you are more entertaining. 🙂
Why, thank you…I’ll take that as a compliment.
Conflict resolution is NOT my forte. I learned from a poor role model– my mother. She raised her children like dogs. If we kids fought, she yelled at us to stop fighting and knocked our heads together. If we were outside in the summer and fought, she squirted us with the hose.
I am going to repeat: I do not think that Anti is the place for conflict resolution. Emotions are too raw and opinions too entrenched. Conflicts will not be solved on the dark screen either. Therefore, I vote for Mrs. Cheney’s blog and I wish she would try to set up some dialogue on her blog.
AWC, I honesty think that you would like to see some of this go away. And yes, you have showed your Irish, (read: German) as have Anti regulars.
Anti’s, I don’t think it is fair to ask someone to turn their backs on people with whom they have been friends, either for political or whatever reasons. For all we know, AWC has spoken to Mr. Stirrup on this subject. Because she doesn’t express herself publicly about her discussions with him doesn’t mean she agrees or disagrees with him. It means she keeps her private conversations to herself.
Yes, she has defended him. I have defended a certain supervisor, quite vociferously I might add, when I felt he did wrong. It wasn’t Mr. Stirrup. That’s just smart politics. Mrs. Cheney is no neophyte to politics and she would not be so stupid as to throw Mr. Stirrup out with the bath water. It shuts down all communication to do so. That’s the short version.
I decided there would never be common ground after April 29. Funding was voted on and things were set in the county as far as immigration issues were concerned. The Resolution was pretty much gutted for a more humane, cheaper, workable solution.
The people of Anti saw it as a victory.
The people of bvbl saw it as a victory.
What’s wrong with this picture? The HSM leader and the Double S supervisors kept telling it to the public like it was the old resolution of July 10, 2007. Even now, Stewart and Stirrup go to their various conventions and gatherings and send out misinformation.
Here we go back to perception being reality. As long as the Double S supervisors and Letiecq keep the charade up, I think people here will continue to aggressively try to set the record straight.
I believe that you all (make that WE all) are at an impasse much akin to asking sheep to be goats and goats to be sheep. It doesn’t work that way. Mrs. Cheney has the ability to see both sides of an argument and has the connections to negotiate. I for one will visit her blog if she sets up a discussion group that attempts to find common ground.
I took too long to post. I see some of you all have covered much of what I am about to post.
Well, if the personal attacks have ceased, I should probably get some sleep. Although a sometime insomniac, this body (which happens to have gone well past its half century mark) needs some of that, as it got little of it in its youth…and this exchange has done NOTHING to improve my health. Rest assured, however, I will check back to see if any further responses might be required. I made a promise to finish this, and I always keep my promises (only when circumstances beyond my control made it impossible have I failed in that). Other than that, I doubt that you will be seeing me here any time soon.
I’ll give your suggestions regarding my blog some thought, Moon-howler…which is probably all I will be able to do for the moment. If I do something along those lines, I want to do it right. I must admit, not having to go as deeply into the research that I have up to this point has a certain appeal to me, but I would still want to be careful about defining the debate too closely to one side or the other.
Thank you for giving it some consideration, AWC. Rest well.
I’m with Juturna. Stirrup is more of a bigot, Stewart is more of an opportunist. Here is how I gauge it:
Gospel Greg Letiecq is the gold standard for bigotry in this county. Stewart has publicly distanced himself from Letiecq, saying “I know him but I’m not close with him,” etc. Stirrup has never distanced himself from Letiecq, and takes Letiecq’s suggestions for terminology, and takes Letiecq’s suggestions for committee appointments, AND is still a member of Letiecq’s highly suspect cult.
Stewart did criticize McCain during the general, but to me that was more of an ego trip because he didn’t get to speak at the rally.
I love how AWC thinks she has made a great come back with “I’ve been to a Republican National Convention and we all act like half-crazed fanatics there.”
In 2008, that doesn’t recommend her very well, and in the future when we look back at 2008, it will recommend her worse.
Incidentally, does anyone have a link to this footage of John Stirrup “screaming like a school girl” at the very sight of John McCain?
Well Moon-howler, I thought I would just check back real quick and see if any cowards would put in a quick appearance while they thought my back was turned…I guess Justin was waiting for just that. Too hot in the kitchen while the cook is there, huh Justin?
I should like to point out that when you put quotes around a statement you attribute to someone else it better actually be a quote. I said no such thing, and I see that you probably failed English (or at least the reading comprehension part) in school as your friend Censored no doubt did. Maybe I should consider myself fortunate that English was a second language for me…so I actually took it seriously. You may want to note that the description of Stirrup at the convention is totally owned by WHWN. I suggested that it might be a bit inaccurate, but wasn’t going to make a big deal about it.
Maybe the terrorists have already gotten to the water supply…that would explain a lot. Thank God we have a very sophisticated water purification system! You’re totally out of your league.
Censored,
I agree with you. AW Cheney always brings up some interesting points of view, and I am thankful for her(?) part in this discussion, but I am WAY over the constant slams on people’s reading comprehension.
AW Cheney,
I am very grateful that you highlighted a former question of mine, though:) I am guessing that nobody knows the results of the PWCS and BOCS work session. Too bad; I was very curious.
I don’t think there was a link, Justin, but it was on CNN (I think) and a lot of people saw it and commented on it that night. Stirrup’s mouth was gaping wide and his eyes were very wide too. It was creepy. He was yelling at the top of his lungs. You have to see it to believe it. Very very creepy.
Meanwhile, Stirrup’s mentor Greg Letiecq had turned against McCain. That’s why I give Stirrup as much “credit” for being an opportunist as Stewart. If Stirrup was all about the hate, he wouldn’t have even attended the convention, because as that point Palin hadn’t entered the picture.
