December 20 - South Carolina Seceded from the United States

South Carolina Didn't Secede Because of States' Rights - It Denounced States Rights

The Only Reason for Secession was Protection of Slavery

On this day, December 20, in 1860 South Carolina became the first state to pass an ordinance of secession from the United States. Some like to say this was to defend states' rights but exactly the opposite is true.

In its "declaration of independence" South Carolina denounced other states for passing laws it didn't like because they were in opposition to federal laws. South Carolina made it clear that there was only one reason it was seceding, to protect slavery. All we have to do is look at the words the South Carolina secessionists wrote themselves to explain why they were taking this action.

From the "Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union":

"an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations"

"The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, have enacted laws which either nullify the Acts of Congress or render useless any attempt to execute them."

"Those States have assume the right of deciding upon the propriety of our domestic institutions; and have denied the rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized by the Constitution; they have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery"

"A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery"

This should settle, once and for all, that the cause of secession and the resulting Civil War was slavery, not states' rights. The south opposed the states' rights of the free states to oppose slavery. All the South cared about was preserving slavery and they were willing to go to war for that, even a war that resulted in their utter destruction.

Reminder of CRC (Charter Review Commission) Public Hearing

 

Please help get out the word about the CRC public hearing on Wednesday, January 20, 2016, at 7:30pm, in the County Council building (100 Maryland Ave, Rockville 20850).

You can tell all your friends and acquaintances that while the CRC is focusing on an amendment to the County Charter to allow elections to fill vacancies of more than three years in the office of County Executive, we welcome all citizens to the public hearing to tell us about any changes they wish to see in the County Charter. They can find a copy of the County Charter at http://bessel.org/charter/charter.htm or they can email or call our staff aide, Josh Hamlin at Joseph.Hamlin@montgomerycountymd.gov to obtain a paper copy of the Charter.

Although it is not required, it would help us if those who would like to testify at the CRC hearing on January 20 would contact Josh Hamlin or me --- besselpaulm@comcast.net --- ahead of the public hearing so we will know who to expect and what you plan to talk about. Those who contact us ahead of time will have priority in speaking at the hearing. If there are not a lot of people asking to testify there will not be any time limits.

I have been speaking about the CRC, the County Charter, and our public hearing, at meetings of the county's Citizen Advisory Boards and at political and all other meetings where I can obtain an invitation. If you know of similar groups, please let me know and I'll be glad to attend and give a short presentation.

Please also remember that the CRC will have its usual monthly meeting on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, at 8am in the morning, in the 6th floor meeting room of the County Council building, and we plan to continue to meet every 2nd Wednesday of the month at that same time and in that same place every month. We try to finish our meetings by 9am and we definitely finish by 9:30am at the latest. All our meetings are open to everyone so please feel free to invite anyone to join us.

Paul M. Bessel
Chairperson, CRC (Charter Review Commission)
 

 

Liquor Regulation Fight Will Be Heated

Yesterday the Rockville-Mid-County Democratic Breakfast Club held its monthly meeting. The speakers were Delegate Bill Frick and Council President Nancy Floreen, discussing bills to change the current MoCo liquor monopoly.

Both Delegate Frick and Council President Floreen are intelligent and kind people, but both got a little hot during this discussion, more so than I have seen on other issues. We're still months away from action by the General Assembly on the proposed bills about MoCo liquor regulation, so it appears this will be a very heated political issue.

Currently MoCo may be (this is disputed) the only county in the U.S. that has a government monopoly on liquor wholesale and retail sales. Those who support continuing this say the county would lose (the number varies) about $30 million is this is ended, but that is also highly contested. 

Those who want to end the MoCo liquor monopoly say this is a subject that should not be under government control (most agree with that), but the opposition says we're stuck with the current system. Opponents of continuing the liquor monopoly also say that action would lead to more choices and lower prices for consumers, but that is also disputed.

So, this will be a very hard fight.

