Month: May 2019

a Quaker Marine; go figure (14)

(14th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

ssinsider is known to Gadfly but prefers to remain anonymous.

Gadfly:

My dad was a Marine, too, a Quaker Marine; go figure. He believed that his generation had to save democracy from terrible tyrants and terrifying prejudice and violence. He fought in Okinawa, and was one of two officers in his division who came out of that uninjured and/or alive. This gentle man worked for peace and social justice all of the rest of his life, wanting to save other generations from the horrors of war. He was a role model for so many people, as we heard at his memorial service: he taught by example, by battling bigotry every day in his work and in his personal time, and we learned along side him –his little band of justice seekers. And at the very end of his memorial service, just as he requested, the Marine Hymn was played . . . and we sang along. Semper Fi, indeed.

ssinsider

The “little Tommy” Dineen I never knew (13)

(13th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Do you remember my suggestion back in post #6 to visit — virtually — the Vietnam Wall?

It was an exercise to foster connection with the dead there among my students.

I thought it was a good exercise because of what I found.

I searched my hometown — Lansdowne, Pa.

And found the names of four residents killed in the war. And two I knew.

I was utterly shocked at one: Thomas Gerard Dineen.

“Little Tommy.”

He was “little Tommy” not because his father was named Tommy (which he was) or because he had a big brother.

He was little.

And cute.

Funny. Freckle-faced. Huggable. As Irish-looking as good be.

And angelic: a Sistine chapel cherub.

There’s a picture somewhere in the St. Philomena archives just like this one that I can412094_00035A see in mind’s eye but can’t find.  That’s me carrying the cross, and “Little Tommy” — two grades behind me — would be the acolyte on my right. Looks warm, might have been the May procession. I wish I could find the picture with “little Tommy.” He would have been not much above my belt. I remember looking down on him as we walked. But maybe this picture will at least give you an idea of the context in which I remember him. The dastardly, jeering Highland Avenue “public school” kids were hanging out the windows to our left. It was no role for second-stringers. Mother Bonaventure picked picture-perfect “Little Tommy” to be out-front as we processed!

“Little Tommy” played no sports — which, of course, made you part of the gang — because he was . . . “little.”

I never saw him make a tackle. I never saw him slide into second. I never saw him lead a fast-break.

And yet there he was a 2nd Lt. in the Marines, leading men in battle, and killed August 10, 1967, less that 10 months into his tour of duty, the first of his group to die.

Hill 25 — sporting an “awesome” sign — was named Dineen Hill in his honor.

His valor and the respect of his men must have been “awesome.”

While “Little Tommy” was dying in August 1967, I was reading obscure Puritan sermons in the air-conditioned University of Notre Dame library on the other side of the wall from Touchdown Jesus.

A comrade remembers how Little Tommy “stood tall when Lt., Rowe told you that he didn’t think you had what it took to be a Marine Lieutenant when the board sent you back to be commissioned. You proved him, wrong!! “

Another comrade remembers, “I saved his life, his first night in country. After that we got pretty close, I walked into an ambush, Lt. came to my rescue this time. I have lived with that day for a long time. He was a good officer and I would of followed him any where.”

I remember “Little Tommy” next to me in a procession like the one pictured above. I wish I could find the damn picture and you could see his innocent face. The face I can still see. Looking up at me.

You never know what’s inside a person, never know what a person can do.

“Little Tommy’s” upturned face has, in a sense, become the face of the Vietnam War for me on Memorial Days.

Semper Fi.

“You’d think humanity would have learned from World War II” (12)

(12th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Dana Grubb is a lifelong resident of the City of Bethlehem who worked 27 years for the City of Bethlehem in the department of community and economic development, as sealer of weights and measures, housing rehabilitation finance specialist, grants administrator, acting director of community and economic development, and deputy director of community development.

