Below is an email blast that I received from incoming MCRCC Chair Dennis Melby. I realize that email blasts tend to be shrill and designed to appeal to party militants but I was still struck by (1) how closely he embraces Trump’s views tightly even as (2) he refuses to say his name, an emerging trope among some Republicans who recognize that the President is just a dead political weight.
Even more striking is his caricature of the Black Lives Matter movement and its supporters, especially when juxtaposed with his vociferous defense of the police. There is no mention of George Floyd’s murder or of it being part of a long pattern of far too many Black people dying or suffering injuries in police custody. The police have an exceedingly tough job, made more difficult by weapons being so widespread in our society, but we must acknowledge and then figure out how to stop these killings of our neighbors and fellow citizens.
In contrast to Melby’s scaremongering language, the demonstrations in MoCo have been incredibly peaceful with broad based support. Indeed, the most noted case of violence was the man on the Capital Crescent Trail who assaulted the kids putting up pro-Black Lives Matter flyers. While I share his concern about crowds, demonstrations are outside and fortunately seem to have been related to relatively little transmission spread.
Moreover, it’s not like the man is a supporter of measures to contain COVID-19. Instead, he complains about every form of it. Everyone would love for kids to go back to school but it just isn’t safe now. For a start, there is simply no way to keep teachers apart from young kids or young kids from each other. Can you imagine a teacher trying to comfort a crying kid from six feet away? Older kids are hardly likely to use better judgement when leaders like this mock social distancing.
Here is the email:
Last week the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee elected me as Party Chairman for the remainder of the year, and I thank them for their support. We have such an important election in less than three months.
In the United States, in Maryland and in even in Montgomery county there’s a deepening feeling of frustration. Something’s just not right. No kids in school for the foreseeable future, work from home as much as you can, cut back on social activity for as long as it takes, but watch massive demonstrations and even violence as if it is acceptable. It is not.
Although the police are our neighbors and family members there’s a small segment of the population on the far left bent on dismantling them and turning our defense against violence and threats over to social workers. We need to continue the struggle for racial justice and against antisemitism, but under the guise of that struggle many people are fueling hatred and intolerance against “the others”, which can only lead to a lack of trust and understanding.
Just over the weekend the far left and many in the teachers unions have coordinated with the government to ban opening all in-person education in Montgomery county, public and private. Only a screen in front of a student is acceptable. This is not acceptable. We need an elected county government with common sense to check actions like this.
Yet we’re standing up. We say do everything you can to move on, safely and with sanity. Open the schools when you can, stop the violence and intimidation, support the cops who are vastly good, decent folks who want to do the right thing. While we all admit there’re wrong things in the world we know our American society strives to correct wrongs, to lift people up, and remain a place the world wants to come to.
So we stand with our first responders and laud them. We back the blue and hold their selfless works in admiration and respect. And we’re 100 percent sure that our great, perhaps the greatest medical establishment the world has ever seen will conquer this pestilence we’re faced with soon, not only for us, but for the world.
Believe me – both parties want to get back to boom times – one party to collect great taxes and the other party to provide great wealth. And yes, there are plenty of folks in between too! Even though the media portrays it differently we’re moving together as one united country, over the bumps in the road, fighting for family, community, freedom and justice.
Our November elections will reject the far-left extremists on the national level and move us closer to true representation on the local level. And the future will be bright, I know it.
