Publisher's note: It is the policy of BCN to publish everything we receive, providing that is well presented, and I know that you are real. To that end, we welcome all comments, or posts, to the affirmative or the contrary, which we will publish as soon as is possible.
There are approximately 48,000 people in Beaufort County with approximately 32,000 registered voters. The Democrats control half of this number with the remainder being split between the Republicans and the Unaffiliated voters. The county is made up of about 70% White persons and 30% Black persons. Ernie Coleman says he has studied these numbers carefully and concluded Al Whitney cannot win the election because there are not enough Black voters in the county to put him in Office. Coleman is confident that Whites, especially White Christians, will not vote for a Black person.
Coleman has a simple, yet effective, plan to secure his victory, and he is not shy about expressing his confidence or the details of his plan. He plans to instill fear in the White voters. Fear is a great motivator. He, and his most zealous supporters, plan to spread their vision of the county if Whitney is elected Sheriff. This is being done in the aisles of WalMart, restaurants, and in the churches as Coleman continues to shout he is a Christian and runs a clean campaign. Several individuals have told me they were literally stalked by Coleman in WalMart as he tried to solicit their support. Every occasion where he has spoken in public over the past year, he has told his audience that he is a Deacon in his church. I also grew up in a Christian environment, having been a member of First Christian Church all of my life. However, I have not ever experienced the behaviors or language exhibited by Deacon Coleman from any of my church leaders.
Coleman will tell you that if Whitney is elected Sheriff, he will populate the Sheriff's Office with Black people from Washington and surrounding counties. He will disband the Narcotics Unit and take a soft approach on crime. This will allow Blacks to prey on Whites as the gangs take over and run the White people out of the county. Deacon Coleman figures this will make the White Christians of the county vote for him thereby securing his victory. Coleman will tell you, he has won this race without really doing anything.
Coleman does not have any respect for, or interest in, anyone other than middle-class White people and even those in this group must not disagree with him or challenge anything he does or there will be consequences. Look at his interaction with Kellie Hopkins, Director of the Board of Elections. Coleman became so angry with her in her office she had to call for help to have him removed. In his only appearance before the Commissioners he berated one of them concerning a personal matter and was rude to members of the attending public. Even his campaign manager looked embarrassed, yet he continues to support Coleman and does not, or apparently has been unable to influence his behavior in a positive way. Coleman's strong religious beliefs came on him a year or so ago when he decided to run for Sheriff. Before then, the only time most people that worked with him heard him use the word God or make any religious reference was when he said the word God and followed it with damn and a word like you, them or it. Acting like a Christian is a lot harder than saying I am a Christian, I am a Christian, I am a Christian over and over during a rambling conversation with him.
Coleman is proud of the fact that he maintained a house here when the Highway Patrol transferred him several times during his career. The Highway Patrol transfers trouble-makers and those that are promoted. Coleman remained a ticket writer most of his career until they finally promoted him one rank before he retired. He will lead you to believe he ran the Highway Patrol east of Greenville, but he did not. Remember, he will tell you what he thinks you want to hear to secure your vote.
The Highway Patrol is probably the only place in law enforcement he could have worked. He made eight months with the Sheriff's Office before his temper caused him problems and he had to leave. He made it longer as a law enforcement officer at Beaufort Community College before they got rid of him. In fairness to the College, Ernie only worked part-time. This may be the result of the law suit he and the college face for his verbal and physical abuse of a female minority student. As he told the Tea Party and School Board members, kids are thugs and should be treated that way. The only thing to be done with thugs is to arrest them.
What does Coleman plan to do with the Sheriff's Office? He has promised a number of people jobs in exchange for their support so he will have to make room for them. Most of the Command Staff will have to go to make room for his friends, retired Highway Patrol looking for a second check as he is, and boat salesmen looking for a steady check. The Sheriff's Office will become a mini-highway patrol relying on the SBI to do most of the investigative work.
