Sunday’s News and Messenger had a great article on the Coffee Party entitled Still Brewing. It featured Bob Settle, Bill Golden and Al Alborn all sitting outside a Woodbridge Starbucks drinking coffee and explaining the Coffee Party. The men spoke a little about their politics, which were surprisingly centrist and conservative.
Jonathan Hunley, reporter for the News and Messenger, apparently wanted to give Corey Stewart, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, a chance to clean up his act. He had been unflattering to the Coffee Party the previous week at their kick off meeting. It didn’t work. Stewart once again shot himself in the foot. Poor Corey is running out of feet real quickly:
Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart isn’t buying that, however.
He said that if everyone in the Coffee Party was a “middle-of-the-road veteran” such as Alborn, he might have more respect for the group.
But Stewart said Byler and Park are just “ultra-left attention-seekers” who “despise” him and Supervisor John T. Stirrup Jr., who led the county’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“This is just an ultra-left fringe group,” the Republican said.
Corey, Corey, Corey! This kind of talk has no political capital. The Coffee Party isn’t about you or John Stirrup. The Coffee Party isn’t about Annabel Park or Eric Byler. The Coffee Party isn’t about the 3 men who were interviewed for the story.
I find it frightening that the only people Stewart seems to have respect for are ‘middle-of-the-road veterans’. Does that mean that everyone else is an ultra-left attention seeker, a fruitcake, a nut, or crap? (his descriptors, not mine)
A review of the article will be forthcoming. Chairman Stewart’s words, meanwhile, deserve to be handled separately.
Why does the Chairman continue to shoot himself in the foot making derogatory remarks about his constituents? There are a bunch of people out there who see themselves as Coffee Party People. They do not deserve to be called names, especially by the county Chairman. This behavior sets a bad precedence. Do we assume Mr. Stewart is a member of the Tea Party and sees the Coffee Party as competition or do we just assume he doesn’t want to be re-elected? I can’t vote for anyone who gratuitously calls strangers names, not even knowing who they are.
Mr. Stewart ought to find out who the people are and go shake their hand. These are the people who want to be part of shaping their government. Aren’t those people the folks we used to call a PATRIOTS? What happened to that term?
I don’t deny Corey said some bad things again. But, partly, through the efforts of this blog – he was painted as saying unflattering things about veterans (which really he was making those comments about the coffee party as a whole). So, you wanted him to sort of apologize to veterans – and I think you (the blog) sensitized him to the fact he denigrated veterans. So, he said some nice things about vets, which in a way is what you wanted him to do.
True, he’s now saying some not so nice things about other members of the coffee party who are not vets.
Anyway, I just wanted to point that out. However, I don’t deny it is unwise for Stewart to keep saying not so nice things about selected coffee party members.
I believe I have been consistent. The chairman should not disparage any of his constituents for meeting up to participate in the government process.
There are some things that should not have to be said.
Yes, I agree with that, and you certainly have been consistent. Although, that one thread did kind of single him out for comments about vets, so that was the point I was making. But, you have been very consistent in saying Corey shouldn’t be making those remarks about any of his constituents.
Actually, I see why you may have thought I was implying you weren’t consistent. This thread was authored by you (MH) and in my first post I used the word “you” several times. Just a bad choice of wording on my part and I didn’t mean that. I meant the blog – I’m not sure why I used the word “you”! Again, no one ever accused me of writing clearly – so sorry that it appeared I may have implied it was you (MH) who wasn’t being consisitent or had chastised Corey for bad things said about vets, and not consitutents as a whole.
I can’t defend him. He’s unhinged on this. But, he has my vote.
Seems like Corey dislikes everyone except the developers. He doesn’t like enviormentalist, he doesn’t like anyone who supports the homeless, he doesn’t like the school board, he doesn’t like the Police Chief and the list could go on and on. I think the Coffee Party should be proud he does support it.
Am I only one of the few people in this universe who actually likes fruitcake?
My father loves it. I could never even want to try it – he’d order those things every year and I couldn’t even look at it.
You and my father should share a fruitcake together, I guess!
Take a moment and read Kathleen Parker’s piece in today’s WaPo (A19)
– Independent’s Day – The rejection of political party extremes –
She quotes the late Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican:
“It is time that the great center of our people, those who reject the
violence and unreasonableness of both the extreme right and the extreme
left, shed their intimidated silence and declared their consciences”.