Commemoration of the 13th Amendment

End of Slavery in the United States

Friday, December 11, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Lincoln Cottage presented an excellent program commemorating the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ending slavery in the United States.

Officials from the Commission and the Cottage introduced professors who gave very detailed papers about how the 13th Amendment came to be and what affects it had on our country. It was great, and even the refreshments were better than at most such events.

Similar events will be held to commemorate the 14th and 15th Amendments in the coming years and I'm sure they will equally educational. There is a lot we don't know about these 3 "Reconstruction Amendments" to the U.S. Constitution.

Victory for Open Meetings

Decision of Compliance Board in Favor of My Complaint Against the Montgomery County Board of Elections

The Open Meetings Act Compliance Board has just ruled on my complaint the the MoCo Board of Elections violated the Open Meetings Act when 3 of its members (all Republicans) held a conference call during which they discussed and possibly decided which early voting centers would be selected.

I and those who support open meetings won the case. The Compliance Board ruled that although the Board of Elections' counsel claimed that there was no quorum when the 3 Republican members of the Board held their conference call, he was wrong. The Board is now required to publicly acknowledge the decision of the Compliance Board stating that they violated the Open Meetings Act.

This is a victory for open government and allowing the public to see and hear all deliberations of public officials. I am very happy with this decision.

John Brown, American Abolitionist, Hanged on This Day

John Brown, shown above in a colorized portrait and then a painting that is in the Kansas Capitol, was hanged on this day, December 2, in 1859, after a kangaroo court trial in Virginia.

John Brown is sometimes called a madman but nothing could be further from the truth. He was a deeply religious man who felt --- absolutely correctly at the time in 1859 because slavery was expanding --- that nothing would end slavery in the United States unless someone took direct action. 

He decided to attempt to bloodlessly end slavery by going into the south and providing slaves with a safe place to which to escape on their way to Canada, in the mountains in the South. The fact that his strategy was flawed should not detract from the fact that his goal was good, as almost all people now would agree.

There are many reasons his trial was unfair. He was severely injured and all courts now, and almost all then, would have delayed the trial until the defendant was sufficiently well. Instead Brown had to be brought into his trial on a bed. He was not allowed time for his lawyer to arrive although the lawyer was on his way. And Brown was charged with treason against Virginia, a state to which he owed no loyalty and therefore could not be guilty of treason. 

Nevertheless, everyone knew he would be rushed to a guilty verdict. So, about 6 weeks after his raid on Harpers Ferry he was sentenced to death by hanging. Present at his execution were men later to become famous such as Stonewall Jackson and John Wilkes Booth.

Poets such as Henry David Thoreau in his "Plea for Captain Brown" quoted Brown. "I think, my friends, you are guilty of a great wrong against God and humanity, and it would be perfectly right for any one to interfere with you so far as to free those you willfully and wickedly hold in bondage."

And his last note was prophetic. "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land can never be purged away but with blood." Almost exactly one year later, very much because of John Brown, the states of the South started to secede from the United States, plunging our country into a Civil War that resulted in the deaths of 2% of our population, a percentage that today would mean the deaths of 6.4 million Americans.

New Leaders of MoCo Council

   

This morning the MoCo Council elected its leaders for 2016. George Leventhal left as Council President and was replaced by Nancy Floreen. The new VP is Roger Berliner.

Nancy Floreen was Council President in 2010 and Roger Berliner was Council President in 2012.

The MoCo Council elects its president and vp each year at the first meeting in December. The VP usually moves to president the next year, but as recently as 2010 that did not happen.

The Council President presides over meetings of the County Council but also has other very significant powers over such things as setting the agendas, appointment of committees, supervising the staff, and generally guiding the Council.

MoCo Delegation Hearing on Local Bills

Last night the MoCo Delegation (8 State Senators and 24 State Delegates, most of whom were present) held a hearing on bills that have been introduced for the coming Maryland General Assembly session in Annapolis that only relate to Montgomery County.