Gadfly:

At today’s Memorial Day Service I met 94-year-old Henry “Hank” Kudzik. Hank was a submariner who served on the Gar and Nautilus. He fought at the Battle of Midway. What an honor for me, as my late father also served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater of World War II. My dad, who was a Machinist Mate 3rd Class, operated the tail gun on a PB4Y2 patrol bomber, and he would have been 95 in August. That’s right around Hank’s age. According to the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs, as of September 2018 only 496,777 World War II veterans were alive at that point in time, many fewer today, I’m sure. A total of 16,112,566 Americans served in our armed forces in that War. About 415,000 died, many still MIA. My father told me enough so that I would know what war was like. He witnessed Okinawan civilians being driven at bayonet point to jump off of cliffs and commit suicide. There was nothing he could do from his vantage point in the sky. He was on Tinian when the Enola Gay took off on its historic mission, and related that they knew something was up because one plane, a B-29, sat on the tarmac by itself and was surrounded by barbed wire and many MPs. He told me that when they saw the first recon shots and film from Hiroshima, nobody could believe that one weapon had done that much damage. He also related how swift justice could be meted out on other American servicemen when they stole from their own, and how someone caught trying to poison the water supply on a Pacific Island was handled.

War is hell. It’s vicious, unyielding, devastating, and traumatic. You’d think humanity would have learned from World War II. We haven’t.

Dana

“Where have all the young men gone?” (11)

(11th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Thank you Gadfly, Dana, and Peter for reminding us that Memorial Day is a day of remembrance and that war leaves loss and anguish in its wake. I am reminded of lyrics from Pete Seeger’s timeless song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone: When will they ever learn ? When will they ever learn?”

Barbara Diamond

Will you sing along wherever you are right now? Please?

Performed by Pete Seeger

Here performed by Peter, Paul and Mary

Which was just an excuse to hear Mary Travers again. Gadfly is still in love with Mary Travers. Now you know all his secrets.

Gadfly wonders where all the folk singers have gone who, in the “old days,” made us feel the pain of war and social injustice and political bunglings — and brought us together in the act of community singing. Is there not a new generation?

“Let us remember those who set their private lives aside to answer the call of duty” (10)

(10th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Alan Lowcher, Esq. concentrates on real estate and land use law, speaks on the life of Abraham Lincoln, presents history-themed “lessons for lawyers” through the NJ Bar Association, and is a member of several associations promoting a deeper understanding of American history.  

Like Gadfly, Vietnam could be considered “my war” except that my draft number was high enough, the war was winding down, and I was entering my first year of college: there was little chance of being called to serve. I cannot put myself in the shoes of a combat soldier in the field — who among us really can do that unless we’ve “been there” — and we are left to reading about the “war” in books or, if we are lucky, talking to veterans who are willing to talk and share their stories.

I am a student of history — US history in general and military history specifically — and have been privileged beyond words to speak with

  • the grandson of Charles F. Hopkins, Medal of Honor recipient from my home town (Corporal Hopkins rescued a comrade under heavy fire during the battle of Gaines Mill, 1862, and, although twice wounded in the act, carried his fellow soldier to safety), who learned of his grandfather’s service from the old soldier himself;
  • Frank W. Buckles, the last surviving (now deceased) American soldier who served overseas in WWI;
  • Harold A. Miller, Capt. U.S. Army (now deceased), “Battle of the Bulge” combatant commanding an anti-aircraft “flying battery” and, most importantly, the father of my wife;
  • and my father, Robert Lowcher, Petty Officer, Second Class, US Navy (now deceased), who joined the Navy in 1949, who first considered underwater demolition, but when he told his mother about it, she cried so much that he joined the “silent service” instead (his mother cried even harder).

We can only imagine the strength of character, bravery, and moral resolve that these men — and so many men and women who wore the uniform and still wear the uniform — demonstrated. Let us now not glorify war (Captain Miller’s descriptions of what he experienced in WWII would dispel any illusion of the glory of war), but let us remember those who set their private lives aside to answer the call of duty.

Alan

“I saw Vietnam for real today” (8)

(8th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Peter Crownfield is officially retired but spends most of his time working with students in his role as internship coordinator for the Alliance for Sustainable Communities–Lehigh Valley.

Gadfly:

Here’s a poem my son and I published back in 1995 (in a journal called Echoes Magazine, a total of 17 issues from 1993 to 1997), written by a young college student, Lisa J. Parker — one of several of her poems we published. She went on to win a coveted spot in Penn State’s graduate program for writers (she was 1 of only 2 poets admitted that year) and has since published 1 or 2 books of her poetry. The drawing is by Ferrilyn Sourdiffe, which we used both with the poem and as the cover.

Peter

“we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain” (7)

(7th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Abraham Lincoln said it best in his Gettysburg address:

“that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Steve Thode

Visit “The Wall” (6)

(6th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

The Vietnam War was Gadfly’s war.

It seems like we are always at war.

Everybody has a “my war.”

I had a number. But I was “old.” “They” said I was unlikely to be drafted. I wasn’t.