Senator Smith bravely faced down Joe McCarthy nearly sixty years ago,
but her call for the great moderate middle to assert its self is just as valid
today. As Parker notes, “We should know by now where demagoguery
leads”.
People have probably heard me say that I am for restoring a civil society one conversation at a time. I think it’s time to have a Conversation with our Chairman, Corey Stewart. For reasons that I am starting to understand, he is viewing the Coffee Party as an extension of our Founders. I hope to convince the Chairman that the Prince William County Coffee Party is a diverse group that crosses party and philosophical lines from Conservatives to liberals and Progressives. The fact that about ten of our first Meeting’s participants were veterans (and a few Senior veterans with white house experience – I have a letter of Appreciation from George Bush on my mantle) should belay his suspicion that we are “an ultra-left fringe group”. Simply put, we are not. In fact, I have been pleasantly surprised by the group’s receptive nature. Some of the Conservative’s in our midst (and, to my surprise, I find folks far more conservative than I who just want a civil place to discuss issues) have significantly influenced the Coffee Party’s direction.
I understand that many people have some “baggage” from the Immigration experience. I have none. I am hoping that all sides may put their differences in the margins of the Conversation so we may focus on that areas where we agree. Frankly (as I said on National Television) I agree with many of the things the Tea Party Patriots espouse… and disagree with others. I believe that if we ever decide to work together on the things we agree about, we will “change the way the game of politics are played.” For example, I posted under my own name for the first time today on BVBL because I absolutely agree with Greg’s view of discretionary funds. I’ve found my “cup of coffee” with the “Coffee Party” and don’t consider those who prefer “a cup of tea” with the Tea Party to all be “wild eyed Ultra-Conservative Right Wing Radicals” (although both movements, by their nature, will be home to some extreme elements).
I plan to call Stella (Corey’s Admin) Monday to see if he can slip me in his busy schedule for a few minutes to chat over a cup of coffee (or tea, I will drink whatever the Chairman is serving these days). The Coffee Party just want to be judged by the breadth of philosophies we represent and our deeds, not by the past or old disagreements and assumptions. We want to be recognized by our elected officials as a reasonable voice in the County with perhaps an alternate view of the issues.
The Chairman doesn’t take the abuse that comes with his job because he enjoys it. Like the rest of us, he just wants to make Prince William County a better place to live. Perhaps we can all work together to that end. Many times, Corey Stewart has ended a conversation between us with the words, “…we’ll just have to disagree on that.” I would love to resume those conversations in a constructive manner. It’s OK to disagree. I’ll call Stella in the morning.
“But Stewart said Byler and Park are just “ultra-left attention-seekers” who “despise” him and Supervisor John T. Stirrup Jr., who led the county’s crackdown on illegal immigration.”
Looks like Corey’s egocentrism doesn’t preclude him from dragging Stirrup (who has been silent to this point) under the bus with him. It will be interesting to see if Stirrup responds.
I doubt Stirrup will respond. If he does it certainly will not be to the Journal Messenger(I don’t keep up with their name changes). I don’t think he should those were Corey’s words, not John’s.
@Mom
Interestingly enough, if Corey Stewart only knew how many times I have personally heard Eric Byler defend him, with my own two ears…he should feel ashamed of himself. Eric has defended and defended Corey to me. He always has found some redeeming quality to point out.
Furthermore, Eric is a constituent. You don’t call your constituents ‘crap.’ No one was attacking Corey or even talking about him. And yes, he did drag Stirrup right under the bus with him. Stirrup wisely wasn’t commenting.
Why is it that it that according to the Chairman, if you don’t agree with his political views, a constituent is a fruitcake, nut or crap? Time to change chairpersons to someone a little more acceptant of political diversity. Diversity like …oh…I don’t know…moderates, independents, libertarians, Democrats…
I too have heard Eric defend Corey with my own two ears.
Stirrup usually wisely doesn’t comment. I don’t dispute Corey threw John under the bus.
I would nominate Mike May for chairman. He seems to be of an even disposition, hasn’t pissed off too many people, and generally seems to be respectful of all constituents.
Al said:
[running finger down throat]
The problem is, it seems to be that he wants to make PWC a better place to live in though HIS eyes. Screw my eyes, or Twinad’s eyes, or Pinko’s eyes, or lafayette’s eyes or your eyes. He conveniently forgets that other people have eyes.
He needs to represent his constituents. He needs to be respectful of all of his constituents. He isn’t.
Additionally, I am not so sure he is the one taking the abuse. In his case, I believe he feels it is better to give than to receive.
