Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Oh, horse hockey! This was the political imposition of the will of busybody, religious bigots - pure and simple!

Get yourself a hard copy of today's T&G. In an act of flagrant political cowardice, St. Marys city council was cowed by fundamentalists religious bigots into imposing their will upon the community at large and depriving both a landlord and an entrepreneur of their rights to pursue legitimate, legal businesses. It seems that a man wanted to open a package shop in "The Camden Center there on Spur 40, across from the post office. In seems the folks in the pentecostal church across the street did not want it there (or anywhere in the known universe for that matter) because of there puritanical abhorrence of distilled spirits, whether consumed in one's private residence, or anywhere in the known universe, whether in moderation or to excess. Constitutionally guaranteed liberties be damned! Needless to say, they could not come straight out and say that they were going to take advantage of the political cowardice of some of our council members and mayor to impose their religious beliefs upon the rest of us and deprive the landlord of his property rights and the would-be package owner of his rights as well. Oh no - these paragons of virtue simply lied their holier-than-thou asses off by claiming to have concerns about increased crime in the neighborhood, "the children" having to endure the horrifying and potentially eternally damning SIGHT of the exterior of a package shop, etc. I may consume 4 beers a year - depending on how many times I go to a good Mexican restaurant. I consume about 3 to 4 tablespoons of good bourbon a year with my annual quart of holiday eggnog. A boozer I'm not - but if I were that's none of the church ladie's business. Alcohol is legal. The sale of alcohol is legal, so long as the applicant for a license complies with all state and local laws, which apparently this applicant DID. Hopefully, he will sue and win. And yes, I can't stand to be anywhere near a drunk and I'm concerned about drunk drivers. I'm not too crazy about a proliferation of bars and package shops. However, I'm more concerned with the protection of people's constitutional rights. I'll answer before you ask: Had this been before the county commission (i.e, had the location been out in the county), and the guy had all of his legal ducks in a row, and I had been on the commission, I would have voted for the license. I respect all citizen's rights to have whatever religious beliefs they want, so long as the exercise thereof does not deprive any other citizen of the exercise of any constitutionally guaranteed civil liberty.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did the denial have anything to do with distance requirements?

Anonymous said...

I respect all citizen's rights to have whatever religious beliefs they want, so long as the exercise thereof does not deprive any other citizen of the exercise of any constitutionally guaranteed civil liberty.

Hallelujah......

I think the elected official have gone NUTS. You are exactly right.

Anonymous said...

The article stated that Chuck Trader voted no due to the application not being complete(two streets were mislabeled) Sounds like he would have voted yes if everything was in order.

Can the liquor store owner go back and submit the corrected application and be approved?

Jay Moreno said...

RE: Distance. I rather suspected that might have been an issue, biut you can bet that the church ladies probably measured that disatnace with a laser theodolite. Insofar as it was not cited as a reason, I'm guessing that the corner to corner measurement was outside of the limits.

I'm afraid that my friend Deborah Hase may have replaced Freddy in the amen corner on liquor license votes.

Trader was just looking for a plausible excuse to vote no to look after his own political best interests. Ditto for the mayor. Elections are now less than 8 months away. That's what the church ladies were banking on to pull off their brazen assault upon the civil liberties of fellow American's who are not as nutzo over demon rum as they are.

Anonymous said...

I think all of the Council members up for re-election will have a tough time of it. The letter to the editor about Hase has alot of people buzzing.

Everyone knows Charlie and Deborahs plight. She has made another bad decision. She should have waited until after the election to show her hand. But I guess Sea Island says time is of the essence.

If they bomb out in D.C. Charlie will have to start the entire process over. If that happens he knows he will never get things to this point again.

Deborah has to deliver!!!!

Anonymous said...

What is with Jay and Deborah Hase? Every one I know who has dealings with her come away with the opinion that she is jerk and that she is a one term office holder. She is in the pocket of Camden Partnership and Charlie Smith. She can't even get along with people at the several churches she has bouched from. What is up?

Jay Moreno said...

No mystery. She and her husband Ken are friends of mine and have been since shortly after I arrived here in 1993.

Could you explain the verb "to bouch?"

Anonymous said...

I heard today that Principal Bird may be on the chopping block. I guess her husband has pissed off the wrong person with his letter to the Editor.

Jay Moreno said...

Oh, I doubt that that is true. I certainly hope that it is not. She should in no way be responsible for or impacted by the statments of ol' swashbuckling Breck Girl, E.F.Bird.

Although, now that you mention it, I did see Tricia Smith leaving the CMS parking lot the other day. Does she still have her hand in the pot down at the B.O.E.?

Anonymous said...

Most certainly, Hardin owes her big time. I do like Jo Beth, so I hope what I am hearing is NOT true.