I testified in support of Delegate Al Carr's bill to provide for elections in case of vacancies in the office of members of the MoCo Board of Education when the remaining term is 3 years or more. I pointed out the the MoCo Charter Review Commission is working on a similar amendment for vacancies in the office of MoCo County Executive.

The major issue of the evening, taking many hours, was discussion of two issues concerning liquor sales in MoCo. The first was whether MoCo liquor special orders should be allowed without going through the DLC (Department of Liquor Control). MoCo is the only county in the U.S. (out of about 3,000) that by law requires all liquor sales to go through a government agency.

The second, and more controversial, was a bill by Delegates Bill Frick, Kirill Reznik, and others, to hold a referendum on the MoCo ballot in November 2016 on whether the voters want to continue the MoCo government liquor monopoly or not. Some feel that our county government should not be in this business, as we are the only such county, and that consumers would benefit if liquor sales in our county were made by private companies, as in most other parts of the country.

Opponents, including County Executive Ike Leggett, feel that it would be too much of a financial burden for MoCo to lose the income from the DLC, estimated at different amounts by different people but generally referred to as about $30 million. Others who opposed this bill forcefully included Mcgeo, the union that represents the employees of the DLC. They were in the county council hearing room in force and engaged in demonstrations to support their position.

What happens now? Both bills will probably be introduced in Annapolis, the one to revise DLC to allow private parties to engages in sales of special wines and beer, and the one to have a referendum on whether or not to allow all liquor to be sold in MoCo by private companies in addition to DLC. There will be more hearings in Annapolis, probably in February and/or March 2016, and then the Maryland State Senate and House of Delegates will vote on these bills and if they pass they will go to the Governor for signature or veto.

Based on the discussion last night, there is no doubt that these will be very contentious issues.

100 Year Anniversary of Einstein's Theory of Relativity

 

It is difficult to imagine that 100 years ago today, November 25, 1915, Albert Einstein went on stage at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin and declared he had concluded his pursuit, taking decades, into what he called a new and deeper understanding of gravity. He said a few days later that he was exhausted but the success was glorious.

The general theory of relativity was now complete. Einstein's special theory of relativity had been completed 10 years earlier in 1905.

Einstein had shown that time and space were not separate entities, and he now showed that gravity was included. In ways that most people do not understand, Einstein completely changed the world with a new understanding of physics, one that has been proven since by experimentation. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.

Public Hearing on Local Bills in the Maryland General Assembly

This coming Monday, November 30, there will be a public hearing on local bills that have been introduced in the General Assembly by MoCo State Senators and State Delegates. It will be in the hearing room of the County Council, at 100 Maryland Ave, Rockville MD 20850, on the 3rd floor.

Among other bills that will be considered are a bill to fill any vacancies in the MoCo Board of Education by election of the people rather than appointment by the remaining Bd of Ed members (I may testify on that), alcoholic beverage sales near schools and places of worship, changes in the way liquor is sold in MoCo (the county government now has a monopoly on that, the only such county monopoly in the country), additional early voting centers for MoCo, and many others.

MoCo citizens may register to testify at this public hearing --- you don't have to have written testimony but you may if you wish --- and the details are at http://www.montgomerycountydelegation.com/testify.html

Even if you just want to watch, it's usually very interesting.
 

Anniversaries this Week

This is an interesting week for anniversary dates in Maryland.

Today, November 25, is the birthday of Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot and Maryland State Delegate David Frager-Hidalgo. Both are very thoughtful and effective in their public offices.

Three days ago, on November 22, in the year 1633 a few years before the start of the English Civil War, the first settlers in Maryland sailed from England, probably not realizing how historic their adventure would become.

Five days from now, on November 30, in 1675, after England Civil War was concluded and the kingship restored, Cecil Calvert the 2nd Lord Baltimore, the founder of Maryland, died.

Tomorrow, November 26, in 1783, the United States Congress began meeting in Annapolis, in the exact same building that still stands as our Capitol.