I watch and wait for opportunity to say something positive about the Chairman. Pickin’s are slim.
@Al
You make some good points there Al. I think it is easy to see why someone may choose to identify a party (or associate it) with its founders – at least for a period of time not too long since the founding of that party.
I also think you are correct about there being a lot of old leftover baggage from the immigration debate. There definitely is, on both sides, and a lot of bad feelings/hurt feelings on both sides. So that’s a good observation too.
I think your idea of having a face to face discussion with Corey over these things is a very good one, and I’m sure some good will come of it if it happens.
Yes, but unfortunately Eric hasn’t made those feelings known to Corey, or probably known in public, so while you have a good point, Corey can’t read minds. You may be right – if Corey knew about Eric defending him many many times, Corey might have a different view of Eric. It might have been good for Eric to have made those feelings more well known. Again, Corey isn’t a clairvoyant, and none of us are – except for those who call themselves psychics, I guess.
My point is, while you can say Corey should feel ashamed for himself for what he’s said the past few days, and I don’t disagree – you can’t really say that because of the fact that Eric has sprung to Corey’s defense multiple times – as Corey would have no way of knowing that. I don’t however disagree with your basic premise that Corey should be ashamed of some of the things he said. Of course, there’s a lot of people who should be ashamed of some of the things they’ve said over the past few years on various issues in PWC.
Not again!!! I feel like I’m in that old Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.” Didn’t we just go through all of this day before yesterday?
Is there something wrong with me? I’m posting on Moonhowlings so that makes me an ultra left-winger. But I’m also a Republican and have posted on BVBL. Oh no!! Must mean I’m schizophrenic and need medication. It’s not possible that someone might just want to see all sides of an issue and participate in discussions with people of both the same and differing viewpoints.
Also, as I wrote in the last thread, my mother has great recipe for fruitcake that we all like. Again, is this “Groundhog Day?”
M-h, Mike May could get my vote too. Or Marty Nohe.
Mike May perhaps. I like Marty personally but politically he’s just the representative of the Chamber of Commerce. The developers would have a blank check with him.
Yes, and Marty came to my house and assured me that we needed to control growth in PWC. Like that is how he voted since his election.
I’ve had it with candidates who promise to control growth, preserve the Rural Crescent, etc., and then betray us to the developers. First Sean, now Corey. At least we know in advance that Wally and Marty are aligned with the developers and business interests. We can look elsewhere for our next chair. At least when Rick Lawson was Planning Director and Tom Eitler was Head of Long-Range Planning, the Planning Office had consideration for citizens rather than just serving developer interests. Now the developers have control of the Planning Office and the BOCS. The Planning Commission is our last hope now. Gary Friedman, Kim Hosen and Martha Hendley are trying hard. Maybe some of the others there also.
And if Corey wins again in 2011 I’ll take anybody’s bet who wants to wager that Corey reappoints Gary as Chair of the Planning Commission. Mike Lubely will make the call this time around and have Corey appoint one of his stooges.
Corey is not only in the pocket of developers, he established a committee of nothing but developers to advise him on how to expand development, get around thr rural cresent and donate money to him
Corey hates our veterans and hates our country. He is a coward. He should resign and leave our state and our country.
“These are the people who want to be part of shaping their government.”
And that’s exactly why Stewart doesn’t want them involved. Anyone who opposes his ideologies is nothing but a pain-in-the-arsenic to him. I guess he figures if he targets people enough, they will just go away.
I would suport Mike May. Stewart is constantly in search of a ‘sound bite’ therefore his thinking doesn’t extend beyond two sentances. He may have all the best interests in the world for PWC, but if he can control his primary urge to advance himself at all costs at all times he’s never going to get beyond PWC Chair.
Wonderful comment.
Pinko – he doesn’t have any ideologies, just political expediencies. Look at http://www.coreystewart.com. Not a word about immigration or land use. All edited and cleaned up to portray the new Corey (Winston Smith and “1984” anyone?) He has an old item about Voters to Stop Sprawl endorsing him a long time ago but I doubt they would now any more than Elena would. One would have thought from Corey I that land use was the most pressing issue, from Corey II that he saved the world with his immigration campaign, and now Corey III is telling us that he is responsible for the economic rebuilding of Prince William County. He’s taking credit for what Martin Briley and others have been working on for years.
Need to know, I don’t know why you would feel like an uber lib here. I sure don’t consider myself one. And we have enough conservatives here to choke a horse. No offense to horses or conservatives… just kidding.
