To the Vice President of the United States: A Request

Today, I received an e-mail from the Committee for a Democratic Majority, asking me to sign a petition objecting to Vice President Cheney's absurd assertions that he should not have to obey the law and, as mandated by Executive Order 12958, follow the same rules as everyone else in the Executive Branch for handling information (If you wish to add your name to the petition, you can do so by following this link). I thought I would share what I wrote:

You may remember this line from the past, Mr. Vice President. It was uttered by Joseph Welch when another man entrusted by voters had gone too far: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

I realize that the only way to remove you from office is an Impeachment. There is a more honest and more honorable way -- one that might show that you recognize that your handling of this matter and your self-protective sacrifice of "Scooter" Libby does trouble your conscience.

Resign.

Show the world, Mr. Vice President, that you still have some sense of honor. Resign.

I don't have much hope that the Vice President will listen to my plea. If he is unwilling to listen to the Constitution, who is he willing to listen to?

Letter to the Editor on School Funding

(This Letter to the Editor appeared in the Wednesday, June 13, 2007 edition of The Enquirer Journal. Unfortunately, the Board of Commisioners has not yet changed its position and it looks like they will end up in court over this issue and over their firing of Mike Shalati, who today alleged in his court filing that, in addition to making poor decisions, they broke the law.)

Dear Editor,

When I ran for the School Board this past election cycle, one of the cornerstones of my campaign was an equitable distribution of our educational resources so that all of the children of Union County would have a fair chance at building a bright future for themselves. Such a promise is at the heart of public education and our national ideal – a goal that is founded upon our highest belief that we are all created equal.

In order to protect this equality, we entrust our elected officials to oversee our public affairs wisely and judiciously. We do so with the full knowledge that they will have to face difficult decisions and balance the needs of some against the needs of others. It is, in many ways, a thankless job as there are always those who will second-guess the decisions made.

Yet some decisions are so poorly made that I wonder how they could have been conceived. Apparently, the Board of Commissioners can find the money for questionable expenses, including $1 million for a new pump station that more than a few people have pointed out is a handout to developers rather than a service to the people of Union County. They also found money to pay $75 an hour for a public relations consultant, until she left the position at the beginning of May.

Money can be found for these expenses but not for the basic operating costs requested by the Board of Education?

As seems all too usual with these Commissioners, the lack of funding will disproportionately impact the eastern half of Union County and, ironically enough, those schools which most need this support.

This is not a political issue. The School Board is a non-partisan elected body that consists of people from all parts of the political spectrum who, I am pleased to report, are all interested in what is best for the children of Union County. It is a question of the competence and values of the County Commissioners who refuse to make the responsible decisions that are needed to support the children of Union County.

I urge all readers to make their displeasure known to the Board of Commissioners in the hope that they will reverse their decision.

Sincerely,

Matthew M. DeForrest