But I have always felt a weird kind of guilt.

Maybe that’s why I spent several years on The Vietnam Wall Controversy project, which I described thusly:

How should we remember a war that we “lost”? You may have been tear-choked as you touched or watched others touch “the Wall” at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the most visited war memorial in our nation’s capital. Yet, this seemingly god-given shrine wears political feet of clay, and behind it lies a fierce controversy that re-opened the wounds of the war the memorial was designed to heal. Experience the evolution of the Vietnam Wall controversy by reading through a chronological list of documents divided into five rounds.

I wanted to provide the primary sources that would enable students to understand why the desire to memorialize the 58,000 Vietnam war dead was fraught with such controversy.

They were born after the Wall was completed. They missed the fun. They missed an education on the kind of war that can be fought over the bodies of those who died in war.

The controversy over the Vietnam Memorial (“The Wall”) was not a pretty one.

But first I had to get these students “involved.” They knew next to nothing about the Vietnam War. Politics insured that it was virtually unstudied in high school.

As a warm-up exercise, I tried to get them to personalize the names on the Wall. To make a connection.

I would send them to a virtual Wall website such as The Wall-USA.

And ask them to make a connection with a family member, if any, killed in the war.

And ask them to make a connection, albeit an artificial one, with one or more of the dead by searching by their name (anybody with your name killed in the war?), their last name, anybody born on their birthday, anybody killed on their birthday (or another important day), anybody from their hometown, someone on a certain panel of the Wall (their lucky number, for instance), someone killed early in the war, someone killed late — especially at the very end, etc. and etc.

Then look at whatever other info is there: for instance, how long were they in Vietnam before killed?

Then look at the personal comments left by visitors, if any. Which can be wrenching. And marked by longevity.

And, finally, then leave a comment.  (That function is now disabled on this site, unfortunately.) Perhaps a word of thanks. A salute.

Dana is remembering Jack Edward Derrico, killed 3 weeks and 1 day into his tour at age 20.

Age 20.

Gadfly invites you visit the Wall this Memorial weekend.

And find someone to remember.

“I’ll be remembering Jack Derrico from my neighborhood” (5)

(5th in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Gadfly:

There is one segment in this DVD [the Lou Reda “The Air War in HD” documentary three posts back] that tears me apart. A B-17 returning from a raid over Europe has been shot up so badly that the hydraulics and electrics won’t allow the belly turret gunner to get out of his bubble, nor will the landing gear be able to be lowered. To listen to those voices, to know that someone’s son, brother, husband will be crushed to death when they land and there is absolutely nothing that can be done to prevent it, is heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. The fellow who flew with the Tuskegee Airmen summed it up rather well when he comments about each white cross representing someone between the ages of 20 and 40; that the people who cause wars aren’t the ones who fight them; and he’s absolutely right. And, in our lifetime we need only look at Vietnam to see how the youth of our country were wasted because of politics, over 50,000 of them. We shouldn’t need walls and monuments to honor our dead, who absolutely deserve our undying respect, we  need to elect statesmen/women who can keep us out of war while maintaining our sovereignty. I’ll be remembering Jack Derrico from my neighborhood tomorrow. He was killed in Vietnam in March 1968, over fifty years ago. The memories I have of the loss his family suffered through are indelibly imprinted on my mind. His father, a World War II U.S. Army veteran who was as patriotic a man as you could know, hated our government once his “Jackie” was killed, until his dying day.

Dana

Whitman’s “Dirge for Two Veterans” set to music (3)

(3rd in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Natalie Foster is a retired Lehigh chemistry professor who is happy now that she can wear t-shirts and jeans every day and not just on weekends

Gadfly:

Ralph Vaughan Williams set that Whitman poem and several other texts to music for SATB choir in a work called ‘Dona Nobis Pacem.’ The way he set ‘…son and father dropt together…’ is one of the many places that can bring one to tears. It is a powerful piece.

[Doing poor man’s research on wikipedia, Gadfly found: “Dona nobis pacem (English: Grant us peace) is a cantata written by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1936 and first performed on 2 October of that year. The work was commissioned to mark the centenary of the Huddersfield Choral Society. Vaughan Williams produced his plea for peace by referring to recent wars during the growing fears of a new one. His texts were taken from the Mass, three poems by Walt Whitman, a political speech, and sections of the Bible.” Here is a presentation by the London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. See approx mins. 15:30-26:45 for the dirge.]

