Some Local Politics

This is most upsetting and it happened only a few miles away. I first read this letter to the editor in the Washington Post, by Christopher J. Reynolds:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/05/AR2006050501858.html

This week was the Republican response, authored by Tom Kelley.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/13/AR2006051300028.html

Obviously, I have a clear "blue" bias in a "red" county. However, Reynolds was correct and the Kelley has, at best, poor spin control abilities.

I don't doubt that the Republicans have the right to free speech, but the point of the Reynolds letter was to show that the Calvert County Board of Education and the Republican Party in Calvert County allowed a fundraising event on school grounds. There were plenty of other places that the Republicans could have held their event (maybe).

Could it be that the tides are turning, and nobody wanted to have their venue tarnished by Coulter? Or could it have been that the Republicans simply forgot to mention that it was a fundraising event?

Then I found this: http://www.gazette.net/stories/042806/polia%20s194454_31957.shtml

This article states that the Republicans knew about the issue of hosting the fundraiser on school grounds, at least a week before the event. Instead of reading the Reynolds letter and say that they moved the main fundraiser off school grounds; the Republican response attacked Reynolds, as whiner and that he represents a "'party of negativity'". The Kelley letter could have summarized the Gazette article by saying that the only thing that happened on school grounds was a speech, and that attendees needed to cover the costs.

But that isn't what happened, its obvious by the way that the Kelley letter didn't have any facts or figures. It immediately went on the offensive, and started with the name calling. If you have nothing to hide, then tell us where the $200 pre-event reception took place and we’ll try to believe. But when you use language like in the Kelley letter, we have to believe that something went wrong.

CC: The Washington Post, The Calvert Recorder, The Calvert Independent, Christopher J. Reynolds, Tom Kelley