Political speak on the county TV channel | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Seems some of our elected officials do not know about political manners or maybe plain common sense ethics. Maybe Al Klemm allowed his huge political ego to overpower his peanut sized knowledge of what government is about when he asked Beaufort County for the use of the people's cable TV site to show the liberal Republican Club's sponsored forum for Washington City Council Candidates.

    What we have here is another example of uninformed and shortsighted decision making.

    Let me make sure you know where I am coming from. I believe and have long supported in many ways the public having more knowledge about all candidates and what those candidates believe and stand for. From this stand point televising this forum is a good idea. But, not at public expense, and not on a county-run TV channel.

    I am concerned about the use of public property for political purposes. The cable site that was used is owned by the Government of Beaufort County. If this public TV channel can be used for a political forum for city council candidates this time, could it be used by county commissioner candidates at some time in the future? Who would sponsor these political events, the Democrat Party, the Republican Party, the liberal Republican Club, the Conservative Republican Club, the Democrat Women, the TEA Party, the individual candidate's election committee? Just who would be allowed to be on this free TV channel? What should their political goals be? Who would decide which group would be permitted and which would be denied the use of the channel? Just how politically holy, and clean and pure should the sponsoring group be?

    Once this political camel gets his nose under the tent of cable TV it will not be long before the entire camel is under the tent. Now that the liberal Republican Club has used this TV site, is not the Conservative Republican Club entitled to the same privilege. While we are at it, how about the Democrats holding a fundraising telethon. Are we going to deny them the use of the cable TV site.

    According to my information, liberal Larry Britt and RINO (Republican In Name Only) Al Klemm, also known as The John McCain and Lindsey Graham of Beaufort County, were refused the use of the City of Washington cable TV site. Some say it was because of technical "issues" but you have to wonder if that was not just an excuse to avoid doing what they did not want to do. Maybe City Officials were wise enough to be about political ethics and fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of the City of Washington? Klemm being a county commissioner certainly was not thinking about those things when he pulled the strings of his political cronies and pirated the county cable TV site. Is it any wonder politicians in Washington DC have trouble keeping their hands out of the public's money when the boys at the bottom of the political ladder cannot make a simple ethical decision?

    The liberal Republican Club had an alternative. They could have simply purchased time on the local cable TV channel. True to form, these liberals wanted someone else to pay, so they got the government to foot this bill. Where does it stop?

    Another curiosity is why the mayoral candidates were not allowed to speak. There are now two, Mac Hodges and Carter Leary but I understand neither was allowed to speak. Why?

    And then there's the legal issue. The courts have ruled that if a governing body creates a "public forum" in allowing its property/resources/facilities to be used for non-government sponsored speech then it must allow all expression of speech and cannot legally "pick and choose" which groups it allows to use its facilities and which it restricts. Thus, one has to wonder if Al and his Gang of Four have not opened up a real can of worms that will create problems for Beaufort County down the road. Imagine the Klu Klux Klann, the local chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood or the Rainbow Coalition deciding that it wants their piece of the "public forum" that Larry and Al have now created. These are the same "decision-makers" who decided to build a new jail and a rest area for U. S. 17 south of Chocowinity without finding out what impact it would have on Chocowinity's sewer system and the impact of future economic development south of the river. Poor decision-making in both issues.

    But then, this is the same Al Klemm who joined RINO Jay McRoy and the Tax and Spend Democrats to allow the school system to go $6.4 million over budget on the bond issue and build 2000 excess seats where there are not enough students to fill them, while leaving other areas overcrowded.

    The real issue here, it seems to me is, the faulty decision-making that is now governing our county. It's one train wreck after another.

    How much more of this brilliant decision-making are we going to tolerate here in Beaufort County?