Shifting gears for a moment — I want to thank you for your posts about the local election. I found them and your comments to people who raised issues to be balanced and informative. I have never felt so well prepared to make choices at the ballot box for local contests. As the bard wrote: thanks and thanks and ever thanks!

A fan of Gadfly (and also of Conan the Grammarian!) —

Natalie

No glory in war (2)

(2nd in a series of posts on Memorial Day)

Dana Grubb is a lifelong resident of the City of Bethlehem who worked 27 years for the City of Bethlehem in the department of community and economic development, as sealer of weights and measures, housing rehabilitation finance specialist, grants administrator, acting director of community and economic development, and deputy director of community development.

Gadfly:

Watch the Lou Reda DVDs, “World War II in HD” and “The Air War in HD” [see link below]. I don’t think any other production can match these in terms of the presentation of reality, tragedy, destruction and humanity lost. The storyline wraps itself around a number of World War II veterans. When it was produced in 2009 only 10% of the 16 million who served in our military during that war were still alive. Nearly all of those featured, among them Andy Rooney of “60 Minutes” fame who flew with the U.S. 8th Air Force over Europe as a writer for “Stars and Stripes,” have passed away since. You’ll find absolutely no glory in war if you view this series.

Dana

Gadfly says pull up your Big Boy and Big Girl pants and watch even only the first 10 minutes. The stupefying anguish of the incident recounted minutes 9-10 will never be forgotten.

“My heart gives you love,” a Walt Whitman poem for Memorial Day (1)

(1st in a series of posts on Memorial Day)
DIRGE FOR TWO VETERANS
by Walt Whitman
Read by the Gadfly

THE last sunbeam
Lightly falls from the finish’d Sabbath,
On the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking,
Down a new-made double grave.

LO, the moon ascending,
Up from the east the silvery round moon,
Beautiful over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon,
Immense and silent moon.

I see a sad procession,
And I hear the sound of coming full-key’d bugles,
All the channels of the city streets they’re flooding,
As with voices and with tears.

I hear the great drums pounding,
And the small drums steady whirring,
And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
Strikes me through and through.

For the son is brought with the father,
(In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell,
Two veterans son and father dropt together,
And the double grave awaits them.)

Now nearer blow the bugles,
And the drums strike more convulsive,
And the daylight o’er the pavement quite has faded,
And the strong dead-march enwraps me.

In the eastern sky up-buoying,
The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumin’d,
(‘Tis some mother’s large transparent face,
In heaven brighter growing.)

O strong dead-march you please me!
O moon immense with your silvery face you soothe me!
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans passing to burial!
What I have I also give you.

The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music,
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.

What poems, text excerpts, film clips should we be remembering this Memorial Day weekend? Send Gadfly your suggestions. Send Gadfly your recordings.

LEPOCO walks and rides for peace (26)

(26th in a series of posts on Walkability and Bikeability)

LEPOCO

PeaceAThonCollageLEPOCO
PEACE-A-THON
29km Bicycle Ride – 8km Walk
All are welcome!

 

Gadfly has been sooooo busy.

Forget death in the family and grandchild college graduation hoopla. (Hoopla rhymes with moola.)

But there also were not-so-little doin’s like the Martin Tower demo and, oh yes, an election.

So Gadfly got forgitful. As you can imagine, gadfly memory storage is not much to speak of to begin with.

One of the things that Gadfly forgot was to announce the LEPOCO walk and bike for peace — which began 5 hours from this post.

Too late to participate. Not to late to donate.

Gadfly was going to ask you to sponsor him $1/mile — $5 for the five miles.

Like lots of you did Christmas-time when he participated in the walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem. (Now that was a WALK!)

Gadfly did the 5 miles today. And it’s not to late to donate.

LEPOCO is the best cause, Lepocopopians are the best people. Gadfly waited too long in life to get involved.

And “peace” is such a good cause on “Memorial” Day weekend.

Can y’spare a fiver?

The walk was wonderful — it began in the Christmas City grounds, up Main to Market, across Market to Center, down Center onto the bridge, down to the D&L trail, up onto the Minsi, onto the Greenway to New, across the Fahy and back to the Christmas City grounds.

I walked alone. That’s the way I usually like my walking. For years I walked to work at Lehigh and back, clearing my head for the day and clearing my head after the day. Walking is great tonic!

So I walked alone. I never tire of saying that you cannot really know your environment unless you walk it.