Coleman is also generating a list of people in the community that did not support him, and he will use the power of his Office to get them. He will deny this privately in the church pews, but he has told too many people to deny it publicly. Ask Ron Buzzeo, Mitch Sinclair, Barbara Tansey, Keith Kidwell, Kit Campbell, Arthur Williams, Gary Brinn and others about it. He will go after Kit because Kit would not give Coleman county property, eagle pins, when Coleman was Interim Chief at the Community College. This made Coleman furious. In essence, he asked Kit to steal county property and give it to him. Kit had the courage to stand up to him. When Coleman is elected, he can take what he wants.
His intolerance also extends to gays and lesbians. He has experienced a lot of trouble with these national organizations. This attitude, however, does not extend to his best friend
Alan Jordan. Jordan renounced Christianity a number of years ago after developing friendships with Muslims in the community and visiting Muslim countries. He has accepted Muhammed as the true prophet and Allah as the one true God. Beaufort County may have the distinction of having the only Muslim Sheriff in the State of North Carolina. This is why he decided not to run again. He was afraid someone like Donald Dixon would find out he prayed at the Mosque in Greenville and that would cost him the election.
This does not seem to bother Alan's best friend Ernie Coleman. The yellow dog Democrat Jordan has instructed his loyal supporters in the Office like Retha Jefferson, Russell Davenport and Charlie Rose to pressure the Deputies in supporting Coleman. Jordan supported Democrat Candidate Russell Davenport openly but will not support the Black Democratic Nominee. He is angry his man did not win, and Jordan needs Coleman to win so he can keep a badge in the county and run up and down the roads at 150 MPH in his car and on his motorcycle without fear of arrest. He can also have a strong voice in the Office because Coleman does not have any idea how to do anything other than write a speeding ticket.
Coleman has threatened to sue the Community College, the Board of Trustees and Mitch St.Clair in particular for reasons only Coleman knows. He told officials at the Community College he would not hire anyone that graduated from that school when he became Sheriff as he seeks his revenge on those that cause him trouble. This means he would not train the Deputies there, costing the taxpayers thousands and thousands of dollars. This position, along with forcing all Sheriff's Office employees to join a civic organization (a position he has stated publicly), will cost the taxpayers over $200,000.00 a year in wages. He thinks he can do anything he wants to do as Sheriff.
Look at the way Coleman treats people in public that do not agree with him or share his narrow view of the world. When he is being taped, he is on his best behavior. He does not get any better. His close supporters know the real Coleman, yet they continue to hide information from the general public probably for personal gain. In private, some of his associates will say Coleman is an angry vindictive man. The county has grown accustom to an angry Sheriff over the years and wants Jordan's best friend to continue that attitude. A well-known person in Beaufort County likes to say people in this county do not want bad government; they demand bad government. When Coleman is elected Sheriff, the people will have what they want.
Hood Richardson may support Eva Buck, the Independent candidate for Clerk of Court, instead of Jimbo Shiver, the Republican candidate. With that in mind, consider Al Whitney when making a choice for the next Sheriff. He seems to be a calm, level-headed man that has not threatened anyone since he started his campaign. When voting for Sheriff, vote for the man, not for a political party or whether the man is White or Black.
I only ask one thing of Coleman. If you are elected Sheriff, use the power of your Office to come after me first. I did not write tickets for most of my career, and I enjoy a challenge. A man once engaged in a battle of wits and came to fight unarmed. Try not to let that happen to you.
You can discover that truth if you employ the Search feature of our date base.
Tonight, at a Beaufort County Commissioner meeting, I listened to a number of people, who lean very Left, say stuff that just was not right, some of it outright lies. Why is it that is so often the norm with the those that champion the Left way of governing and the advocacy of such? Why is it that they just can't get it right; just say things, thinking that others will think them accurate, maybe even wise, just because they possess the temerity to ingratiate themselves in public.
I say a lot of things, all publicly, and I'm not fond of, nay, I do ridicule, with impunity, those that are incompetent and dishonest. I just won't tolerate this behavior from public servants, who are elected to serve by other like minded individuals. Regardless, I have never used your phrase "liberal wacko".
Sorry you missed your opportunity to say something profound and accurate, which your comment exhibited neither.
I can't speak for Harry Meredith, Jr., but, I bet he wouldn't be offended that you accused him of being a "Conservative".