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STEVEN A. McCALEB
103 ALVERADO DRIVE
LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI 39560
PHONE & FAX: (228)-868-8428
E-MAIL: mccaleb5thdist@aol.com
WEB SITE: www.mississippiwebsite.com
I fly the
American Flag every day in my front yard;
all of my flags were flown at the Capital in Washington, D.C.
I have not flown the Confederate Battle Flag for reasons of my own,
but now it is time to fly both flags.
Friday, August 18, 2006
By GEOFF PENDER
THE SUN HERALD
Friday, August 18, 2006
THERE IS
A PROCESS IN MISSISSIPPI, WHICH ALLOWS THE
VOTERS AND TAXPAYERS TO REMOVE ALL FIVE OF OUR
SO-CALLED "HARRISON COUNTY SUPERVISORS."
Question:
Would
you, the voters and taxpayers on Mississippi vote to remove
all five of our so-called Harrison County Supervisors?
GULFPORT - Eight American flags, and not the
disputed Rebel flag, will fly indefinitely at Harrison County's beach display at
the foot of DeBuys Road, county supervisors decided Monday.
Why did we, "Mississippian's," sign
petitions and vote to have our Confederate Battle Flag fly.
Am I, too understand, that five people can stop
the will of the voters and taxpayers.
Considering our Harrison County Supervisors have
committed, Fraud, Waste, & Abuse of our Tax Dollars.
Look at what it cost just to have a special vote
on the Confederate Flag, and for out supervisors overturn the voter’s vote is
a reason for removal from elected office.
The surprise decision came at the end of Monday's
meeting, after most of the public had left. Earlier in the meeting, Gulfport
lawyer Felicia Dunn-Burkes had asked the board to reverse its June decision to
replace the original Eight Flags beach display.
Burkes, Felicia Dunn
Address:
2400 14th St Ste 107 P O Box 816
Gulfport,
MS 39502-0107
Phone: (228) 863-2443
Fax: (228) 863-8967
This looks like a setup vote too me, "The
surprise decision came at the end of Monday's meeting, after most of the public
had left."
Let's vote to remove our Harrison County
Supervisors, and hopefully get five honest people to serve the wishes of the
people, and not themselves.
The display included the Rebel flag, which is
viewed as a symbol of racial hatred and intolerance by some, and a symbol of
history and heritage by others. Supervisors took down the display in March 2000
after protests drew hundreds of people and resulted in a series of flag thefts.
Our Harrison County Supervisors voted to have the
original flag's flown again.
This came about after the majority of voters in
Mississippi voted to fly the confederate battle flag.
But now, in order to get their butts out of a
crack, they chose to change their minds.
But it is not the minds of the majority of
taxpayers and voters, which voted to keep the confederate battle flag flying.
The county had planned to put back up the
original display, which is supposed to represent the governments that have ruled
the Coast since 1699.
I wonder what changed the five Harrison County
Supervisors minds.
If you believe it is because of the September
11th,"9/11," disaster thinks again, their decision is based on other
agenda's.
On Monday, Dunn-Burkes said that in light of the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, “we need to quit being
at war with one another . . . close ranks and fly eight American flags.”
This Dunn-Burks is not telling the truth, but saw
a means of reversing the majority’s votes to fly the battle flag.
The Supervisors saw a way of not having to deal
with the minority and there terrorization.
Rebel flag supporter John French of the Sons of
Confederate Veterans asked to speak to supervisors after Dunn-Burkes, but was
told he could not do so because he was not on the board meeting agenda.
http://www.mississippiscv.org/ms_division_officers.htm
double click here
Here is another coward’s way out for our five
Supervisors.
A person does not have to be on the agenda to
speak, if that were the case a lot of people would not be able to say anything
at the meetings.
And that is against the first amendment.
The First Amendment of the
United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom
of expression from government interference. See U.S.
Const. amend. I. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of
speech, press, and assembly and to petition the government for a redress of
grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief. The Supreme Court
interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The Court as
applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly
applicable to Congress has interpreted the First Amendment. Furthermore, the
Court has interpreted, the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as
protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state
governments. See U.S.
Const. amend. XIV.
Two clauses in the First
Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the
government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or
preferring one religion to another. It enforces the "separation of church
and state. The Supreme Court has declared some governmental activity related to
religion constitutional. For example, providing bus transportation for parochial
school students and the enforcement of "blue laws" is not prohibited.
