Click here for DaTechGuyBlog.com Same Fedoras, Same Cannoli different domain.
Please Help DaTechGuy pay Da Bills
Click for the latest show
If you think that things have quieted down because PP has gotten permits form the Zoning board around here think again.
It is worth noting that a Protestant Bishop Howard Shadd joined us today showing that this is not simply a Catholic affair. And the Pastors letter to the editor confirms it. The letter is available here. The Signatories were: (more…)
Because this time the zoning petition that was offered was passed onto the proper board rather than simply tabled:
Members of the Planning Board will have a turn to hear from those who oppose Planned Parenthood opening an office on Main Street, after the City Council referred a petition banning medical offices downtown to the Planning Board Tuesday night.
Several people, most of whom mentioned Planned Parenthood as the impetus for the petition, spoke in favor of such an amendment to the city’s zoning laws.
Normal procedure for any kind of zoning petition is to send such things to a planning board, in fact the general laws of the state demand it. The last time we were before the counsel the matter was tabled and not sent forward, this time armed with a lawyer’s letter stating what the law is, the counsel relented and the item was passed.
Joan Conroy said it best:
“The last time, most of you councilors knew we were green … so you withdrew the petition,” said Conroy, who added that city councilors should not cut off what she has to say.
“Whether you agree with me or not, you represent me and have a responsibility to listen to me,” Conroy said.
Of course this isn’t a final victory in the fight, but it was the first real win in what Stacy McCain called the Battle of Fitchburg so we are going to enjoy it for a day before preparing for the next fight.
Update: Much more info at the new Greater Fitchburg For Life Blog. Good idea starting a blog. I wonder what put that thought into their heads?
It is rare enough for Fitchburg to have protests, It is even rarer for a group to have two protests in one day, but it is totally unheard of for Two different groups to be protesting two separate issues within a block of each other at the same time here.
The first of the two was the daily protest against Planned Parenthood’s attempt to open a clinic in Fitchburg. Ted Turner and his hearty band were once again standing tall. Every time I come down I see new faces but the message remains the same:
I’ve known Lorraine and her sister and her son for decades. I was surprised to see her.
Therese Cross comes down weekly to protest. she has no intention of giving up.
Ted spoke about the regular protests that have gone on since Feb 8th. He said it was a good experience and allowed him to meet a lot of good people. A new zoning resolution is going up before the city counsel tonight and he is hoping that regular order will be followed allowing the petition to pass to the zoning board without being blocked by the city counsel.
As for the tea party protesters down the block Turner and the rest of the regular group of protesters to a person expressed their support for their goals. When they left they expressed that support with a symphony of car horns.
Down the block I saw some familiar faces from the morning. Anne Andrews was there as was Michael Wertz. A local reporter showed up and asked a few questions, unfortunately for the group he left before the crowd reached its height.
I started my interviews with Kate Wirtz:
I never thought to ask if they were related. Joyce Jacobs talked to me as well.
Clark Straight had a perspective that most of the other people I talked to did not. Unlike everyone else I had met he was a long time activist who was active in Republican Political circles.
The big question is why now? We had smaller movements like Porkbusters during the Bush years but what has made the difference is? Ted Turner had one interesting thing to say. He suggested that the policies of President Obama lit a fire among the electorate. It motivated folks to get involved and an involved electorate is an informed one. You can’t have a healthy republic without one.
From what I’ve seen today, the republic is healthy indeed.
I haven’t written as much about the Planned Parenthood protests lately although they have continued unabated every day except for the day of the last storm.
Friday 3/5 protest. Photo courtesy Ted Turner and used with Permission
More interesting that that was an outburst at the last city counsel meeting by Ward 4 counselor Kevin Starr:
“I will not tolerate those morals being pushed on me and these members of the Council,” Starr said. “That American flag stands for something up there, and there’s no place for those discussions to take place in here.”
Starr said in the future, he hoped that people would stay on topic, and “keep their personal beliefs to themselves.”
It reminded me very much of the type of thing people used to say about Abolitionists pre-civil war. A local protestant Pastor was not impressed:
The Rev. Thomas Hughes, pastor of New Creation Community Church on Water Street, wants Ward 4 City Councilor Kevin Starr to apologize for what Hughes called “inappropriate” and “disrespectful” remarks about pro-life advocates who opposed Planned Parenthood’s proposal to open on Main Street.
“I’m asking not only as a pastor myself, but as a member of the community, for (Starr) to offer an apology,” Hughes said. “I’m hoping he’ll come forth and offer an apology to his constituents, and our city.”
I congratulate Mr. Starr. I’ve been trying to enlist the help of protestant pastors to our cause with little success for weeks, he managed to get them energized with just a few words.
I would suggest when he starts talking about the American Flag he remembers the words of John Adams, you know the founding father who WROTE the Massachusetts constitution…
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.
Have these guys EVER read history? I would suggest he reads Hart’s spectacular American History as written by contemporaries. My amazon review of Vol 1 here. He will get an education of what the founders and the actual people thought of the subject.
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 