Maryland truly has a very interesting history.
 

 

MoCo General Assembly Delegation Priority Hearing

Last night, Nov. 18, the MoCo State Senators and State Delegates held a "priorities" hearing, to allow MoCo citizens to tell them what we'd like them to work on at the coming General Assembly session that starts January 13, 2016, at noon.

I testified and asked our delegation to please work on 3 issues:

1. Strengthen the Open Meetings Act. Now, if the Compliance Board find a violation the law says its opinion is merely "advisory." If public officials hold unlawful secret meetings the law should allow orders to correct the situation, such as voiding all actions resulting from the secret meetings. 

Also, as in other states such as Michigan, public officials who violate the law by having secret meetings should be subject to fines of $1,000. 

And, the Open Meetings Act now only requires one person to be trained about open meetings (the training is online, takes about 2 hours, and is excellent), and that one person can be staff, all members appointed to public bodies should be required to take this training or be removed from office.

2. Our Annapolis delegation should take the lead in repealing our awful state song. All other states have songs that sing the praises of their land an people. Maryland alone has a song that calls its people cowards for not joining Virginia is seceding from the U.S., and praises those who murdered U.S. soldiers.

3. Our delegation should take the lead on what are sometimes called "women's issues" but are really human rights issues. Convicted rapists should not have any parental rights. It is horrible to even consider that, yet it's now in the law. The law should be clarified to say that the moment a woman says "no" to further sexual activity, no matter what has come before, if the man continues then the act is rape. And of course there should be equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.

State Delegates Ben Kramer, Marice Morales, and Kathleen Dumais, and State Senator Jamie Raskin have been working on these issues and deserve praise for their efforts.

The Meaning of the Gettysburg Address in Our Time

 All agree that the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, delivered on this day, November 19, in 1863, was one of the most inspiring speeches ever given.

Everyone remembers the start --- four score and seven years ago --- and the end --- of the people by the people for the people --- but that is not necessarily the most meaningful part of the speech for us in our time.

The keys to the speech are near the beginning and the end.

"... our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

and

"we here highly resolve that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth."
    

Charter Review Commission Sets Date for Public Hearing

 

The Montgomery County Charter Review Commission has set the date for its public hearing. It will be Wednesday, January 20, 2016, starting at 7:30pm, in the County Council building, 100 Maryland Ave, Rockville MD 20850, in the 7th floor hearing room. Rain date is Monday, January 25, 2016, same time and place.

All citizens of MoCo are welcome to attend this public hearing, and to testify if they wish. The primary topic will be the question of language to be added to the MoCo Charter to allow special elections to fill any vacancy in the office of County Executive, as is already permitted for  vacancies in the office of County Council Member.

Other topics that may come up include provisions concerning the setting of tax limits in MoCo, term limits, and anything else in the Charter.

Those interested in testifying should contact Paul M. Bessel at besselpaulm@comcast.net or Josh Hamlin at joseph.hamlin@montgomerycountymd.gov

More on Early Voting Locations in MoCo

The saga of MoCo early voting centers continues.

The current fracas started when in September the MoCo Board of Elections, by a party vote of 3 Republicans to 2 Democrats suddenly said two locations used previously, Praisner and Lawton, would no longer be used for early voting. Instead they voted for two other early voting centers.

The Democrats on the Bd of Elections, and then many others, were extremely upset. Basically they said that two early voting centers with large numbers of voters, many of them minorities, would be closed and replaced by early voting sites that were much less convenient for most voters.

After a huge outpouring of outrage, today the MoCo Board of Elections held a special meeting where the president, a Republican, offered what he called a compromise. He made a motion to change the previous vote on early voting centers by using the Praisner Center. The Democrats on the Board protested that the Lawton Center should also continue to be used, instead of a Potomac location they said was less convenient.

The debate on this subject was very long and, most unfortunately, nasty and personal at times. One Republican member of the Board alleged that the whole controversy was stirred up by the MoCo Democratic party. 

