by Stuart F. James
posted February 4, 2006
In this morning's Times Free Press, Bernie Miller, who is a Republican candidate for District 5 County Commission, said about the race, "I think it is my race to lose because he (Greg Beck) doesn't have the community support and he is frustrated."
The people of District 5 should not be fooled. They must ask themselves whose interest does Mr. Miller have in mind, particularly when he is supporting President Bush and his agenda.
Bernie Miller continues to make bold statements about his chances of winning the race, and about the support he has in the community. These statements have not been supported by facts.
Everyone will recall that Miller appeared at the Kefauver Dinner in November and represented to over 500 people that he was a Democrat. He stood up and was recognized as a Democratic candidate for County Commission. By some happenstance, Bernie Miller changed. He is now a Republican.
Bernie Miller is disingenuous about his chances of victory. Here is a man who claims that he can represent the interests of the people of District 5 while he sits with the President of the United States in Nashville, a President who wants to cut taxes for the richest 1% of Americans while increasing funding for education, research and the victims in New Orleans. This is a President who is playing political football with the public, while presiding over the largest deficit in American history.
As I previously stated, the President is playing voodoo politics. Mr. Miller, who knows the President falls short on what he did for relief in New Orleans, supports the President and his agenda, an agenda that will leave the people of District 5 out in the cold. Despite the President being out of touch with America, Mr. Miller sits proudly with the President of the United States supporting the President's agenda.
The people of District 5 must ask themselves - is Mr. Miller really right for them? Mr. Miller supports a President who did not care about the victims of Katrina in New Orleans. He suppports a President who was a day late and a dollar short in getting relief to the people who suffered in that area. Moreover, people of District 5 must understand that the President is out of touch with the people of this country. He is out of touch with sound economic principles, out of touch with handling your investment dollars, and out of touch with bringing jobs and opportunities to your community.
You must ask yourself if Dr. Miller met with the Chairman of the Republican National Committee when he was here. How much did they discuss the specific needs of the people in District 5 or the minority community in that meeting?
This election is about opportunities in education which leads to new opportunities in jobs, which leads to new opportunities in community values and new opportunities in healthcare. As we create a stronger economic system, we will create more jobs. Our values dictate that we are free to believe as we wish to believe, and that we must elect leaders who place the public good over personal gain. Is Mr. Miller the person who believes in these principles, or is he playing the same voodoo politics as the President and the Republican National Committee chair he respects so much.
Mr. Miller's actions are like those of the President, voodoo politics at its best; while he says one thing to the public he does another.
I hope all of us see Mr. Miller of what he is - a politician engaging in voodoo politics.
Stuart James
sjames139@comcast.net
* * *
Upon reading Stuart James' opinion of Bernie Miller, I felt compelled to put forward my thoughts also.
First, Mr. Miller did not introduce himself as a Democrat at the Kefauver Dinner; someone else did. Mr. Miller has openly and often said he has voted both sides of the aisle depending on the ideals of the candidate.
Mr. Miller is accused of sitting with President Bush who cut taxes for 1% of Americans. Is telling a partial truth as bad as an outright lie? Bush cut my families' taxes and we probably earn less that Mr. James who made these specious remarks. My wife and I are definitely not in the top bracket. Besides, the top 1% of earners pay almost 10% of all income taxes. The top 10% of earners pay 34% of federal income taxes. What is wrong with that?
Putting Mr. Miller with Mr. Bush is guilt by association. Is Mr. James guilty of taking federal bribes because he consorts with those who do? We are known by the company we keep.
Mr. Miller is pro-life as he regularly states in public and in private. Mr. Miller is a minister who shepherds a large local church. The New Testament states "...do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever...". The Democrat National Committee has a platform. A plank in that platform dating back more than a dozen years is abortion on demand and federally funded abortion. How could a professing Christian, especially a minister, yoke himself to the slaughter of the unborn?
If Mr. Miller met with the head of the Republican National Committee when he was here, good for him. District 5 is predominately African American. Financial statistics show the average income for minority families has grown more under Bush than Clinton. District 5 does not need handouts but opportunities. Who can best bring them there?
Mr. James wasted his space questioning the decisions of President Bush's underlings. This election is between Miller and Beck. The Chattanooga Times stated Saturday, Feb. 4, that at Mr. Beck's bidding, two of Mr. Miller's radio shows were pulled by radio management for fear of litigation. I understand that Mr. Beck has a program too. Does he intend to keep it?
I suggest the voters in District 5 listen to neither Mr. James or myself. Read the Times article.
Get involved. Meet Mr. Miller and Mr. Beck personally. Check their history. Check who and how each voted. Then go to the polls and vote.
Carnell Storie
carnellstorie@juno.com
* * *
Like many other of my colleagues lately I have become disillusioned. Where are the political heroes of today? Not the historical leaders that made our country great, but leaders for contemporary times who will champion the issues of the day?
That makes it even more saddened by the unnecessary article which appeared
in the Chattanoogan. I am deeply disappointed in the Stuart James criticism of an incredible community leader, Dr. Bernie Miller. Miller could be such a champion for contemporary times.