The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from
interfering with a person’s practice of their religion.
The most basic component of
freedom of expression is the right of freedom of speech. The right to freedom of
speech allows individuals to express themselves without interference or
constraint by the government. The Supreme Court requires the government to
provide substantial justification for the interference with the right of free
speech where it attempts to regulate the content of the speech. A less stringent
test is applied for content-neutral legislation. The Supreme Court has also
recognized that the government may prohibit some speech that may cause breach of
the peace or cause violence. The right to free speech includes other mediums of
expression that communicates a message.
Despite popular misunderstanding
the right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment is not very
different from the right to freedom of speech. It allows an individual to
express themselves through publication and dissemination. It is part of the
constitutional protection of freedom of expression. It does not afford members
of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in
general.
The right to assemble allows
people to gather for peaceful and lawful purposes. Implicit within this right is
the right to association and belief. The Supreme Court has expressly recognized
that a right to freedom of association and belief is implicit in the First,
Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. This implicit right is limited to the right to
associate for First Amendment purposes. It does not include a right of social
association. The government may prohibit people from knowingly associating in
groups that engage and promote illegal activities. The right to associate also
prohibits the government from requiring a group to register or disclose its
members or from denying government benefits on the based on an individual’s
current or past membership in a particular group. There are exceptions to this
rule where the Court finds that governmental interests in
disclosure/registration outweigh interference with first amendment rights. The
government may also, generally, not compel individuals to express themselves,
hold certain beliefs, or belong to particular associations or groups.
The right to petition the
government for a redress of grievances guarantees people the right to ask the
government to provide relief for a wrong through the courts (litigation) or
other governmental action. It works with the right of assembly by allowing
people to join together and seek change from the government.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html
Double click here
Supervisor William Martin made the motion to fly
eight American flags, “during the duration of the war against terrorists,”
and the board approved the idea on a 4-0 vote. Supervisor Bobby Eleuterius was
absent.
Supervisor William Martin along with the other
four supervisors’ has under-minded the majority of the voter and taxpayers of
Mississippi.
The Governor of Mississippi, Ronnie Musgrove,
should remove them from office.
French
accused supervisors of being wishy-washy, and said that Dunn-Burkes and other
Rebel flag opponents are using the terrorist attacks to promote their agenda.
Mr. John French has hit it right on the head;
perhaps he will find time to submit a petition to remove our five Harrison
County Supervisors.
“(Supervisors) have changed their minds four
times in less than two years,” French said. “I can't believe the people
leading this county don't have any more conviction than that.”
It is arrogant to overthrow the voters of a state,
and that is what the Supervisors of Harrison County have done.
REMEMBER:
MONEY,
POWER & PERKS + FRAUD, WASTE, & ABUSE = CORRUPTION
IT HAS
BEEN SHOWN THAT OUR FIVE SUPERVISORS HAVE COMMITTED
ALL OF THE ABOVE.
Dunn-Burkes said, “I think the Harrison County
Board of Supervisors stepped up to the plate and did the right thing . . .
That's the only flag that needs to be flying in Harrison County, Mississippi,
right now.”
Have you ever heard of so much *BS in you life.
Dunn-Burkes could care less about anything but
getting their way.
And it has been shown that our so-called Harrison
County Supervisors have, "stepped up to the plate" and given the
minority vote a victory.
Harrison County
Board
Attorney
Joe Meadows
Phone: 228-864-4511
District
1
Bobby Eleuterius
P.O. Drawer CC, Gulfport, MS. 39502
Phone: 228-865-4122, Fax: 865-4206
District
2, President
Larry Benefield
P.O. Drawer CC, Gulfport, MS. 39502
Phone: 228-865-4122, Fax: 865-4206
District
3
Marlin Ladner
P.O. Drawer CC, Gulfport, MS. 39502
Phone: 228-865-4122, Fax: 865-4206
District
4
William Martin
P.O. Drawer CC, Gulfport, MS. 39502
Phone: 228-865-4122, Fax: 865-4206
District
5
Connie Rockco
P.O. Drawer CC, Gulfport, MS. 39502
Phone: 228-865-4122, Fax: 865-4206
Geoff Pender can be reached at 896-2329 or at glpender@sunherald.com
STEVEN A. McCALEB
COMMENTARY
MY OPINION
*BS: Bad Supervisors?
