Sunday, March 11, 2012

Who’s Pushing Amendment 1 in Watauga County?


Watauga County political activist Deborah Greene annouced Thursday on the Watauga Conservative blog that she is heading up the get-out-the-vote effort to pass Amendment 1 on the May 8th primary election ballot. Since she is herself also on that primary ballot, running as a Tea Party independent for the Watauga County School Board, she will also, as a happy coincidence, be promoting herself to the same voters who are terrified of gay people and who think extending civil rights to them would mean the end of Christian civilization, such as it is. She ended her announcement on Watauga Conservative with these words: “In His Service.”

Deborah Greene emerged on the political scene in Watauga County in a big way back in 2001-2002. She was a registered Republican then, and she organized effectively against the big issue of that day, land-use planning (“zoning”) to control the location of polluting industries such as asphalt plants. She quickly established herself as the best political strategist and operative that the local Republicans had, and she managed to destroy the careers of two incumbent women on the Watauga County Commission.

Her battle cry at the time was individual liberty, the freedom of the “little guy” against big government, and her alleged libertarian instincts subsequently fueled her split with the local Republican Party. She has made it known that after she wins a seat on the school board this November, she intends to use it as a stepping stone to running against incumbent Watauga County Commission Chair (Republican) Nathan Miller in 2012. As a one-woman wrecking crew, her talents are manifest. She is a genius of destruction.

All of which makes her embrace of Amendment 1 -- “In His Service” -- an opportunistic, fundamentally dishonest, and manipulative political move, done under cover of piety. It’s lower than we’ve personally seen Deborah Greene stoop before. Amendment 1 will take away rights from heterosexual people who choose not to get married but who nevertheless have children, property, and emotional bonds in common. It will also, of course, deny human and civil rights to gay couples who want to enter into legal unions under the law. Above everything else, it’s an occasion for the majority to vote on the rights of a minority, a vote that violates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

It’s the “gay part” of Amendment 1, naturally, that Ms. Greene counts on to fuel her ascension into public office on the school board. She is a master of exploiting fear, of conjuring dark conspiracies, of demonizing one group of citizens to stroke the egos of another group of citizens who know considerably less than she does. She did it with the anti-zoning hysteria in 2002, promoting every wild-ass rumor about farmers being prevented from working on their tractors in their yards. She ginned up those rumors and poured them into the ears of “low-information  voters” who believed it all because it scratched their personal itch to hate, fear, and resent uppity “outsiders.”

In other words, Amendment 1 is absolutely ripe for Deborah Greene’s picking. Which does not make her a hero of individual rights, a consistent libertarian, nor an admirable human being. I, who have at times acknowledged her political skills (if not her ability to write clear expository prose), am ashamed of her. Her craven exploitation of “queer fear” does not qualify her for any elective office.

“In His Service”? No, in service of her own political ambitions and the feathering of her own nest.

17 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:50 AM

    I have also watched the political career of Ms. Greene over the years. She has managed to uncover some questionable actions by local government at times, but she is so full of hate and revenge, she totally turns me off. To have her now go after gays is disgusting, and it would be a travesty to have her seated at our school Board to spew her bigotry. I pray that for once the fine people of Watauga County are smart enough to prevent this from happening.

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  2. Anonymous9:52 AM

    I was undecided on amendment 1. Now I know that I will vote against it.

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  3. Mary Vogel10:18 AM

    Wow, so well written. Not so familiar with Watauga politics as we live in Mitchell County where we are fighting to defeat Amendment One. My wife Alli and our friend Amy started the Mitchell County Gay Straight Alliance because of this discriminatory and bigoted amendment. Each of our meetings have been protested by the religious extremists, but we are soldiering on..Please visit our fabe book page and 'like' us:
    https://www.facebook.com/mitchellcountygsa
    Thanks so much!
    Mary Vogel (wife of Alli)

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  4. Amendment One is right up Deborah Greene's alley. It is a vote on whether or not to take away rights from people not perceived to properly step along Greene's narrow-minded religious highway. You can bet she's been waiting all her life for a chance like this. A chance to play God. I'll bet she can't even sleep at night, all juiced up in the excitement of getting a chance to screw over people who are just trying to just live out their lives, the very same people she says out of the other corner of her mouth ought to be left alone by the government. What a hypocrite.