Democrats on the Board said there was little or no evidence that the switch from the Bethesda early voting location to Potomac would result in making it more easy for more people to vote and they presented lots of facts, statistics, and maps to prove their point.

At the end of the meeting, after public input that started out in a dignified manner degenerated into members of the audience yelling at the Board members, the Board voted 3-2 for what the Republicans called their compromise. The Praisner Center was reinstated as an early voting site but Bethesda was not.

It is likely that this controversy will continue.

Jamie Raskin at D18 Dem Breakfast Club

The speaker at today's meeting of the D18 Democratic Breakfast Club was Jamie Raskin. He gave an enthusiastic talk about his accomplishments in the Maryland State Senate and what he intends to do if elected to Congress in Maryland's 8th Congressional District in the primary election on April 26, 2016.

He covered a wide range of topics and during the question and answer session answered questions on even more topics, never showing anything less than great enthusiasm for his topics.

This concludes the D18 Dem Club's talks by what its leader considers the major candidates. Other Dem candidates for MD District 8 in Congress will be invited to the next meeting.

First Rockville Candidates Debate

Last night was the first debate of candidates for Mayor and City Council in Rockville, where the election is less than a month away.

There are 2 candidates for Mayor, the incumbent and a challenger, and 9 candidates for the 4 positions on the City Council. All were present and seemed, to me at least, to be qualified.

There were a few "hot" moments but mostly the candidates focused on policy issues. The moderator was excellent and his questions, prepared by the Chamber of Commerce, went into many policy issues. The only major problem, in my opinion, was that the audience was not allowed to ask any questions.

There will be more debates among the Rockville candidates, and probably also among the candidates running in Gaithersburg.

Open Meetings is Really the Law in Maryland and You Cannot Make Up Exceptions

Maryland has an Open Meetings Act to insure that citizens can observe government agencies in action. Some people in government may think they can create exceptions but they are not allowed to do that.

For example, yesterday morning the president of the MoCo Board of Elections said at a public meeting of a County Council committee that the three Republican members of the Board of Elections got together privately before an official meeting of the Board, to work out their strategy before they met with the other members of the Board. This is illegal.

I have filed a complaint with the Maryland Open Meetings Act Compliance Board to help explain this to the Board of Elections and all others. A copy of my complaint is below.

Paul M. Bessel
3700 Marble Arch Way
Silver Spring MD 20906
(email) besselpaulm@comcast.net
(phone) 240-669-8587

October 1, 2015

Open Meetings Compliance Board
c/o Attorney General's Office
200 St. Paul Place
Baltimore, MD 21202
OpenGov@oag.state.md.us

To the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board:

I am filing this complaint against the Montgomery County Board of Elections, based on public statements made by the President of that Board at a public meeting this morning.

I have no animosity against the President or Members of this Board of Elections and I am willing to concede that those members of the Board who participated in the acts which will be described below may have acted in good faith and they thought they were permitted to do what they did. I am only seeking a decision of the Open Meetings Act Compliance Board that a violation occurred to assist the Montgomery County Board of Elections and any other groups similarly situated, to know what their legal responsibilities are concerning the Open Meetings Act.

This morning, October 1, 2015, from about 10am to about 12 noon, the President and Members of the Montgomery County Board of Elections were testifying before the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee of the Montgomery County Council. The subject of their testimony and the details of the decisions of the Board of Elections that were being questioned is not relevant to this Open Meetings Act complaint.

What is relevant is that during this hearing, held with a number of members of the public present in addition to all the members of the Board of Elections, the President of the Board of Elections, James Shalleck, stated that before reaching a decision on the question of where early voting locations would be placed in Montgomery County during the upcoming elections, the three Republican members of the Board, constituting a quorum since a quorum of this Board consists of a majority and there are five voting members, met separately and without notice to anyone so that they could formulate the position they would take on this subject when the Board of Elections met to make its decision formally. The President of the Board of Elections said that he believed that so long as this informal pre-meeting was held with just the Republicans members of the Board of Elections, and no formal decisions were made, it did not contravene the Maryland Open Meetings Act.