What sights and sounds: The music piped on lower Main when silence was the proper morning melody; the pot-bellied guy with bed-head and a desperate look like he was afraid Johnny was going to run out of bagels; that damn half-a-block incline as you turn from Main onto Market (was that there when I was 70? 60?); peeps into beautiful back yards on Market St. never seen before; skull and cross-bone signs warning of the dreaded Airbb plague in the Historic District oasis; the busy beauty of the Diamond front yard; the soft curve of Center St. yielding to Lehigh; trail huzzas echoing from below; the surprising number of people on the trail (do we always appreciate what a gem this is running through the center of town?); their garb —  from a headband that could double as an executioner’s blindfold to a maximum midriff bikini; bridge graffiti — from other planets, both celestial and cerebral in nature; the river — wide, muscular, and coursing dark; crossing signal waits longer than the waits for results of DNA tests on Maury; the neat town houses along the Greenway; attention-getting passing conversation fragment: “I give good hugs”; the seductive invitations to linger at The Cafe The Lodge or Parham Park; actually lingering at the Chinese pavilion; the “whiteness” of the Fahy bridge; portentous passing conversation fragment: “you WILL apologize to my girl-friend”: the welcome downhill left on Lehigh toward leisure; the lost site of H.D.’s Isle of Wounds; the LEPOCO tent like a motel sign during a late fall white-out on Rt. 84 near the Massachusetts line.

Walk. Bike.

It’s not just some campaign riff.

It’s good for the body, maybe even better for the mind.

Get to know your town.

Sense it. Feel it.

Walk.

And donate to LEPOCO if you can.

Driving hometown v. outsiders wedges between city residents is disconcerting and unhelpful (73)

(73rd in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Karen M Hicks, Bedlum Resident.

Gadfly:

The attempt of Ms. Martin to privilege B’hem hometown locals v. “outsiders,” especially “elites” (her word) really sticks in my craw. When I first came here 35 years ago, I went to an informal gathering and was a told by the organizer that I should get to know another woman also at the meeting, because she, too, was a “newcomer.” I asked the woman how many years she lived here and she responded 10 years. So there. Driving wedges between city residents over this election cycle is disconcerting and unhelpful. I’m restraining myself from using stronger and unfriendly words here. An attempt to divide our community in this manner is too reminiscent of the toxicity going on in the US at large. Get over it. We’re all here to make Bethlehem a livable, hospitable, and great place to live, respecting everyone we share this lovely and livable city with.

Karen

A shout-out to all the candidates! (73)

(73rd in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Gadfly doesn’t want this to turn into the thread that never ends.

But suffer him one or two more on the election.

He can’t resist a shout-out to ALL the candidates — winners AND losers.

It takes some inner fortitude to run for office. Seriously.

And we not only had good people with that fortitude, but we had enough candidates that we had choice.

You know that Gadfly was urging you to be informed voters.

And that the goal of this thread was to provide information.

There were audios and videos, but the key part — the part that you could get nowhere else — was the Q & A’s.

It is utterly remarkable that the candidates did one or two mini-essays each week for two months — that’s 8 weeks — and that’s in addition to the usual neighborhood canvassing, the meet ‘n greets, the candidate forums, and the etc., and etc., and etc. that it takes to run for office.

When was the last time YOU wrote an essay?

Amazing!

In his Lehigh Valley Ramblings blog Wednesday, Bernie O’Hare noted that voters where he was were complaining about the scant information on the candidates.

Not here, not here.

We had lots of that information.

And so Gadfly wanted to give a loud shout-out to all the candidates. I think we shared the common understanding that the Q & A’s were fostering informed voting.

Gadfly gave that loud shout-out at City Council last night. Listen!

As part of the shout-out Gadfly prepared a list of memorable soundbites from each candidate. Unfortunately, in the limited time-frame of public commentary at Council, he could not do them all.

So he did the three “losers.”

The point is that all the candidates gave us something to think about. And the “losers” deserved to be highlighted.

Here is Gadfly reflecting back on his own memorable soundbites from each candidate.