Sorry DiversityGal but, if you REALLY read the comments and responses in question, there’s no other conclusion that one might reach. The only other possible conclusion is that I actually AM a whole lot smarter than them, but I’m not ready to go quite that far. Believe me, there are a lot worse things that I could have said in my replies to these comments, and don’t think for a second that they didn’t cross my mind…but I’m also not ready to cross that line. I very much hope that I don’t get pushed over it.
Wow…
AWC, I wasn’t slamming you, just teasing you about how haughty you are about the fact that you attend political conventions and I guess the rest of us do not. I’ll grant you that, but it just means you are a full fledged partisan. I don’t meant that as a slam by any means. But it exposes something you might not want to expose. Now we know your arguments will always come from a jaundiced perspective. Really, nothing personal, that’s just a fact and it’s good you’re open about it.
Please don’t attack me just for that mild observation (because it WAS quite mild until you attacked me). Really, I respect your point of view, and I don’t want to get into a fight with you since you are bravely putting yourself out there to be tarred and feathered almost daily and being a real good sport about it.
If it will help you not to be sore at me, I’ll just agree that I am “out of my league” when it comes to talking politics. I, and everyone else in this county, we are all “out of our league,” and, we also failed reading comprehension in grammar school.
Thus, you, Mrs. Cheney, are in a LEAGUE OF YOUR OWN, and I’ll just leave you to that title and bow out of this conversation.
Tell ya what DiversityGal, start reading the comments from this point (Elena, 15. November 2008, 6:33) and see how it all got started. Trust me, if I really put my mind to it, I could give MUCH, MUCH more than I take. These guys better consider themselves lucky. Of course, I can get meaner the less sleep I get…they might also want to think about that.
And Justin…yeah, right!!! I don’t tend to have a big problem with reading comprehension.
I think we should give Anke a rest. She is the only one on Stirrup’s side and she is getting angry and she is having trouble sleeping. There are many of us and only one of her. At this rate she will never get any rest. It’s torture! I’m sorry, Anke, if I contributed to your discomfort.
Y’all might also want to notice that I’m beginning to totally lose what sense of humor I had left.
Thank you Shelly, I appreciate that (my comment and yours crossed, as you can see from the time stamp).
I should, however, like to point out that the issue here has LONG left that of John Stirrup. The issue here has become one of attack, parry, and thrust. I will no more tolerate personal attacks against myself than I would against anyone else, and I particularly abhor cowards who only feel comfortable coming in behind somebody’s back.
You may notice that I use my name on every single one of my comments, on every single blog where I may comment, so I willingly own them all. If I err in point of fact, or misunderstand a comment, I’ve been know to apologize profusely…I own that as well. But more importantly I own that as Anke W. Cheney…and that’s a name known by quite a few people in this county (and anyone that knows it, knows exactly who AWCheney is), so you could say I’m putting a bull’s eye on my back, but so what! I would never say anything about anyone that I wouldn’t say to their face. THAT’S probably a big reason why I get very testy about personal attacks.
JustinT,
Haughty is the perfect word to describe her. I was looking for one and I was coming up with just her total “disdain” for us lowlife’s on Anti that don’t patronize her more “researched” blog. I visited a couple of times…yawn.
Oh TWINAD, I don’t think that you will want to get caught up in this. I’ve seen your comments and I’ve held my peace because I DON’T believe in attacking people personally. I really don’t want to get started on that and, believe me, you REALLY don’t want me to.
TWIN, I think you, Elena, Alanna, Justin, DiversityGal, and WHWN have the higher ground on the issues being discussed. But Anke is the only one arguing the other side and it’s too much work for her. She’s been at it all day and she told us a few hours ago she was exhausted. And because she is personally invested with her real name, she can’t back down. She is trapped in a cycle and near the cracking point as far as I can see.
Anke, no one will think any less of you if you get some rest. Take a deep breath and remember it just a healthy disagreement we are having, not a war.
Sorry, AWC, I can’t resist (hee hee)…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHTqhyhQk_c
OOPS! Guess that last post just brought me to lower ground. I just couldn’t stand the tension anymore; I had to break it:)
You didn’t “hear” me Shelly…the only issue here is that of personal attacks. If you go back and read the comments (starting with the one that I noted previously) you will see that I have only been responding to attacks against my character (that started with Elena), my personal experience and opinion (getting twisted like a pretzel until it’s unrecognizable), and even my earlier defense of John Stirrup was in response to personal attacks against him which I considered to be unfair. I haven’t seen anything (well, almost anything) in this thread which DIDN’T involve a personal attack of one sort or another.
Well, I’m stubborn…and I promised I would finish this and I keep my promises. As long as people continue to unjustly attack me, my words, and my friends, I’ll give as good or better than I get. And that’s another promise. And, by the way…there’s no such thing as “high ground” when it comes to personal attacks personal attacks.
Don’t sweat it, DiversityGal, that link is really funny. I hope we all can laugh about it. What do you say, Anke?
Don’t worry DiversityGal…I’m too tired to bother videos. Enjoy yourself.
Anke, we crossed again posting at the same instant. C’mon, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. I’m sorry I’m laughing but we are trying to lighten the mood. You have to admit you’ve been behaving rather oddly. That’s why I am trying to call a truce. No one wants to see you turn into The Hulk.
bother WITH videos
Too late Shelly…you guys managed to bring out my dark side. I’m more than willing to call a truce, because I don’t have an argument to win. I made it very clear that my position in this discussion was REACTION, and nothing more. I was ready to finish this many comments ago, if you recall…until that coward Justin decided it was his opportunity to get into it for the first time with me gone. That really sent my blood pressure into the stratosphere! I can’t stand a coward!