I'm Still Not Finished ...

Author: Stan Deatherage | Published: April 21st, 2010


    This is a preview of my "candidates comments" that will appear, along with what other candidates that wish to be heard, in Beaufort County Now.

    However, that is really up to you - the electorate. My political existence is completely at your whim, and I pray your whim is a bit on the serious side: That you understand the serious times that we have now engaged, that you recognize this is no time for political neophytes, who want to learn on the job. It is also the worst of times to place your bet on the pseudo insider, whose special interest handlers would have us remake our government to suit their special needs.

    In my nearly fourteen years as a county commissioner, I have stood as a bulwark against sweeping change "you can believe in," to the exclusion of the few for the benefit of the many; those folks who "pay the freight" in Beaufort County - the taxpayer. That has always been my directive as your conservative county commissioner: Will my actions benefit the many, or will they act as a detriment to the success, or as we have witnessed most recently, the survivability of the collective individual and their families?

    And in that one dilemma, there lies the fallibility of government, and therefore marks distinct differences between liberals, true conservatives and those who occupy the "squishy middle."

    Liberals, and those politicians who occupy that "squishy middle" will always try to discern how to accommodate their base of voters, to the exclusion of any set of principals in governing this county. This precept of doing "what the people want me to do," is an impossible supposition on these politicians part. They would be better served to have a determined set of principles borne from the one document they are sworn to defend by oath - the Constitution of the United States.

    Commissioner Stan Deatherage teaches Civics 101 and the "Founding Principles" of the United States Constitution at Washington High School in 2005.

    The founding principals, inherent within this document, are not only the law of the land, they are the predominant ingredient of the governing tool box that aids any genuine politician. Sadly, in today's governing spheres: federal, state and local (Beaufort County), it is more about "Change you can believe in," rather staying true to the path set by "Our Founding Fathers," and I sincerely believe we have lost our way.

    This is why I challenge the efforts of the federal and state governments when they overstep their constitutional bounds. From a practical standpoint: Their stuff all flows downhill and we, here in Beaufort County, are the catch basin. Your county government, unlike the local overlay municipal governments, have to clean up their mess, as we provide the interface for the dispensation of their services. As the duly elected servant of this community, I have the proxy to bring discourse against these wrong-headed policies. Other people, however, do not feel this way.

    Recently at the Democrat County Convention, Party Chairman Alice Mills-Sadler commented, as reported by the Washington Daily News, on April 18, 2010, "Local Republicans don't want to talk about local issues, like economic development. They want to talk about D.C., I wasn't elected (Chairman Mills-Sadler served with me as a county commissioner in the mid 1990's) to promote or further advance their issues. I work for the people I serve."

    Our disagreement on the proper path of government could not be better defined than it was in her statement. Her unintended advice to me: Don't concern yourself with Washington, DC. The Democrats ruling from Washington, DC know what is best for us, and doing just fine. Deal with real "hot-button" issues like economic development. Do what the people want you to do.

    This is exactly how liberals, and those other disingenuous politicians from the "squishy middle" deal with their job. They will never attack the issues unless it benefits their self-serving special interests constituency, and then to add insult to injury, they sell to the gullible (those people who refuse to learn the founding principles) that their populist path is the way government is meant to be.

    Also, her using the economic development issue as an issue of high concern is quite ironic, due to the immutable fact that industry relocates to areas that have well managed local governments that keep their taxes low, and have a good education system. The irony: liberals will always, without fail, spend your tax dollars to benefit their always needy constituents. Also, the liberals, who have been in charge of our state's education system for decades has all but wrecked its foundation, it teeters, and for many it has already fallen. With the liberals, who are enabled by those folks from the squishy middle, in charge: What profitable corporation, in their right mind, would want to relocate to a state, like North Carolina, that is set upon its present unshakable path?

    The liberal answer: Throw more tax payer funded incentives at the corporations, and maybe then we can compete with the better governed states.

    Am I, Stan Deatherage, the solution? No, but I am a piece of the solution. I am someone who governs by "Our Founding Principles," and most importantly, I realize that we are a Democratic Republic, and not a Democracy. Moreover, after nearly 14 years of service, I well realize what the public sector can do better than the private sector, and vice versa, and my summation is: The private sector wins by a very wide margin. It is my job, however, to enact policy, and engage our precious tax dollars, to wisely do what is within our government's essential purview, and stay out of the private sector's way, and allow it to operate as unencumbered as is prudent. I pray that I will continue to have the wisdom to know the difference. While I challenge myself to have the wisdom to know what is government's wise place in our lives, I will also continue to challenge other politicians to do so as well.

    That is my promise: I will continue, and I will never be deterred, but first, I need your help to continue as your advocate. Please give me your vote if you believe that I should continue to have your proxy to be your voice. If you want to know more about me, go to StanDeatherage.com or search the internet. Its all there; most of it true, some of it is not. But that's life, right?

    Please stand with me now, for these are serious times that befall us all. I will stay on as your county commissioner until I am finished, but, of course, that is up to you.