September 8, 2010 7:18 PM
Loudoun's war on Christmas fails - the people prevail
This is a local story with universal significance: what is the future of American government at the local level?
The Loudoun Board of Supervisors today voted not to ban holiday displays at the Leesburg Courthouse after a powerful show of concern from the community at an input session Tuesday night.
This was the third time the community has turned out to defend the people's right to place displays on the property they pay for with their tax dollars - in accordance with their First Amendment rights and current case law.
The Board has been determined to cleanse the Courthouse of religious displays since the day before Thanksgiving 2009, when they denied the Rotary Club approval to install a Christmas tree (which they had been doing for 50 years) and denied Mr. and Mrs. Welch approval for the child-friendly Nativity Scene which they had displayed for 20 years.
With no time to spare, the community sprang into action - starting an online petition, notifying the media and packing the regularly scheduled public input meeting. In the meantime, it was learned that the board had never actually voted on this action, but simply decided to implement the recommendations of a clandestine committee they had appointed - a committee for which there were no public records.
The board's final vote to keep the displays was the result of a lot of hard work by private citizens who - though they had jobs, children and holiday preparations of their own - felt it was important to draw the line. However, the board stipulated that in the spirit of the First Amendment anyone who applied for a display had to be granted one - which meant we ended up with displays that were tacky, irrelevant and insulting to people of any faith. I say any faith because for the past few years we have also had a Menorah, a Muslim crescent and various other religious symbols displayed at the Leesburg Courthouse.
Perhaps the BOS thought that the ridicule allowed under their watch would be a way to make us come to our senses? If so, they were mistaken, for people of faith don't mind the ridiculous and tacky being displayed - such efforts only make the truth look richer and more appealing.
So the matter was settled. . . .
Or so we thought until July when the BOS decided to consider the matter again - with no public notification and in mid-summer when people's attention was on anything but Christmas. But word leaked - through Eugene Delgaudio, the only supervisor who seems to care about informing the people what is really going on in Loudoun County - a new petition began and the people showed up in force again - much to the surprise of the Loudoun Supes, who seem to like to make changes without public interference.
Surprisingly, the ACLU publicly weighed in, urging the BOS to back off.
On the other hand, the BOS solicited and received the kind of opinion they wanted from eight judges. Though one could argue that this opinion bore no more legal weight than the average man on the street, it made headlines as though it made the expected BOS decision a done deal.
This time, the BOS deferred their decision until September 8, making the public input session September 7, the first day of school - another difficult time for families to drop everything. Still, 70 people ranging in age from 7 to 85, and from gay activist to conservative Catholic, pleaded with the board to respect the people's First Amendment rights.
My husband Tripp presented the Board with a be-ribboned stack of pages of the signatures and comments of 1172 Loudoun residents urging the Board not to infringe on our First Amendment rights. (signatures are still coming in)
Some citizens had contacted organizations like the Rutherford Institute, the Alliance Defense Fund, and the ACLJ to complain of what was beginning to seem like a pattern of harassment of Christians in Loudoun County - subjecting them to ridicule two more times after the matter had been settled fair and square. At least two organizations were ready to litigate should the board inflict a ban on the people's rights.
I'm surprised and relieved to say that the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted this morning to back off. Perhaps they've woken up and smelled the coffee. Perhaps they see the voter tsunami bearing down on elected officials who behave as though the narrative is government of the politicians, for the politicians and by the politicians - with little reference to "the people" - those lowly nobodies who elected them.
For years I have been tuned into national and international politics and by necessity relatively oblivious to what's going on in Loudoun, but this issue has made me aware that corruption starts close to home. I now know that our Board of Supervisors travels all over the world on different "fact-finding missions" - at our expense. Like small-time versions of our living-large national leaders, they have plenty of excuses to wine and dine in a manner most of us could never dream of. Even now they're gearing up to grant themselves yet another raise while their constituents are struggling to make ends meet. And in a county with two status-quo liberal weekly newspapers, they've gotten away with it for too long.