A video recording of the meeting this morning, at which these statements were made by the President of the Board of Elections, is available.

In Compliance Board Opinion No. 01-2, issued January 12, 2001, concerning the complaint of Andrew B. White, Chairman, Montgomery County Fire Board, the Maryland Open Meetings Act Compliance Board ruled that:

    “Under the Open Meetings Act, a meeting occurs when a quorum of a public body convenes for the consideration or transaction of public business.” (Italics added) ... As we [the Open Meetings Act Compliance Board] have explained, even information-gathering at the earliest stages of policy formation is part of the consideration ... of public business....And as the Court of Appeals has observed, every step of the process ... constitutes the consideration or transaction of public business.” [internal quotation marks deleted for ease reading]

The opinion continued:

    “Four of the seven voting members of the Commission were present for the discussion concerning the proposed IECS regulations, a matter schedule to come before the full Commission. This group interaction about a Commission item of business invokes the Open Meetings Act, for in these circumstances neither the members nor the Chairman may shed their Commission identity as if it were an uncomfortable garment.”

These principles enunciated by the Maryland Open Meetings Act Compliance Board apply precisely to the incident this morning. The President of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, with all the other members of the Board sitting beside him and in a public meeting that was televised and video recorded, that he and the other Republican members of the Board had met privately and without any notice before an official Board of Elections meeting to decide on the joint position they would take when the Board met officially. This was a violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act, even if the President and the other members present did not think they were doing anything wrong. The Maryland Open Meetings Act Compliance Board should assist them by stating that they acted in violation of the law and provide guidance how they can avoid such violations in the future.

Sincerely,
[signed]
Paul M. Bessel

copy to:    James Shalleck, President, Montgomery County Board of Elections
        Counsel to Montgomery County Board of Elections
        both at the following email address: elections@montgomerycountymd.gov
        

Happy Birthday, Montgomery County!

Today, October 1, in 1776, is the date when Montgomery County officially became a county in Maryland. It was carved out of Frederick County by the Maryland Constitutional Convention on Sept. 6, with an effective date of October 1.

Our county is named for Richard Montgomery, a hero of the Revolutionary War who died on the last day of 1775 while leading the Continental Army's attempt to conquer Canada. This was the first time counties in America (Montgomery and Washington County, Maryland) were named after heroes in the American Revolution.

The county seat was an area adjacent to Hungerford's Tavern, now Rockville.

In the 1790 first federal census, 18,000 people were counted in Montgomery County. In the latest census in 2010, a total of 972,000 were counted here, and there are now undoubtedly more than a million.

MD Congressional District 8 Candidates Debate

Last night (Sept. 30) the first debate took place among the 6 candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination (plus one unaffiliated) for the Maryland Congressional District 8. It was at the Silver Spring Civic Center and was sponsored by Progressive Neighbors and the Sierra Club. And it had some real heat!

The candidates were, in alphabetical order (1) David Anderson, (2) Kumar Barve, (3) Ana Sol Gutierrez, (4) Will Jawando, (5) Kathleen Matthews, (6) Jamie Raskin. Later in the debate, Liz Matory came in the room, said she was running as an unaffiliated candidate having left the Democratic party, and was seated at the candidates table.

The questions were all on the subject of the environment but the format allowed questions from the moderators, the public, and most interestingly from and to each other. That brought out the most heated part of the debate.

State Delegate Kumar Barve asked State Senator Jamie Raskin to explain his personal campaign contribution to State Senator C. Anthony Muse despite Muse's opposition to many progressive issues such as same-sex marriage. Senator Raskin angrily said this type of negative campaigning was common among Republicans but should not happen among Democrats.

The other heated exchange came when candidates were asked if their demographic (female, African American, Hispanic) should be considered in this race. 

