Politics:The Shell Game | Eastern North Carolina Now

The shell game (which shell is the pea under?) is a gambling game, and a guessing game.  It has a lot in common with politics. Because the pea moves quicker than the eye over a very short distance one can only guess at which shell it is under.  There are three shells and one pea, therefore the operator of the game has a two to one advantage.  Compare this to casino blackjack where a skilled and knowledgeable player allows the house to have about a 1 percent advantage.  Yet, the casino still makes money. You will lose your money much slower with casino odds and, if you get lucky you may win.  Almost all the politicians have the shell game advantage.

The reason is because most of us simply do not have time to follow the small moves of day-to-day politics.  We have families and we need to make a living.   We must trust politicians some of the time.  What super charges the two to one advantage politicians have is, most of them lie.  I am frequently accused of having a negative disrespectful attitude toward politicians and their loyal henchmen, the bureaucrats. My experience over many years has convinced me I am right.

Our nation has dug itself into a deep hole because the hierarchy, news media, churches and schools have advised us, during the past 30 years, to trust and obey.  They tell us “Your politician is there to help you, so do not challenge his judgment, behavior or actions.”  That has brought us to the place where, in my opinion, a very high percent of the elected officials are a combination of corruption, incompetency and deceit.

 These people should be removed from the office.  The voters have the power to remove them.  Everyone seems to have their favorite politician based mostly on subjective reasoning. Either their politician belongs to the right political party, or we like their position on a specific issue, or he voted to give us something.  We should size these politicians up by whether their votes satisfy the intent of the State and Federal Constitutions, their apparent honesty, and their ability to stand firm on important issues.  We need to judge every elected official harshly.  Case in point; only about 25 members of the US House of Representative have stood firm and demanded Constitutional Christian leadership.  I am speaking of the ousting of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.

Local politics are as corrupt as national politics. 

Those who are asked to sign petitions should make sure they thoroughly understand what they are signing.  The Beaufort County Republican Party continues to ask people to sign a petition on the way we elect commissioners.  What they do not tell signers is there is a district map that goes with the petition. They do not show them the map.  In simple terms the map attempts to redistrict the conservative commissioners out of existence. In addition, districts support the election of RINOs.

The RINO’s motive is that districts will eliminate the thorn in their side which is conservative Republicans and allow the Beaufort County Republican Party to manipulate the vote.  It is easy to influence the vote in small districts.   A little bit of money is required along with activists running campaigns. Think of it like this, with only two voters in a district it is relatively easy to convince the two to vote a certain way.  With 2,500 voters it is still easier to manipulate the vote than the approximately 15,000 who typically vote in our County-wide elections for commissioner.  It is a mathematical fact that a district system works against any sizeable minority of voters, while an at large system allows the interests of a minority of voters, spread throughout the county, to elect some of the members of the board up for election. Staggered terms also help minority groups maximize their voting strength.

I have had discussions with party officials, including Representative Kidwell, who is the primary pusher of this bad idea. I admit there are problems with limited voting (only one vote each election for commissioner).  I offered to support a system of voting by district provided the chairman of the board would run at large (across the entire county).   This was rejected. At present the elected board (seven commissioners) elect the chairman.  This has led to corruption among the RINO’s in the Republican Party.  The two Democrats cut deals with the RINO’s to elect a RINO chairman.  This does not help the image of the Republican Party.  At the present time Frankie Waters and John Rebholz, the RINO’s, join with Democrats Jerry Langley and Ed Booth to elect Frankie Waters Chairman and Jerry Langley Vice Chairman.  The voters have elected a majority Republican board.  But, with five Republicans sitting on the board the Democrats control who becomes chairman.  Republicans should be outraged. Voters should be skeptical of what kind of deal(s) was struck between the Democrats and RINO’s.

Electing the Chairman at large will stop this corrupt practice.  This is why I oppose the petition and the district system.

Just in case the Beaufort County Republican Party tries to deny (lie) about what they are doing, here is the proof.  About two years ago the Beaufort County Republican Executive Committee voted to stop circulating the petition because it has never been approved by the entire executive committee during a regular meeting.  Nonetheless, a few Republican Party hacks are pushing this. However, Jody Forrest, has continued to present the petition at every Republican event she attends.   She attends all of them.  Members of the public should be careful in believing anything she says about Republican politics.

Be careful about donating money to the Beaufort County Republican Party.  They sent about twelve thousand dollars of the approximately $14,000 they raised out of Beaufort County to Raleigh, so it could not be used to support local conservative Republican candidates.  You may want to speak with Mr. Kidwell and Mr. Varcoe about the false information presented at the Executive Committee meeting.  Varcoe stated that the judges did not have funds to campaign with, when the opposite was the truth.  If you want your money used to support conservative candidates, do not donate it to the Beaufort County Republican Party.

As we go into the 2024 election primaries and the November elections, keep this in mind.  If you want government to change, change the people who are running government—that is, those who have been making these decisions for the rest of us.