"It takes a village," and a Kung Fu Grip... (A H.N. VIDEO ORIGINAL)

I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the ape.

~ Samuel Clemens

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The flu is to blame for my past 3 and half weeks of silence.

But tonight that silence ends as I am outraged over an issue that jeopardizes our wellbeing as a progressive community.

But before I get to that, permit me to brag about my one and only daughter, for this week I learned that she is currently ranked number 1 out of 452 students in her current grade level.  For those who know me, whether publicly and privately, know that I have been most recently challenged by the stresses and rigors of parenting a 15 year old young lady… I am certainly far from perfect... so this week’s news from the Barnstable Public Schools has made me both proud and pensive.  “Proud” because I know that my “little girl” has put in very long hours in her pursuit of academic achievements.  “Pensive” because my role as her dad is now changing, focused both on life’s larger lessons (ie. ethics and morality) and also on the many reasons it is still, indeed, her responsibility to do the dishes and feed the chickens...

If I were to teach my “little one” one last life lesson, it would be to be to respect and honor all creatures both great and small.  I would also teach her that all humans are created equal in terms of being worthy of civil and human rights. 

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Recently, someone provided me with footage of one of the saddest things I have ever witnessed as resident of the Town of Barnstable.

A lone Mary Clements, someone else's daughter, took time out of her daily routine to address Barnstable’s Town Council during a public meeting.  She came prepared with a written speech which was apparently prepared with much thought and revision.

On March 6, 2008, Ms. Clements carefully made herself respectfully presentable in a black dress, eventually arriving at Barnstable’s Town Council meeting.  As the evening wore on it finally became her rightful moment to approach the podium reserved for public comment where she addressed the Council with an uncommon poise and ease, one which suggested she was a woman both well educated and spoken.  The rudeness that followed after her efforts to deliver can only be classified as a direct violation of Ms. Clements' First Amendment Right to Free Speech.

It seems that because Ms. Clements mentioned the name of a particular street, not a specific address or family, she was held out of order, to eventually suffer further humiliation as she was escorted away from the podium by members of our local constabulary (who were, sadly, just being called upon to “do their jobs.”’)

I, for one, am outraged at the behavior of certain Town Council members during this assault on the rights of a distinguished member of our community.  I am equally outraged that no one on the council came to her defense.

There certainly is much more to this turn of events and I will hold back on rumors (excuses) contrived to defend the actions of the council’s president.  But I will say that on March 6, 2008, it was not Ms. Clements that was “out of order,” but rather the elected officials charged with the duty to protect our individual rights. 

I must also say for the record that I have never met Ms. Clements in person.  I am basing my position regarding this violation on footage taken and maintained by the Town of Barnstable.  The video I’ve included in this article contains some of that footage.

*****

  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”  

–       Amendment 1 of the U.S.  Constitution, Bill of Rights

Shame on the Barnstable Town Council, especially the ones that disagreed with the treatment of Ms. Clements and to this day have remained silent.   

... and may we all be reminded of just 40 years ago: