This special Opinion is by Chas Cornweller

Well, the big day has finally come and gone. No, I don’t mean Easter. I am talking about The Mueller Report. All four hundred and forty-eight pages of it. Redactions and all. Two years and hundreds of subpoenas and depositions and god knows how many printed words between the media and twitter accounts. Not to mention the President’s own tweets. And, where are we? Pretty much right where we began. Divided by partisanship and fed unfiltered dis-information versus truth, corruption versus anti-corruption and the balance of power and justice. America, what happened to you? 

In my view, there are two takeaways from this report. One, the Russian government most decidedly did interfere with the 2016 election. It is stated over and over within the report as fact and cannot be refuted. Two, the President of the United States, either by bumbling or fumbling or just a lack of political knowledge and Civics along with basic misunderstanding of the laws and the way justice works within this country and as written within the by-laws of the Constitution, directly tried to hinder and shut down both the investigations into the Russian meddling and the consequent investigation into possible collusion with his election staff and himself with the Russian government. Either of which, Robert Mueller clearly and succinctly instructed Congress to further pursue.

What we got, three weeks ago, was obfuscation from the Attorney General, William Barr. By his interpretation of the document, Barr ended up looking more like the lawyer for the President and not his as appointed position for the people as principal Justice. By his actions and his words, he came across as exonerating the President of any and ALL misdeeds, when the document clearly instructed him to leave that to Congress. Secondly, it appears the administration was shown certain early releases of the document before Congress. Both egregious and unlawful from the vantage point of the Constitution. But, that is the least of egregious behavior emulating from the Mueller Report.

Several members of the Trump administration were directly caught lying about certain circumstances relating to the firing of James Comey. Including Sarah Huckabee’s retraction (to the Mueller investigation team while under oath) of the “numerous contacts” stating their loss of faith with Comey, resulting in his firing. She called it a “slip of the tongue”. That “slip of the tongue” progressed through two days of questioning by the White House press Corps. Secondly, it has been pointed out that numerous times, White House Staffers either ignored, or intentionally did not carry out orders given to them by the President himself, thus saving him from direct obstruction of the investigation. Had they not done so, the President would have been in violation of the law and the duty of oath according to the Constitution. This either shows two things, the President doesn’t know what he is doing, or he is weak as a leader. Or…the third possible outcome; he is corrupt and will stop at nothing to bury or hide or wipe clean his mis-deeds. Only his staff saved him from further damage. There is no other outcome but these three. It is there in the report to read.

Lastly there is this: Mueller writes in his presentation. If we had confidence, after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgement. In other words, there is plenty evidence that the President is guilty of multiple things, it is just not that easy to prove it. However, besides the numerous redactions, there is still ongoing investigations in the Southern New York district into Trump’s financial dealings and numerous loans with Deutsche Bank. Meaning, this report could just be the tip of the iceberg. Just how deep the corruption runs in the Trump financial world, we enigmatically await the answers. Meanwhile, the shouts across the aisle get louder. Scholars of interpretive government scratch their heads and the American public is cast deeper down into despair while our roads and bridges rot and our children’s future grow dimmer by the day.

Is Trump the only cause of this? Of course not. In fact, we are as at fault as he. We put him in office. Handed it to him for a cart load of promises and a pile of dogmatic trifle. All the while, the Russian Troll Union fed us Red-Meat daily and denied us truth. We aren’t intelligent enough to figure all this out and therefore we elect the bland, the weak, the corrupt. The puppets that slowly and deliberately dismantle the real structure of power within this country, our rights as citizens. Trump is a symptom of what is truly wrong with us. We are blinded by the material. We over consume like pigs at a trough. We run ram-shod over third world nations and basically steal their resources. Leave them in ruins when we are done. We occupy over five hundred military bases around the world. We interfere in other’s elections. Yes, we do! We’ve been doing it for some time. We use the Monroe doctrine like a big stick or whip. God help the Western hemisphere nation that dares set its government on course to allow free democracy that isn’t in line with the intentions of this nation’s goals. I could list them, but, you are smart people. Look it up for yourself.  

When the justice system of any nation falls, so fall all rights for that nation’s citizens. This administration, by all rights, has flaunted that justice system in our faces. They’ve lied to us. They’ve allowed our security and our democratic process to be compromised and lied to us about that! They continue to lie to cover up past lies. I’m not asking you to believe me because I write this. I am challenging you to look it up for your selves. I am challenging you to step outside your comfort zone and truly see where America is today. This is not a reality show. This is our future, our children’s future and our grand-children’s future. We are at war with ideology. And the powerful are winning. In Scandinavian countries, today, class are being taught to grade school children on how to detect false information on Social Media. Why do you think this is? Better still, why do you think it is not being taught in American schools? If you think it is unnecessary, then I truly weep for you. And your children. Because the reality is, what you don’t know, can harm you. It can imprison you and it can enslave you. I leave you with this.

“When you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only, what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out? Never let yourself be diverted either by what you wish to believe or what you think would have beneficial social effects if it were believed. Look only and solely at what are the facts.” Bertrand Russell

ACCOMACK COUNTY SUPERVISORS NEED TO APOLOGIZE FOR THEIR  HYPOCRITICAL REMARKS REGARDING OUR DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES.

This Letter is special to the Mirror by Ken Dufty

During a recent meeting of the Accomack-Northampton Groundwater Committee (GWC),  former Chairman and current Accomack County Supervisor Paul Muhly demanded a retraction from CBES regarding a recent article in CBES Shoreline Newsletter that concluded that the groundwater reserves in the Yorktown Aquifer (where 90% of our drinking water comes from on the Eastern Shore of Virginia) were not “sustainable”.  This demand was echoed the following night by Accomack Supervisor Grayson Chesser at that board’s monthly meeting.

The refrain was broadcast by our esteemed local FM radio station WESR, fueling the fire that CBES had misinformed the public and must “set the record straight”.     Note that at the very same GWC meeting, the Committee unanimously voted to give a groundwater excellence award to Senator Lewis and Delegate Bloxom (deservedly so) for promoting legislation that would encourage increased use of the shallow Columbia Aquifer due to fears that the Yorktown reserves were threatened.  

To wit, the record reflects that all of the information that is in the files and on the table and being actively discussed at the monthly meetings of the GWC fully supports the author of the CBES monthly newsletter article.      The very reason that this Groundwater Committee has been working on getting increased use of the surficial Columbia Aquifer is because they appear to believe that the Yorktown Aquifer which recharges at only a fraction of the rate of the shallower reserves is threatened by salt water intrusion from rising sea levels and over-pumping by the 250+ industrial poultry houses planned for Accomack County.  

Indeed, because of declining reserves of fresh water both in Chincoteague and Cape Charles, those municipalities are reportedly considering expensive desalinization plants.    It has been pointed out numerous times that the same warnings being made by CBES and others about the sustainability of groundwater reserves were similarly disparaged by elected leaders in Virginia Beach in the late ’70’s. 

That smoke and mirror condemnation of the prevailing data resulted in that area running out of water just years later, triggering a half-billion dollar project to pump water from Lake Gaston (75 miles away) before economic development could resume.  

Note we do not have a Lake Gaston to tap, as we are a sole-source aquifer recharged only by rain water-the vast majority of which bleeds to the Bay and Seaside before it can seep into the three lower Yorktown supplies.       

The facts remain that CURRENT studies show that we use about 9 million gallons of drinking water from the Yorktown Aquifer daily and recharge from rain water is about equal to that number. But the projections are that once all of the Industrial Poultry houses come on line in our chicken-saturated county on the northern Virginia’s Eastern Shore, these facilities could suck anywhere from 1.1 to 3 million extra gallons each day from our Yorktown Aquifer. This tips the scale of sustainability, no matter how much fact-twisting is perpetrated upon us by elected officials who should know better.         

So it is clearly Supervisors Muhly and Chesser who owe the Eastern Shore citizens an apology for spreading misinformation in an apparent attempt to appease the poultry industry (in my opinion) and for encouraging us all  to “whistle past the graveyard” as we turn on our taps.  Their statements on the sustainability of our lower groundwater reserves stand in direct contradiction to their near hysterical praise for legislation that will encourage more use of the Columbia and less on our limited Yorkton supplies, and contrast shaply with the committee’s flagship work for over a decade, causing us to ask “if there is no problem with the sustainability of the Yorktown Aquifer, why the drool over getting people off it?”.

This Opinion is special to the Mirror by Trapper Dan.

Aw, come on, give the Mayor a break. He knows that there is a problem because he is getting complaints. The problem is knowing what to do about feral cats. He should have gotten some advice before he said what he did.

Consider a middle ground. There are gardeners who don’t like what happens in their gardens or under their window late at night. Their cats are  licensed, shots up to date, tagged, and not allowed to roam.

There are others who see themselves as on a divine mission to protect the cats and their way of life by feeding. They will happily boil huge amounts of chicken necks for them. They seek vengeance on anyone they perceive as interfering in their pursuit. They will vandalize your car, your boat, and throw rocks through your windows (remember Violent Viola?). Like feral cats, they are a breed apart. The cats are here, it is not possible for them not to be, but the problem can be mitigated. The middle ground is something called population dynamics. If enough breeders don’t breed, the numbers will go down in time. 

This requires a low-key, sustained, and broadly applied cooperative effort. 

Live trapping is legal on private property. Companion animals must be turned over to County Animal Control, Ask them to pick up and return the trap. Do not transport and release the animal elsewhere.  Low-key suggests one trap hidden, such as as under a porch, out of sight, where it wont be rained on. Cats will find it. Chain it to something immovable. The best bait is a small amount of dry cat food in a small dish covered with a mesh so it can be reused. Do not try ry to remove the animal from the trap. 

The more neighbors participating, the better. In time, a sustained and patient effort will show results.

Special Opinion to the Mirror by Paul Plante.

First of all, hand’s down, of course, the most important take-away by far from the Michael Cohen hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform, the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives with authority to investigate the subjects within the Committee’s legislative jurisdiction, as well as “any matter” within the jurisdiction of the other standing House Committees, on Wednesday, 27 February 2019, is kudos once again to PR Guru Lanny “I Am The Man” Davis for another colossus of an extravaganza intended to sell a lot of soap, which has again earned Lanny a heap of praise from the Madison Avenue PR crowd, who would know these things better than the rest of us who aren’t in the PR game, but are instead its intended victims, as well as the main-stream media who were handed a blockbuster of a story that they will be able to make hay off of for at least the next several weeks, with this Cohen appearance winning the vitally important ratings game (ratings sell advertising) as the coveted Best Daytime Soap for 27 February 2019.

But seriously, people, when confronted with a Lanny Davis production, how could it possibly be otherwise?

Afterall, not for nothing is Lanny Davis known the the “PR Guru” in the trade, and that is also why he is called “The Maestro,” for how he can orchestrate these things so much better than anyone else in the game, which is why Lanny is on top, a master impresario, and the other ones aren’t. 

Simple math, people – Lanny produces, where the competition just flails around!

Results are what the game is all about, and with Michael Cohen and Committee Chairman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings on the roster in starring roles, Lanny was assured of great success, and success is exactly what he achieved.

So what makes a Lanny Davis production so much superior to the regular run of insipid and trite daytime soaps the American viewing public is regularly treated to?

Well, dialogue, first and foremost is what the experts all say.

Rhetorically speaking, without blockbuster dialogue, how can you have a blockbuster production?

And the answer is, you can’t, which takes us to the carefully crafted and riveting opening statement of Chairman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, because if you don’t have the hook in in the opening lines, people, the audience is going to be channel-surfing again, and you have lost them, to wit:

Today, the Committee will hear the testimony of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney and one of his closest and most trusted advisors over the last decade.

end quotes

Now in the PR game, that is known as the “set-up,” or “the grab,” establishing Michael Cohen as being tighter to Trump than his own underwear, and let me say that in his delivery there, Elijah Cummings is said to have delivered a flawless performance.

Let’s face it, people, even right now, after the breathtaking performance is long since over, he still has us on the edge of our seats there, straining forward to hear the next words coming, saying to ourselves, “holy ****, this Cohen is a dude with the real goods on Trump, and that is a fact,” or at least that is how the main-stream media is playing it, and that is a hallmark of a Lanny Davis production – superior scripting, which takes us back to the well-crafted Cummings opening statement as follows:

On August 21, Mr. Cohen appeared in federal court and admitted to arranging secret payoffs of hundreds of thousands of dollars on the eve of the election to silence women alleging affairs with Donald Trump. 

Mr. Cohen admitted to violating campaign finance laws and other laws. 

He admitted to committing these felonies “in coordination with, and at the direction of” President Trump. 

And he admitted, he admitted, to lying about his actions to protect the President.

end quotes

BING BADA BOOM, people, game is over for Trump, and we are barely even into the show, yet!

This is like being outside the tent where Little Egypt is going to do her thing, and listening to the barker telling us about the show, so we will want to pay good money to go in there and see her do it herself.

This is what sets a PR Guru like Lanny Davis apart from the pack – he has his finger on the pulse of what stirs the blood of the people in America, and he provides it for them, big time, which is why his productions are called extravaganzas, and rightfully so, as we see from the following dialogue, to wit:

Some will certainly ask, if Mr. Cohen was lying then, why should we believe him now? 

This is a legitimate question. 

As a trial lawyer for many years, I’ve faced this situation over and over again. 

And I asked the same question. 

end quotes

Introspection and thoughtfulness, people!

Here we have Lanny establishing the fact in the minds of the viewing public, the all-important at-home viewing audience, that here is a man, who despite being a Democrat, is not just going to go blindly rushing in there, believing every word Cohen says, when everybody already knows that in addition to being quite stupid, Cohen is also a convicted liar, which takes us back to Elijah Cummings, as follows:

Here is how I view our role. 

Every one of us in this room has a duty to serve as an independent check on the Executive Branch. 

end quotes

Actually, in reality, that statement is pure bull****, but we are not talking reality here, people – it’s a daytime soap opera, so what we are after isn’t truth or justice – it is drama!

It’s winter, it’s snowing, the governor told us it is not safe to be out when it’s snowing, so we are bored with cabin fever, and we want to be entertained, and Lanny knows that, so he gave us what we craved, which takes us back to these momentous words from the drama, as follows

Ladies and gentlemen, we are in search of the truth. 

The President has made many statements of his own, and now the American people have a right to hear the other side. 

They can watch Mr. Cohen’s testimony and make their own judgment. 

end quotes

Solemnity, people!

How important that is for the drama!

Elijah Cummings is presented to us as a modern-day Diogenes, also known as Diogenes the Cynic, the Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy who modeled himself on the example of Heracles, and believed that virtue was better revealed in action than in theory, using his simple life-style and behaviour to criticize the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt, confused society, becoming notorious for his philosophical stunts, such as carrying a lamp during the day, claiming to be looking for an honest man, who was also noted for having mocked Alexander the Great, both in public and to his face when he visited Corinth in 336. 

So there, people, is the first most important take-away from the Michael Cohen, but it won’t be the last, so stay tuned, as the plethora of take-aways from this Lanny Davis production come rolling in, and now, a pause for station identification.

This opinion is special to the Mirror by C. Augustus Landis.

As in the Kavenaugh hearing, due process in the Democrat party playbook does not recognize innocent until proven guilty. Northam played the race card in his bid to become Governor and now the Democrat party’s political due process is to use that card against him. As in the Kavanaugh hearing, the Democrat Party says the political due process is for Fairfax to be forced to resign.

The historical irony here is the great debate between Northam and Gillespie was held in Wise Va., named after Henry Wise, the first Governor of Virginia. Wise was the most important political person in Virginia  in the quarter century leading to the Civil War, the most forceful defender of slavery when in Congress, made a martyr of John Brown, and forced Virginia into secession.

Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, advocated eugenics and cleansing of the negro race. Northam believes in infanticide to end the less desirable will not survive birth.

Both Northam and Wise are democrats.

Res Publica

This Opinion is special to the Mirror by Chas Cornweller.

Lately, I’ve been watching the weather. I have been looking up towards the sky. I’ve caught animated weathermen hawking their brand on my big flat screen. I have been walking about, outside, feeling winter enclose me. All these things have become one large, automatic charge. These changes are real, tangible and felt. I have been watching the weather.

America is at a cross road. We as a people, are at that cross road as well. We have yet to define who we are. The closest we have come, was during the years nineteen forty-one to nineteen forty-five. Collectively, we rolled up our sleeves and set out to a determined and ultimately successful purge of fascism, racism and hate. Purged from two other nations, that is. Not yet from America. That fight was left for other generations. America is at a cross road.

During the sixties, the cracks began appearing. Sons, declared fit for combat, were sent, not as volunteers but as draftees, half-way around the world to fight a civil war in which we had no cause, no justification, no dog in the fight. Only that specter of Communism was used to lure these young men to their deaths. A specter that was created out of failure and lack of understanding between nations and economic philosophies. And from this war, a gap between those that had fought in a seemingly gallant and well-intentioned war and those who were now sent to die in what seemed a senseless and wasteful war appeared. It widened, until those who held the power and made the laws unleashed their dogs with guns and killed young people in the streets and on the campuses. During the sixties, the cracks began appearing.

Behind the scenes, unscrupulous deeds were being done. Plans were laid to disrupt other countries in their personal progresses. Popularly elected officials were overthrown and replaced by ruthless and inflexible rulers. Strength and power ruled the day. Certain portions of the populace disappeared. Others were rounded up, tortured and made to confess to crimes that they had had no part of. Then, they too, disappeared. Behind the scenes, unscrupulous deeds were being done.

Then came the promise in the form of acting. Many great communications came from on high. New laws and a new prosperity would rule over the people. The hospitals for the mentally ill and those challenged by life’s everyday machinations, were emptied. These same people had nowhere to go, but to the streets. Suddenly, the money for programs to educate young children dried up. Programs for veterans of that faraway war diminished. They, too, were abandoned to the streets. A new drug appeared to offer hope and clarity to the poor and disenfranchised. It was the same drug that some of the rich had used previously for creative and physical stamina. But, it was expensive as presented, so the poor revised it. They revised it to make it cheaper and more accessible to their own. This drug became rampant and found its way into the bodies of young mothers and into the communities of the very, very poor. Many of the former hospital patients used it as a way of coping. It was of no benefit to anyone and only brought misery and ultimately death to many of its users. It was a false promise of hope. It was only a promise in the form of acting out a big lie.

I have been watching the weather. Today, the weather is cold and rainy. I have been watching the sky. Endless sets of clouds among a background of grey looks down on me. The air is too full to rain just now. But, it will rain soon. I know it will. I can tell by the patterns of things. Plus, lately, I’ve been watching the weather. 

Special Opinion to the Mirror by Paul Plante.

First off, people, to understand where I am going here, we, the actual American people, whether born here or naturalized, need to ask ourselves why it is that of all the types of government there are in the world, we have this particular frame with an executive not beholden to the House of Representatives, because he does not serve at the pleasure of the House of Representatives, although the incoming Democrat party seems bent on changing that by using the threat of impeachment as a whip and a goad to bring the president under their direct control.

Think the Lilliputians, tiny people who are about one-twelfth the height of ordinary human beings who live in Lilliput, said to be ruled by an Emperor assisted by a first minister who carries a white staff and several other officials who later bring articles of impeachment against Gulliver on grounds of treason, and you are in the right ballpark!

Getting back to the main story here, which is about Adam Schiff, a top Lilliputian if there ever was one (no, people, there is no Constitutional bar to tiny people who are about one-twelfth the height of ordinary human beings serving in the United States House of Representatives as Democrats from California), we are hearing a lot these days about the “founders” from the Democrats and what are supposed their thoughts on the impeachment of a sitting U.S. president, and according to them, we have now reached the patently absurd position in this country, thanks to the Democrats, that a U.S. president can be impeached for allegedly defrauding the voters of the United States of America, who, by the way, do not elect presidents in the first place; the electoral college does, by not specifically telling them that while he was running for president, he was actually making hush payments to some women not his wife who he was alleged to have had carnal relations with, as if that could somehow disqualify a person from holding the office of president of the United States of America.

So let’s see what the actual founders have to say about why we have the frame of government in this country that we do, as opposed to all the alternatives, such as can be found in the Congo, and Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, for example. 

Let’s start with FEDERALIST No. 6, Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States, which is exactly what we are seeing in the United States of America today, actually, with red states and blue states, by Alexander Hamilton for the Independent Journal to the People of the State of New York, where we learn about our actual history, not the history being invented on the fly by the Democrats, from someone who was actually there when it was happening, to wit: 

THE three last numbers of this paper have been dedicated to an enumeration of the dangers to which we should be exposed, in a state of disunion, from the arms and arts of foreign nations. 

I shall now proceed to delineate dangers of a different and, perhaps, still more alarming kind— – those which will in all probability flow from dissensions between the States themselves, and from domestic factions and convulsions. 

end quotes

Focus on that last line there, people, and more specifically on the words, “domestic factions and convulsions,” where convulsions can be taken to mean “a violent social or political upheaval,” with such synonyms as turmoil, agitation, and disorder, as in “the political convulsions of the period,” which takes us directly to an article in The Hill entitled “Schiff: Trump may face ‘real prospect of jail time’” by Michael Burke on 9 December 2018, where we are told as follows:

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday said that President Trump might “face the real prospect of jail time” after prosecutors indicated last week that he directed illegal payments during his 2016 presidential campaign.

end quotes

He “might,” Adam?

Do tell, dude!

Thanks for the timely head’s up, dude, but seriously, doesn’t the use of the word “might” imply that you are engaging in rank speculation?

Here, Adam, let me help you out by guiding you to an internet site entitled “Writing Explained,” and an article titled “May vs. Might: What’s the Difference?” where we learn that the two words may and might cause a lot of confusion in English and many writers aren’t sure when to use which one. 

As to “might” as the word is used in The Hill article by California’s Adam Schiff, who incidentally is a Harvard-trained lawyer, so he should know the meaning of words as well as I do, it is used to express what is hypothetical, counterfactual, or remotely possible. 

As the site tells us, right away we notice that might deals with situations that are speculative or did not actually happen, i.e. hypothetical, whereas may deals with situations that are possible or could be factual.

An easy way to express/remember this difference is that might suggests a lower probability than does may. 

If something is very far-fetched, you probably want to use might. 

You could say might is for things that are mighty far-fetched.

So, people, why then is California’s Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who incidentally voted to invade Iraq based on bad intelligence, telling us in The Hill about something far-fetched?

And that answer is quite simple – California’s Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, is trying to inflame people’s passions in this country for the exact purpose of causing convulsions to disturb our national tranquility for cheap partisan political gain and in order to disrupt the functioning of our national government and to influence the next presidential election.

Simply stated, Adam Schiff is a Democrat bomb-thrower, which takes us back to The Hill, where bomb-thrower Schiff then states as follows, to wit:

“There’s a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him.”

end quotes

Oh, really Adam!

My goodness, how serious that sounds.

So, Adam, they may indict him on the very day he leaves office.

I see, I see.

But tell us, Adam, how is it that you happen to know the exact date that the Justice Department is going to indict Trump?

Are you colluding with the Justice Department to make that happen, Adam?

Getting back to The Hill:

“That he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

end quotes

Now, people, really, can you believe this bull****?

Can you believe that the Justice Department, which doesn’t confirm or deny that it is conducting an investigation, is telling California’s Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, that the Justice Department is going to put Trump in jail after indicting him on the day he leaves office?

Is there anyone out there actually credulous (ready to believe especially on slight or uncertain evidence as in “few people are credulous enough to believe such nonsense”)enough to believe that crap?

But let’s not stop there, because it gets even wilder yet, as follows:

Schiff, who is likely to be the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, added that the next president may have to determine whether to pardon Trump.

“We have been discussing the issue of pardons the president may offer to people or dangle in front of people,” Schiff said. 

“The bigger pardon question may come down the road, as the next president has to determine whether to pardon Donald Trump.”

end quotes

Now, people, no wonder that the Democrats have made Adam Schiff of California into the top dog Democrat on House Intelligence Committee – it is because he is so intelligent, he not only knows what is going on now, but in the future, as well, as we can see right above here where he raises the serious existential question as to whether the next president will bother to pardon Trump after the Justice Department indicts him on the day he leaves office, or whether that next president, especially if a Democrat, will leave Trump to rot in jail, as the Democrats so clearly want him to, in retaliation for him defeating the Democrat’s own Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election they thought they had sufficiently rigged for Hillary to win. 

And that spew of speculative crap from Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is likely to be the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, despite the fact that he himself seems to be greatly lacking in real intelligence, despite his Harvard law degree, takes us back to Federalist No. 6, as follows for a possible explanation as to why Adam Schiff of California is spewing such **** in The Hill, to wit: 

A man must be far gone in Utopian speculations who can seriously doubt that, if these States should either be wholly disunited, or only united in partial confederacies, the subdivisions into which they might be thrown would have frequent and violent contests with each other. 

To presume a want of motives for such contests as an argument against their existence, would be to forget that men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious.

end quotes

Enter Adam Schiff, people!

Stay tuned, for more is yet to come in this breaking story of drama and deceit from the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C. where truth, justice and the American way can no longer be found.
…

Special to the Mirror by Ken Dufty, unofficial notes on the the Town Hall meeting held this week at Kiptopeke Elementary School.

Meeting began shortly after 7 pm at Kiptopeke Elementary School,including attendance by the three new Planning Commissioners, including Sarah Morgan who is returning as a Commissioner from previous service.

I. Introduction
After thanking citizens for attending, Supervisor Coker updated the crowd on some of the projects the Board of Supervisor is working on. He started with the current budget deliberations and adoption, highlighting the fact that raises were given to teachers and the deputies, but no tax increase was levied on residents. However, he did stress that the county needs to find new sources of revenue in order to sustain the level of services that is now shouldered by the county.

A. VDOT update….Supervisor Coker (herein referred to as “John” for brevity and with respect) credited the work of Granville Hogg for encouraging the installation of a new stop light at the dangerous intersection at the Food Lion Plaza in Cape Charles. John did say the county played an important role in that decision, and said that the light probably would be installed next year.
B. New Bike Trail…..John explained that the fines that are received from drivers who are caught traveling with an open container go into a fund that is dedicated to the purpose of protecting pedestrians and bike riders from harm re: mainstream traffic. One project to accomplish this goal is to construct a new bike trail from downtown Cape Charles to the Food Lion Plaza. He said that 2 people had lost their lives traveling to and from the plaza over the last several decades.

C. Cape Charles Anchorage. Currently ships can anchor 1 to 2 miles off the coast of Cape Charles but the Coast Guard is proposing to move it to a confined area 3 miles off shore, but no decision has been made yet. John did run into an official involved in this decision making, and has been informed that no definitive decision has been reached but it is pending.
D. Railroad. John said that the railroad is owned by Accomack, Northampton, the state and the transportation commission. He said assets are being sold off to pay for maintenance and retire debt. He said Cape Charles and the county would work together to develop a plan for future use (reuse) of the rail yard.

E. Groundwater. John spoke of the need to protect the sustainability of our sole source aquifer, explaining that now we use about 9 million gallons/day (mgd) and our aquifer is being recharged by an equal amount. However, he said there is an additional 3 mgd proposed to be withdrawn by proposed uses such as the poultry industry in Accomack County, and we must be careful of overpumping, especially as it pertains to the potential for saltwater encroaching into our lower and more used Yorktown Aquifer. Note John is the Chairman of the A-NPDC Groundwater Committee. He spoke of the need to rely more on the surficial or Columbia aquifer which he said recharges at a rate 100 times greater than the Yorktown. He explained that the groundwater committee is working on legislation that would incentivize increased use of the Columbia and he expects progress on that initiative next year.

F.Schools….recent inspection by engineers revealed that the high school is not in danger of falling down nor is it not safe for students, although it does need structural work. He said the focus is on keeping the school there for 5 years while financing options are put in place to address the need for more modern facilities for our students.

G. Tourism Commission. John spoke of the plan to restructure the tourist commission and move its headquarters to a more central location.

H. Broadband Authority///John said the BA has borrowed $5 million and expects to be able to serve 70% of users within 2 years.

I. Health Care. John informed the crowd that the county now has a state of the art Nightingale Pad that allows a medical helicopter to land even in inclement weather as it can electronically guide in the craft. He also lauded Eastern Shore Rural Health’s plans to build their new facility on Route 13 in Eastville.

II. Discussion of Draft 2018 Comprehensive Plan.

The agenda that was handed out to attendees listed 10 facets of the draft Comp Plan that would start discussion in the spirit of a town hall meeting. John shared his thoughts on many of those topics and this discussion included Supervisor Dave Fauber (“Dave”) and his feelings on the draft. Note that after these supervisors shared their view and critique of the draft, the floor was open for comment and a healthy exchange of ideas and suggestions.

a)Introduction (tone and content): Both supervisors agreed that the introduction was hard to read and follow, and had an excessively negative tone.
They also thought that the Virginia Code would be more appropriately placed as an attachment rather than in the beginning text of the introduction. They said the language should be more straightforward and simple and easier to understand.