I didn't think my respect for these people could sink any lower, but it has. One radio report I heard today stated that one board member had said that a holiday display ban was "never on the table." Oh, really? Then why did the board ask for the opinion of eight judges to use for justification? And if a ban wasn't "on the table" why would they not make that announcement before everyone's lives were disrupted? Why would they sit there impassively in their high-and-mighty elevated seats (all the better to create the illusion that they are somehow above "the people" who elected them) staring at impassioned citizens as though they were bugs under a microscope.
Why not be honest and say that it made a difference that "the people" showed up and that the supes actually heard what they said and responded - like it or not?
There has been - in my opinion - one board member who has proven to be a friend to the people and that is Eugene Delgaudio. If it weren't for Delgaudio's consistent and caring communication with the people of his district and those beyond who are fortunate to be on his mailing list (you can sign up too to be better informed), the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors could have accomplished their Courthouse Cleansing nine months ago.
Delgaudio has been reviled by the Loudoun County elites just as all conservatives are reviled at the state and national level. But he needn't worry. The people - that's right, "the people" the Left used to champion until they became Animal Farm autocrats themselves - have wised up and are becoming wiser every day.
What really sealed the deal was when the media misrepresented and reviled the normal every day people - the peaceful protesters - who make up in a genuinely grassroots way the loose coalition known as the Tea Party. Remember, the original Tea Party was a revolt against an arrogant, autocratic government that overtaxed and was unaccountable. Sound familiar?
Well, when they sided with the ruling class elites to revile good, honest people who were simply exercising their right to free speech - not burning Bush in effigy or throwing rocks at police as the radical Left has done for years - the Status Quo media revealed themselves for the liars they've become.
I think what's happened in Loudoun can be tied to that feeling of empowerment that comes as more and more people wake up to the fact that their government has stopped considering them as anything other than ATM machines as it goes its merry way making decisions that call for "the people" to give up their freedoms and tighten their belts even as elected officials feel entitled to live life larger than ever.
Lately, Maddy's been singing Bob Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changing and I've been struck at what an anthem it is for the counterculture today. Remember Question Authority?
You see, the Left is no longer the counterculture. They are the Authority we should now be questioning. Politicians at every level have become secretive, corrupt and self-serving. If the Status Quo media won't expose it, than the people must do it themselves.
I've got plenty to keep me busy. I don't go looking for trouble. But my next project will be to open the BOS curtain to see what's going on behind the scenes.
In the meantime, I want to urge my fellow citizens to consider running for office in 2011. We don't need professional politicians. We need true public servants who are willing to sacrifice in order to serve their country, their state or their local community - and to do it with integrity and selflessness. This was the intention of the Founding Fathers, and though we've strayed very, very far from this I do believe we are at a turning point and we can turn back to a more noble vision of government - of the people, for the people and by the people.
Every conservative today is called to work harder than we ever thought we could. I'm an optimist - I do think we can make a difference! Even if it's one local issue at a time.
Posted in Conservatism, Loudoun County, Oppression, Tea Party USA | Permalink
Comments
Barbara, why do these supervisors keep getting reelected? And if they're appointed by some elected official, why can't you get them fired under pain of being thown out of office?
Why do you keep needing to do this dance every year?
Posted by: Tony | September 9, 2010 11:27 AM
Thank you for an excellent summary of what can only be described as a year long battle to destroy Christmas and religious liberty in this county. Some still stand by and are silent. Others continue to be confused about it. Your concise leadership and sacrifice and the sacrifice of your readers and the sacrifice of others who came forward turned it all around. As you state, there is definitely something very special about the decision by over a thousand people to demonstrate a conviction that is purely American, patriotic and moral. Standing for one's beliefs and be willing to oppose a wrongful action to eliminate your own established rights is empowering. And simply stating that you will go to court to defend your rights is not immoral. Law firms and conservative and liberal groups were taken aback over the pattern publicly demonstrated by this Board. These law firms bluntly stated some of the percieved irregularities and contributed to this victory too. Again, you and your readership and the many neighbors and friends are to be commended for thoughtfully demonstrating the Christmas spirit and the diversity of religous expression for all to witness. It was the critical difference in what could have been a disaster.
Posted by: Hon. Eugene Delgaudio | September 10, 2010 9:30 AM
