Hampden town council shameful members (Portland, Gorham: homes, wedding, school)

[namder1]

Probably will get flagged for this, but I was wondering if anyone was following the limited coverage about the couple guys on this council refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Hampden is a town divided. A group of progressives has been elected to the town council and once they had a majority they tried to enact an oppressive package of zoning restrictions.

A large group of townspeople formed a property owner's croup called Hampden Association of Land Owners (HALO). They were able to twice prevent the de-facto seizure of private land by the town. However the land grabbers have not given up. Whether it's Quimby up beside Baxter Park or a gang of progressive activists in a town, only engaged citizens can prevent these human rights violations.

Some of us learned in school that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Too many citizens never learned that. Back in Greek and Roman times the word 'citizen' described someone who was engaged in his country or village. Citizenship required engagement. It still does. We get the government we deserve. If we don't participate we can become subjects or serfs rather than citizens.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Hampden is a town divided. A group of progressives has been elected to the town council and once they had a majority they tried to enact an oppressive package of zoning restrictions.

A large group of townspeople formed a property owner's croup called Hampden Association of Land Owners (HALO). They were able to twice prevent the de-facto seizure of private land by the town. However the land grabbers have not given up. Whether it's Quimby up beside Baxter Park or a gang of progressive activists in a town, only engaged citizens can prevent these human rights violations.

Some of us learned in school that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Too many citizens never learned that. Back in Greek and Roman times the word 'citizen' described someone who was engaged in his country or village. Citizenship required engagement. It still does. We get the government we deserve. If we don't participate we can become subjects or serfs rather than citizens.

To be honest, I've been too busy getting settled in and working to pay much attention to what goes on in my town, but now that I know this...I will definitely see what I, as a citizen of the town, can do to stop it. May not be much, but I sure as heck can try.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

There you go. That's all it takes.

Three Wolves In Snow: Citizen.

[DPO1131959]

It's their right either to say the pledge or not say it, but I don't understand their reasoning based on the limited information I've heard. One of them said the pledge is being used as a "political weapon"... how so? It seems like an unusual argument; I don't see how it could be a political weapon, but maybe there's more to it that hasn't been reported. Saying the pledge is a common way to begin public meetings. Even the U.S. Congress, with all of the partisanship and acrimony that exists there, says the pledge before each session -- Republicans and Democrats together -- without controversy.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Congress and the Maine Legislature open with prayer. If the Hampden Town Council did that these guys would probably go berserk. If I attend a wedding in a church, not of my faith, I stand up when everybody else stands up and I sit when they sit. I regard this as common courtesy. Unfortunately, common courtesy and common sense are in short supply in today's society.

[broadbill]

Pffffttttt.....not possible to kill anyone by not standing for the pledge....In Gorham the town councilors keep getting charged with OUI:

Gorham town councilor charged with drunken driving | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Second Gorham town councilor to get booked on OUI in as many years. Niiiiicccccceeee.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Congress and the Maine Legislature open with prayer. If the Hampden Town Council did that these guys would probably go berserk. If I attend a wedding in a church, not of my faith, I stand up when everybody else stands up and I sit when they sit. I regard this as common courtesy. Unfortunately, common courtesy and common sense are in short supply in today's society.

I may have to steal this example.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Welcome to it.

[ladyalicemore]

The pledge of allegiance, as most of you know, was a Cold War institution. It's not from the Founders, it is from the McCarthy era of mudslinging.

So I would not be inclined to find it 'shameful' that prayer and the pledge of allegiance did not take place before the town sorted out zoning or the millage rate or whatever the town meeting was considering.

If the red-scare Pledge is required in Maine, I will know to look elsewhere to find a home in the next few years. Patriotism is not demonstrated by the pledge of allegiance or public prayer. It is demonstrated by, as the Star Spangled Banner puts it, by a person placing him/herself "between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation." Vets have my total respect.

Reciters of the Pledge to prove their virtue before a Town Meeting? Theatrics. That proves nothing. Service proves everything. I speak as a member of a generation that supplied boots on the ground for Vietnam, service that has never been sufficiently recognised by the US.

I lost two good friends there. They were patriots. Reciters of the pledge, well I would have to know details. If the Pledge of Allegiance is it, for goodness sakes. That is not patriotism.