They also commented that the CPAC phone survey that was funded by the real estate industry should not be used as a major basis for the PC’s recommendations.
b) The supervisors commented that there seemed to be no rationale for the elimination of Hamlets and rezoning them into Villages with a higher density and commercial, industrial and institutional uses that are not allowed in our 28 Hamlets now.

c) The supervisors were adamant that the Oyster and Willis Wharf visioning statements should be left in, as a lot of work from the citizens in those areas went into updating that work in 2012 as part of the comp plan update that began 7 years ago.

d) Town Edge….both supervisors agreed that it made sense to encourage future development around the towns and areas that have sewer and water, but said that any development in the town edge should fully involve the towns that would have to provide services to any project.

e) Density Changes…during the discussion after the presentation, both supervisors agreed that any density changes needed to have a rationale, as it was recognized that there are many empty lots now that are not being developed. The supervisors opined that increasing density with no studies, expert consultants or a rationale seemed to only benefit the real estate interests and could not be supported without an evidentiary basis.

f) Overall comments: The supervisors seemed to agree that the draft plan needs to be sent back to the PC in its entirety, a consultant hired to assist the PC in updating the 2009 plan where needed, and have a more open and inclusive process than the one transpiring over the last 6 years. Dave commented that there are several sections that should be considered to be updated and left in, including Parts 5, 6, and 7. He agreed that a Comp Plan Update should not be a surrogate for a rezoning effort, and thought the economic development plan as written should be scrapped. He thought that 25% of part 4 should be scrapped, but did like the history and geography sections.
In closing, both supervisors and the attendees seemed to agree that Northampton County has to come up with ways to capture revenue from “pass through” exchanges past our borders. We need more revenue to support our schools, health care, services and county operations, but we need to find ways to do that without sacrificing our rural nature,environmental sanctity, and charm that attracts the tourist trade. John commented that building more houses on fewer acres will only tax services more and always results in a negative effect on county coffers.

PUBLIC COMMENT AND EXCHANGE

After the discussion by the supervisors, the floor was open for comment (although the supervisors fielded questions during their commentary.) Many people spoke of their concerns over the draft and the process that went into that effort. Some of the comments included: the lack of an open and transparent process with very limited opportunities for full public participation; Barrier Islands and the need to stabilize them as they roll towards the eastern coast of NC; reasons why people came here and the need to retain our rural character; more public access to the water; Bayview and the need for improvements there including the need for new or better management; VDOT involvement in a future Comp Plan update; the fact that hiring a consultant is not a “genie in a bottle” and the need to carefully choose that expert input; the fact that there are many platted subdivisions that have not been developed now; the fact that there are 9,700 vacant parcels in the county now and that there is no reason to increase density now because of that dynamic; the fact that Staaten Island used to be just like Northampton County until the developers convinced elected officials that density increase was needed to raise revenues.. a fallacy that sent taxes through the roof; the need to protect Route 13 from massive development as this is our primary recharge area (a point made repeatedly by John Coker); several residents of Oyster and Willis Wharf commented that Waterfront Hamlets need to stay and remain protected; a suggestion that the new Planning Commissioners should be encouraged to read the 2009 Comp Plan and use that as a foundation for a real update, and not a complete rewrite of the county’s vision for the next 20 years; a dissertation on the railroad, with John giving a detailed look into the finances and future of that asset, which is co-owned by county taxpayers; the fact that the hospital has left and the need to address the lack of immediate health care for those in need; dredging of the channels and suggestions on what to do with the dredge materials in regard to beneficial reuse(stabilize Barrier Islands…..a suggestion that may not sit well with the Nature Conservancy as discussed by participants); and, the fact that the draft Comp Plan is in direct contravention to the code of Virginia section 15.2-2223 et. al.; and kudos to the Kelley Lewis Parks for the work she and fellow Planning Department personnel put into this long and arduous process, noting that they were simply following the direction of the Planning Commission and must have spent thousands of hours on this project.

CONCLUSION

The meeting wrapped up around 8:30 and it should be noted that not one person spoke in favor of the draft plan or the process that was employed to prepare the draft. Overall, it seemed everyone was incredibly relieved that it appeared that the draft plan would be sent back to the Planning Commission for a REAL update of our prevailing Comprehensive Plan, an expert consultant would be retained to assist the new Planning Commission (and existing members) in that exciting work, and that the public would have ample opportunity to be as involved as they would like to be in this ongoing effort.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Perhaps this marks the end of a 6 year controversy that has literally consumed many, many citizens who sought only to protect the 2009 Comprehensive Plan and the majority’s vision of what they want this community to look like over the next 20 years. Can you imagine where we would be today if the amount of effort that it took to defend this county against plans that were not embraced by the majority was spent working WITH our elected leaders to help address and solve our many economic and environmental challenges? Perhaps now we will get that chance.