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  5. Anonymous1:19 PM

    There's an essay today written by a blogger talking about how fundamentalists justify they are always right and you are always wrong. He was talking about climate change deniers, but I think it works here for Greene as well:

    "Getting into an argument with such people is a futile effort. It is their ultimate trump card for any situation; you are wrong because God says so. Or, to put it more precisely, you are wrong because I say God says so. There's no competing with that. If someone has a direct line from their brain to God, no matter how obviously questionable the contents of the rest of that addled mind of theirs might seemingly render their God-interpreting skills, then you might as well give up the argument, right? That is, after all, their intention. If they cannot convince you based on science, or logic, or a doorstop's worth of common sense, then maybe ascribing all their own dismal little opinions to God Himself will get you to shut up already. It is, as I said, malevolent."

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  6. Anonymous2:43 PM

    Mary,
    Some people pushing for the Cause of Gay Rights are really upset about the video of local people outside for your first meeting for your organization. I viewed the video and I was shocked. Who approved the filming in this manner? If the purpose is education of The Mitchell County Gay and Straight Alliance, you failed in this message.

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  7. Dem for Deb No More3:56 PM

    Is Deborah Green trying to make this an issue for the school board to get involved in? She just lost my vote.

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  8. Anonymous8:16 PM

    You should check this out--from a Baptist preacher no less:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YijtdCWv1HM&feature=youtu.be

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  9. Anonymous11:18 AM

    "...she is so full of hate and revenge...." "...spew her bigotry."

    Really!? You talk about disgusting. The above quotes are so false and unfair, that's disgusting.

    I wonder, if Mr. Williamson posts my comment, how long it will take for him to do so.

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  10. Anonymous7:34 PM

    Very well written piece. I hope people will understand the harms of this amendment and will realize this woman does not have the best of Watauga County in mind.

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  11. Anonymous12:06 PM

    On the contrary, for the last two+ decades, the best interests of Watauga County has NOT been addressed.

    Only Boone area powerful special interests, the narrow-minded Chamber of Commerce and ASU interests has been promoted and fulfilled, at the great expense of the whole county.

    Deb Greene wants to put a halt to the corruption and obvious favoritism; the outrageous, unnecessary spending and unprecedented debt; the top-heavy sections of bureaucracies that unfairly use up huge sums, etc.

    These conditions have been prevalent in this county for approximately twenty years now.

    The people who are against Deb Greene are mostly individuals who are part of ths status quo and those who wield unusual political influence to benefit themselves and their friends and clients at the entire county's expense.

    Whether one likes or dislikes her personality should not be the issue.

    I hope Mr. Williamson will post this comment.

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  12. Henery5:03 PM

    Gosh, Latest Anonymous, you managed to side-step entirely the point of Williamson's post ... that Deb Greene is a transparent opportunist trying to ride the hatred of gay people onto the school board. And that don't make ME a member of the ruling elite.

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  13. Anonymous5:36 PM

    Henery, no doubt you are obviously just a useful pawn who believes the propaganda of the status quo.

    As for your grossly exaggerated, if not totally untrue, claim re: "hatred of gay people", that is ridiculous. The Constitution allows the states and local governments to make determinations re: contracts, licenses, certificates, etc.

    But anyone who takes a stand for an institution honored since ancient times, by today's warped standards, is labeled as 'hate-filled', or 'full of hate' etc. You and your progressive friends just love to use those terms against anyone who dares to disagree with you on anything. Then, I guess you think that the 60+% of NC citizens, who agree with Amendment One, are 'full of hate' also.

    Well, Henery, just where do you draw the line? And on any subject for that matter?

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  14. Anonymous10:04 AM

    Why doesn't deborah green speak for herself instead of her friend speaking for her?

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  15. Anonymous4:37 PM

    MR, WILLIAMSON, I THINK DEBORA GREEN SHOULD BRING A DEFLAMATION SUIT AGAINST YOU AND WATAUGA WATCH FOR YOUR OUTRAGIOUS COMENTS ABOUT MRS GREEN'S INVESTIGATIVE METHODS AND HER CHARACTER. I HAVE TAKEN NOTE OF HER RESEARCH AND DELIGENCE IN TRYING TO SAVE THE TAX PAYERS FROM RUINATION AND HAVE NEVER FOUND HER RESEARCH TO BE UNTRUE OR UNFOUNDED. I WOULD ADVISE YOU TO BE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE. MRS GREEN HAS THE RESOURCES, EXPERIENCE AND THE SPIRIT TO MAKE YOU WISH THAT YOU HAD STAYED IN YOUR CUBICLE AT ASU. I DARE YOU TO PRINT THIS. "DUMBFOUNDED'

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  16. Anonymous8:35 AM

    I don't know.

    Why don't you ask her?

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  17. Anonymous12:12 PM

    I just found this link. I knew she was active in pushing this amendment but I didn't know she was "appointed" to head it up.

    Who appointed her? Can I appoint myself to head up the opposition or has somebody already claimed to have done that?

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