It was very interesting and a video has been posted on Jonathan Shurberg's excellent blog, Maryland Scramble at http://marylandscramble.com/

All other upcoming candidate debates and forums that I know about will be listed at http://bessel.org/upcoming.htm

What's Going On With Early Voting Sites in MoCo?

Some people appear to be confused about reports of controversy concerning early voting locations in Montgomery County. Here are the basic facts.

Starting in 2010, as the result of a Maryland Constitutional amendment, voters in our state were permitted to vote early at certain sites to be selected by county and state Boards of Election. About 2/3 of the states now have early voting.

At first the early voting period was 6 day but that was expanded to 8 days starting with the 2014 elections. The number of early voting locations was also increased. Montgomery County has 9 of them.

Under Maryland law, the Governor appoints the members of each county's Board of Elections, with no more than a majority from any party. Therefore, when our state had a Democratic governor all the boards of election had Democratic majorities. Now that we have a Republican governor, MoCo and all other counties have a Republican majority.

On September 21, 2015, the MoCo Board of Elections voted 3-2 (3 Republicans and 2 Democrats) to eliminate 2 of the early voting centers that had been used in the past, particularly the one at the Marilyn J. Praisner Center, which in the 2014 general election early voting period had the second highest number of voters. On top of that, the Praisner center is located in an area where it can cater to voters from minority groups who live nearby. The Board of Elections retained an early voting center in Damascus, which had the lowest number of early voters in 2014.

Those who oppose what the MoCo Board of Elections did support having early voting sites where most people live or work. Those who support what the MoCo Board of Education did support early voting sites in areas that have fewer voters, to see if they can increase the number of voters.

That's what the current dispute it about. Should early voting centers be located where the greatest number of voters can and do use them, or should they be located in places that might increase their number of voters.

Bloodiest Day in American History

On what day did more Americans die than any other? 9/11 when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers? Pearl Harbor? D-Day?

No. It was September 17, 1862, at the Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg (the Union army usually named battles after things such as streams, as in Antietam Creek, while Confederates usually named them after towns, such as Sharpsburg). The death toll in that one-day battle, which many consider to have been a draw, was far larger than 9/11, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or any other before or since. About 23,000 were killed, wounded, or missing, with almost 4,000 killed.

What happened that day that changed America? Robert E. Lee for the first time felt his army was strong enough to bring the war into the north, thinking if he could defeat the largest Union army in the north then Abraham Lincoln might be forced to give in to those who demanded peace and allowing the Confederacy to be independent. He was probably right. And we know that Britain and France were ready to recognize the Confederacy if Lee had won at Antietam.

The United States army was led by George McClellan, who was said by Lincoln to have “the slows.” Amazingly, McClellan’s men found and gave him a copy of Lee’s orders to his army so McClellan knew exactly what Lee was doing, and McClellan still managed to almost lose because he delayed. 

McClellan’s army attacked Lee’s army on several different parts of the battlefield but lost in all areas. Still the slaughter continued from dawn to dusk, finally ending when a part of Lee’s army that had been at Harpers Ferry arrived at the Antietam Battlefield.

The Confederacy didn’t get recognized by Britain and France. Lincoln wasn’t forced to negotiate peace with the south. And most importantly Abraham Lincoln was able to take from his desk a document he had been waiting for a victory to announce, the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation that led to the complete end of slavery in the United States, the largest freeing of slaves in the history of the world.

Doug Duncan Spoke at Leisure World about Depression

Doug Duncan, former 3-term MoCo Executive, spoke to a packed house of hundreds at Leisure World today.

He described, candidly and courageously, how he came to realize he was suffering from depression in 2006 and how he left the race for Governor and obtained treatment for his disease.

His message was that depression can affect anyone and anyone who is affected by it should seek treatment rather than continue to suffer, or take worse action. Medicine and other treatments are effective, as proven by how Doug Duncan is now enjoying his life.