The unwarranted attack demonstrates the frustration the local Democratic
leadership must be experiencing to move their agenda forward in Hamilton
County. We need leaders who are inclusive rather exclusive. This assault is politics pure and simple, and Bernie Miller should not have been subjected to this political barrage from "out of touch" partisan leadership.
Campaigns have morphed into managing public relations events, campaign
slogans and endless political signs, many times with professional politicians. I think "politicians" and "partisan leadership" need to get out from behind a desk take some time in the actual world and talk to some real people. How refreshing it is to see Bernie Miller doing just that, walking and talking to community leaders and citizens in an effort to increase the significance of the needs of the 5th District being met.
Bernie Miller has proven time and time again he is able to build political consensus and work with his party and across the political aisle to benefit all citizens. It is more important to be a Tennessean and an American first. Quite honestly in my discussions with Bernie Miller he does not view himself as a partisan, and for that Hamilton County will be better off with his service on the County Commission. It is true he believes "the government is best that governs least." But that is also true among second Amendment supporters, property rights activists, states rights defenders, free market
economic conservatives and constitutional libertarians. Bernie Miller has been one of the most vocal people I have known in pursuit of quality education and workforce development. He is perfectly suited to serve the citizens of the 5th District.
"Career politics" are responsible for most of the state and nation's woes,
and many elected officials are more interested in getting re-elected than
making tough choices to change the system. Blind partisanship has no place on a County Commission race.
As a side note, Voodoo Politics is a conspiracy theory which attempted to
tie together Democrats, Aristide and the drug trade in order to justify the
continued suppression of human rights in Haiti. I think the term was
misapplied then, just as it is inappropriate here. Stuart, you are better than this, you owe Bernie Miller an apology.
J.C. Bowman
flapolicy@hotmail.com
* * *
Stuart, you said that you were a Christian. Matthew 18:15 says, "If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the fault. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back." You have never come to me in private.
So, rather than wait for you, I feel obligated by the God I serve and the Bible in which I believe to practice Matthew 5:23-24, which says, "So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God."
You wrote in your e-mail, "Mr. Miller is well aware of what he did to me and to the Democratic Party." Unfortunately, I'm not. However, in the spirit of reconciliation between believers, please forgive me for whatever you think I did to you.
God bless you.
Dr. Bernie Miller
Pastor New Covenant Fellowship Church
1326 N. Moore Road
RevBMiller@aol.com
* * *
In Stuart James' latest letter attacking Bernie Miller, he again proves that he is out of touch with reality. I don't know which candidate would be best for this district, but I am sure that James doesn't know either. One of the things that Bernie Miller has going for him is that Mr. James does not like him. I would wear that as a badge of honor.
Mr. James' view of politics is absolutely bizarre. He is trying to influence the African-American community, in which Mr. Miller is popular, by tying him to the national Republican Party. His whole letter seemed to imply that Mr. Miller has all of a sudden turned into some kind of Uncle Tom in the last month. I wonder if his reference to "voodoo" was another back-handed racial comment. If Mr. Miller was so bad, how come Mr. James fell all over himself to introduce him at the Keavaver Dinner when he thought he was a Democrat? As usual, Mr. James' recollection is a little faulty. It wasn't Mr. Miller who "represented to over 500 people that he was a Democrat." It was you that misrepresented him.
This same letter again shows that the local Democrat tactic is to say that increased education spending, which he calls "investment", will result in increased economic development. So if you are against raising taxes for education, you are against economic development. Of course, the local education lobby (PEF, HCEA) has perpetuated this myth as an excuse to keep asking for more and more and more.... If it were true, our companies would be moving to Europe, where there is a better education system than the U.S., instead of Mexico, China and other Third World nations. If it were true, automotive and other industries would be locating in New York or California where much more money is spent on education instead of the semi-rural South. If things keep going as they are in this country, we will have the highest educated drive-thru window attendants in the world.
Futhermore, Mr. James doesn't seem to mind that Republicans Larry Henry and Claude Ramsey voted for and support President Bush. Why, because they are towing the power structure line. As you recall, they have no significant Democrat opposition. His disengenuousness is also highlighted by the fact that he has recruited one of his Democrat buddies, John Brooks, to run against fellow incumbent Democrat Lou Miller in the commisioners' race. His type of selective outrage is so ridiculous, his Republican counterparts just laugh at him. They just stand back and watch the local Democrats under Mr. James self-destruct and continue to be thankful that Stuart James is the best thing that has ever happened to them.
Tim Price
jat-55@msn.com
* * *
Poor Stuart. He is such a good guy and what I think to be a smart lawyer, but he has this stuff all wrong. All I have to say is the Democrats have Ted Kennedy (who loves to make women cry), Nancy what's her face, Joe (maybe one day I can find my own words) Biden, Bill (I never had sex with that woman) Clinton just to name a few.
Stuart, the episode the Democrats put on with the new justice was a complete embarrassment to this country and you can still be in the same party? I noticed you didn't say anything about that or did you agree with what they did? I'm sure a few Democrats jumped ship over that. Stuart, take a chill pill.
Tony Dankowski
tony8855@yahoo.com
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