The Wheat and The Chaff

If no other good can come from the Thomann affair let it be that it has opened the eyes of conservatives in and around Annapolis as to who in the Republican Party are most likely to throw you overboard when the going gets a little rough.

Joyce Thomann has been able to accomplish in one e-mail what I have trying to accomplish for a decade of letters, e-mail messages and message groups and finally, blogs. That is we now have made the bold distinction between Conservatives and those who registered Republican. We also now have seen what happens to a Republican group, whose disloyalty to its own president will forever be an ugly stain and its only lasting legacy. Perhaps Republicans in this and other counties in Maryland will remember the Thomann affair and decide for themselves whether they have what it takes to remain a Republican.

"Republicans" like Annapolis Ward 6 candidate Greg Stiverson; one of two city council candidates to make a public show of returning the Thomann's generous campaign contribution. I left this comment last night on his blog post where he makes a spectacle out of his outraged tender sensibilities:

"Dear Mr. Stiverson,
Yes, Bra-vo! How courageous of you to do exactly what the liberal Democrats and their cheerleaders in the Press and in the blogs wanted you to do. I wonder what other tricks they can get you to do. Oh, and you are a Republican? This blog post is the first mention of that fact on your site. You must be so proud to be a Republican to hide it from visitors to your campaign website. Visitors who until Joyce Thomann took to the keyboard, never heard of you, let alone your party affiliation.

Did returning the campaign donation and publicly trashing a loyal member of your beloved Republican Party and patriotic American help you to recover from the bouts of vehemence and abhorrence? It must have been horrible for you.

Hey! I know what will make you feel better: Change your party affiliation! Why not go all the way and show Ward 6 voters how vehemently you really disagreed with Thomann's opinions! It would be a simple change; from R to a D, right? And you won't have to change your website a bit!!"

That, of course, was rejected by site moderators this morning. Click here to leave a nice comment for our whithering Ward 6 friend.

Also in the Chaff division of the Annapolis City Council race is Scott Bowling of Ward 3. Mr. Bowling's comments in handing back Thomann's check were brimming with glorious outrage:

"I forcefully reject this view enunciated by Ms. Thomann, and find the use of this inflammatory rhetoric unacceptable, useless and destructive."

Mr. Bowling is a former Democrat and recent resident of Ward 3 (according to his Website). At least he admits he is a Republican. What kills me about Mr. Bowling's campaign web site is that the home page prominently features a link to a Spanish-language version.

Tecleo para el Web site en espanol

Note to Mr. Bowling: To become a naturalized citizen of this county, I believe it is still a requirement that one must learn the English language. Of course, citizenry is not a requirement in order to make a generous campaign contribution (as long as the contribution does not exceed the legal limit and not made on behalf of a foreign government).

Another proud Republican and candidate for Mayor of Annapolis is Dave Cordle; we have to take the Democrats' word for it that he is a Republican because it is nowhere to be found on his campign web site. So far all I have is a Democrat's word that he "expressed his disapproval" to Thomann. So I will give him the benefit of the doubt. But, with this track record, my money is on the Democrat.