Duncan answered many questions and didn't avoid talking about any aspect of his disease. He even answer questions about his future political plans (none at the moment) and his opinion of Donald Trump (you can guess what that was).

It is likely that Doug Duncan's talk today, and his previous openness about his disease, helped many people who are suffering to seek treatment and a better life. That is probably one of the greatest achievements of Doug Duncan's career.

Kathleen Matthews at the District 18 Democratic Breakfast Club

This morning (Sept. 15) the excellent District 18 Democratic Breakfast Club had as its speaker Kathleen Matthews, who is a candidate in Maryland's 8th congressional district.

In my opinion Ms. Matthews made a very good impression. She talked about her background and her progressive Democratic policy positions. She said she knows that this will be a tough campaign and she wants to use her background in television and the Marriott Corporation to be an effective person in Congress.

There are several other experienced candidates running to replace Chris Van Hollen, who is running for U.S. Senator. Kathleen Matthews proved to me today that she will do well in candidate forums with other candidates.

Winners of the Next 9 Presidential Elections are Already Alive

Assuming that no one over the age of 75 will be elected President --- the oldest so far, Reagan, was 69 (just short of 70) when first elected and 77 when he left office --- the winners of the next 9 presidential elections, 2016 through 2048, are already alive. You must be 35 to take office as President.

Possibly coincidentally, in 2048 Barack Obama's two daughters will be 52 and 47.

Charter Review Commission Meeting

The MoCo CRC (Charter Review Commission) will be meeting today, Wed, Sep 9, 2015, at 8am (morning) in the County Council building (100 Maryland Ave) in the 6th floor conference room. The meeting is open to the public. 

The tentative agenda calls for discussing how to amend the MoCo Charter to allow elections to fill any vacancies in the office of County Executive, and review any other Charter issues. 

More info about the CRC is available at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/crc/ andhttp://bessel.org/charter/

Happy Birthday, Montgomery County

Sorry to be a day late. I was at the convention of the National Association of Parliamentarians that ended today.

September 6 --- or October 1 --- is the birthdate of Montgomery County, Maryland. 

On September 6, 1776, our state's Constitutional Convention voted to create our county, carving it out of Frederick County. That action became effective on October 1, 1776. So we can celebrate either September 6 or October 1, or both, as our County birthday.

Happy MoCo birthday!

September 1 - Remember

Today, September 1, is the anniversary of the start of World War 2, in which at least 50 million people lost their lives.

It was caused by one man’s ego. He was elected by the people of his country on a platform that they should put all their faith in him to be their leader, that he would make their country great again, and that there were some people among them who needed to be expelled from their country.

That couldn’t happen here, could it?

President Madison Spends Night in MoCo 201 Years Ago Tonight

     

Tonight, August 26, two hundred and one years ago (1814), U.S. President James Madison spent the night in MoCo. However, it wasn't a happy visit for him or for the United States.

Madison was in MoCo because the British had captured and burned Washington D.C. He escaped first to Virginia and then to Brookeville in Montgomery County, Maryland. The house in which he stayed still stands (photo above, on right).

Although it was a humiliating day for Madison and our country, the British left the next day after what is believed to have been a tornado stopped the fires they had set in Washington, and about six months later the War of 1812 ended in what most historians consider a stalemate.

But Brookeville and Montgomery County can claim to have been sort-of the capital of the U.S. for one night.

"Gabriel Over the White House" Relevant Today

 

If you haven't seen the movie "Gabriel Over the White House" you might want to look for it on late-night tv. I think it has some eerie relevance to the current presidential campaign. 

The basic point of the movie is that it would be a good thing to have a president who was so sure of himself that he takes over all power to do what he considers to be beneficial things for the country, no matter what anyone else says. Unfortunately, the movie makes you feel that the president who does this is a great hero, the greatest president of all time.

It's a scary film to me, especially when I found out that FDR enjoyed the film and watched it several times. What's more scary is listening to Donald Trump and realizing that this movie could be about a Trump presidency, or a Cruz one.