🙄
Need to Know, you probably are right.
Stewart’s ideology is comprised of self-interest and power-mongering. I can’t deal with that kind of selfishness in anyone, never mind an elected official.
Starry, I don’t think that is true of Corey at all. Thank you. You finally gave me a chance to defend him. I might not like his politics or his methodology but I would not question his patriotism nor his bravery. Actually, it is pretty brave to say some of the ridiculous things he says, knowing that those things will come back and bite his butt.
Rather than just throw out things like that, please give specific examples of why you think your remarks to be true. Otherwise, you are just mouth-flashing.
“Actually, it is pretty brave to say some of the ridiculous things he says, knowing that those things will come back and bite his butt.”
Let’s not confuse bravery with stupidity. We all know he shoots off his mouth more than most of us here.
Moon – I have never considered myself an uber lib, here or elsewhere. My comment was based on Corey’s assertions that anyone in the Coffee Party, and I assume posters here, must be ultra left-wingers. Just a bit a sarcasm directed at anyone who tries to pidgeon hole anyone’s views just because they attend a particular meeting or post on a particular blog. I consider myself moderate/conservative and am very comfortable here.
Need to Know, I’m mostly middle with some inklings both left and right, but never in the extreme. I have problems with people who blindly and vigorously tow the partisan line without regard for how their actions affect others. This Coffee Party thing is the perfect example. Stewart insulted and dismissed an entire group of people–not just PWC residents–because he apparently wants to be a party big-wig. What good does that do for the people of PWC?
I agree with Moon about Starry’s comments. Let’s keep our criticism based on facts, words and deeds. Corey does not hate veterans or our country. The more we focus on objective criticism rather than personal attacks, the better will be the chances of being taken seriously and having influence in the 2011 election.
I’m just so happy I found the other Democrat in the US that was not for abortion. I thought there just might be someone else beside me.
Corey doesn’t hate veterans or anyone else. He has no time for anything but Corey!
But Need-to-Know, he DID insult Vets. About 1/3 of those attending the Coffee Party were Vets! How can that not be an insult? How can Stewart insult and dismiss that many people representing those of a particular vocation?
What would have happened if 1/3 of the people present were lawyers and we called them a bunch of such-and-suches? Would people not think we were dismissing and insulting lawyers? Of course they would.
Pinko – Corey’s remarks are not going to help him become a party big-wig. Think about how many Republicans are declaring themselves former Corey supporters. Moreover, Obama and the Democratics won big in 2008 largely because of negative feelings about George Bush. Republicans also killed their own credibility on fiscal matters by doing exactly what they accused the Democrats of doing (although Obama’s and Pelosi’s spending and borrowing now dwarf anything the Republicans did) The Republicans I know want to rebuild the Party’s image as one of serious adults who adhere consistently to values and a philosophy mainstream Americans believe in. Spouting off idiotic remarks, insulting people, and jumping from one position to another is not what Republicans need now.
Need to know, you probably are right about Republicans and Corey. I should not confuse the party with him. His party might be smarter to disavow him, actually.
I’m no fan of parties, nor am I party-savvy. So thanks for the correction.
Pinko – I agree that Corey insulted vets, although through not thinking rather than intent. Read my Friday post with the logic analysis. Intentional or not, however, we don’t need that kind of remarks coming from the County’s most senior elected official. In addition, name-calling and insults in general are inappropriate regardless of who the target is.
And how did he know that 1/3 were vets and that his comment was about vets? What he said was bad enough. If there had been a dog there, would you say he hates animals?
@Need to Know
I was teasing. I have little people here and my sense of humor has been going south all day long.
Back when I was a Democrat I wasn’t for abortion. I was pro-choice though. I don’t think anyone is FOR abortion. I know I certainly am not.
I agree with Rez.
I think the Vet insult is more a case of beware of unintended consequences, which is a mighty important lesson to learn. He probably also insulted women and grandparents also, as well as African Americans.
The important thing is to not make sweeping generalizations where someone can come along and say you insulted vets. Hopefully Mr. Chairman has learned one of life’s important lessons.
Pro-choice, does NOT mean pro-abortion. It means it not my or the government’s place to tell a person what or what not to do to ones’ person. “Pro-abortion” is a term pro-lifers use, and nothing really more.
Neigh…snort…snort…a horse is a horse is a horse, of course.
Absolutely, Lafayette. Well said. It is very inflammatory and used to charge emotions.
I thought you might like that. 🙂