  • Will Carpenter: “It is most important that people are looking when the sunlight is let in.” Will urging us to be active, not just sitting back and waiting for Council or the Mayor to do something for us. An important prod.
  • Carol Ritter: “It’s so good to feel comfortable walking our streets — it’s a gift.” A gift from our police, our city Administration. Carol reminded me of what I may be taking for granted without giving thanks.
  • David Saltzer: “Everyone goes home.” The motto of those working in public safety. I will certainly remember that phrase when the support for our professionals is on the table. We forget how dangerous their lives are.
  • Paige Van Wirt: “I see a Bethlehem that uses data to drive decisions, not campaign donations.” And I’ve seen evidence of the latter, yes I have. I look forward to discussions of ethics.
  • Willie Reynolds: “[describing the planning process] It involves government leveraging the best assets we have — the passion of our citizens.” I, like many others, feel strongly about some things and want to participate.
  • Michael Colon: Some people have the image of Bethlehem as a “rusty old steel town,” but Michael envisions a litany of vibrant activities, for “when we stop moving, the rust comes back.” The Tin Man from Wizard of Oz comes to mind. Oil us up, Michael.
  • Grace Crampsie Smith: “My family of 9 would never have survived had it not been for the good will of our community.” There are lots of such families out there. We need to be that kind of community.

7 candidates — all winners.

Gadfly learned from them all, celebrates them all!

“we really do need an ethics in government ordinance and campaign finance reform” (72)

(72nd in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Peter Crownfield is officially retired but spends most of his time working with students in his role as internship coordinator for the Alliance for Sustainable Communities–Lehigh Valley.

Gadfly:

I agree that these transfers are problematic — as are campaign contributions by individuals who do business with the city or seek regulatory relief from the city.

So we really do need an ethics in government ordinance and campaign finance reform.

Peter

After the dust settled — campaign dust, that is — here are the election results (71)

(71st in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Tabulation taken from WFMZ

The 4yr position:

Candidate Votes Percentage
★ Paige Van Wirt i 2,608 24%
★ J William Reynolds i 2,602 24%
★ Michael Colon i 2,459 23%
Carol Ritter 2,379 22%
David Saltzer 848 8%
Total 10,896

The 2yr position:

Candidate Votes Percentage
★ Grace Crampsie Smith 2,096 51%
Will Carpenter 1,462 36%
Ashley Daubert 546 13%
Total 4,104

“The practice of using campaign funds breeds cronyism and is not in the interest of democracy” (70)

(70th in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Barbara Diamond enjoys retirement as Lehigh University Director of Foundation Relations by engaging in various activities and organizations hopefully for the betterment of the community. Her particular interests at the moment are preventing gun violence, local government ethics reform, and Bethlehem Democratic Committee work.

Dear Gadfly,

Since Ms Martin mentioned me personally [comment, post #58; see also post #68], I feel I must reply. The important difference in our contribution to a candidate is that our livelihood does not depend on securing largess from the city in the form of contracts, permits, licenses, tax abatement (TIF, CRIZ) and other benefits that can flow to those who seek to influence public officials. We are advocates for good government, were actively involved in a grassroots effort to establish common sense ethical guardrails that would protect Bethlehem from the devastating corruption experienced by Allentown. The practice of using campaign funds breeds cronyism and is not in the interest of democracy. What we want from our local government is to be independent of special interests and make decisions that benefit the city rather than special interests. This is admittedly not an easy task because of the very real effort by various entities to cultivate relationships with local officials for the purpose of influence; campaign contributions are a major way to do so. If you want to know more about high standards in municipal ethics, please visit cityethics.org. As for being originally from Bethlehem or not, everyone should be in favor of good government and sound democratic practices whether one is from here or not.

Barbara

(Elise Martin, if you are reading this, your email doesn’t work — would you please contact the Gadfly? Thanks.)

The beauty of this fascinating discussion about campaign funding “is that all are exercising their right to express their opinions without fear of censorship or imprisonment” (69)

(69th in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Stephen Antalics is Gadfly #1.

Gadfly:

My, oh my, fascinating, all this discussion about campaign funding. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Let’s flip a coin! The beauty of all this is that all are exercising their right to express their opinions without fear of censorship or imprisonment. Is it not great to live in a republic form of government? Next Monday we will celebrate a holiday whose origin is based on those many who served and died to preserve that freedom that we exercise today. I hope you expressed that freedom and your thanks by having voted today!!

Stephen

Large donor needs more self-awareness (68)

(68th in a series of posts on candidates for election)

Reply to Steven Diamond (post #63):

I think it is almost comical that someone has such little self-awareness as to suggest someone is unethical for taking one person’s money when they themselves are guilty of being a large donor in this race to an opponent.

Elise Martin