This year ain’t done with us yet folks!!!! Kirby has taken to his favorite medium to proclaim that said medium is now the way all Americans should get their information:
What could go wrong?!
First off Donald Trump is going to give us the truth with no spin!!!! BAAAHAAAAHAAA! Who is the sheeple now #? If you really believe for one minute that Twitter, with its 140 character limit, is a sufficient way for an American President to convey pertinent information to us…then whoa man…we really fear for our future.
Now let’s address how the “average American” no longer needs the “mainstream media”. Because this is what really has us hot under our collars. First of all, may we suggest Council Man Delauter, that you take a trip down to the Newseum so you can see for yourself how very important it is to our DEMOCRACY that we have a FREE PRESS. A FREE PRESS is absolutely essential to the free spread of ideas, opinions, information and is the ONLY way we have to investigate corruption in both corporations and the government!!!! What kind of elected official not only does NOT know this, but is actually pleased that the White House Press Corps will be locked out?! This is not a good development! This is exactly what dictators and tyrants do!!! But that’s right, Putin is a cool guy is he not, Kirby? Here’s a list that illustrates how the 4th Estate is doing in Russia.
Thankfully, once again, Kirby is so very wrong. How are newspapers doing in this current climate? Very well indeed. The Washington Post is doing so well that they are adding dozens of journalists. Vanity Fair, after Trump’s mantrum, saw their subscriptions soar!
That’s about as accurate as Kirby’s Facebook post. They are twinsies!
The Atlantic and The New York Times have also seen a rise in donations and readership. Thinking people with a sense of history know the value and necessity of a free and unhindered press.
So what can we do to support our local media? Unless you want to friend Kirby to get his updates on local governmental issues (feel free!) or perhaps encourage him to open his @RealKirbyDelauter twitter account as we previously suggested, we need to support the Frederick News Post, even though according to Kirby they haven’t told the truth for “over 40 years,” we need to show them that we have their back! If you don’t already have a subscription, please click over and sign up! Or make a donation in Kirby’s name! Let’s show Kirby that we will not sit idly by while our one of our nation’s most important institutions is disparaged! We “average Americans” see the value of having the media call out our elected official’s bullshit.
We here at the Yokel are avid readers of the Frederick News Post. We especially look forward to Danielle Gaines’ Political Notes column, since she follows many of the same stories that we do. Today we were treated to some really astonishing things that Delegate Barrie Ciliberti actually said out loud…in front of actual human beings. Basically,he’s upset because all that “politically incorrect” talk was all fine and dandy in the mid to late 90’s. However, times have really changed and his inability to now tell his large repertoire of jokes that allegedly cross the entire ethnic spectrum have really stultified him. We really should pay more attention to the sacrifices our delegates make for us when they enter our state capitol and have to pretend they aren’t as terrible as they really are. Here’s a news flash for you Delegate Ciliberti, you probably made a whole lot of people really uncomfortable 20 years ago. Now that they don’t have to stand for it anymore, that sir, is called progress. Be sure to also read his thoughts on lobbyists, because whoa nelly now we have to pay attention to this guy as well!
Also, included in today’s column is a story your faithful Yokel Ladies first brought to you about Kirby’s Facebook claims over meetings with M.C. Keegan-Ayre. Her response in today’s column:
“That is not what happened.”
This should make for a fun county council meeting when everyone returns in 2017!
If you had a chance ,on this beautiful late summer day, to take a peek-a-boo at the FNP you would have seen that Shade Trees and Evergreens is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Which essentially means that all their bridal customers will never see their money again. What’s really weird is that the bride interviewed in the story isn’t blaming Jan:
Boyenton’s complaint alleges that Shade Trees & Evergreens deposited a $2,250 payment from her, and it was not returned after the wedding was canceled.
She found out six days before her May 13 wedding that the venue could not host it, she said.
“I’m honestly still baffled that the owners have so little consideration for the hundred brides they took money from,” she said. “Shade Trees knew this was coming one day.”
With the help of her caterer, Boyenton found another venue that was available to host her wedding at the same time and day. It matched Shade Tree & Evergreens’ price, but because she has not received any money back from the original venue, she said it was like she paid twice.
“Honesty, I really just want my money back. Or at least an apology from them,” she said.
Huh, so not everyone believes that when a business ignores all zoning and permitting ordinances it’s all Jan’s fault. Really strange.
What is most informative about today’s story does not lie within the article but within the comment section. Let’s take a tour and see if we can help our neighbors out with some of their questions.
Well FrederickFan we can answer your question:
Shocking isn’t it? And ding ding ding public-redux you are correct! Instead of stepping back and looking at all of the facts, he’s just going to double down! Now, we have a mystery on our hands:
LOL! Does Kirby use the moniker thevoiceoffrederick? Quick poll time:
We are very sorry that these wedding customers will never see their money. But thankful that most thinking people see who is at fault. Something that Kirby has a very hard time doing.
If you missed last Sunday’s edition of John Oliver’s show, it really is a must see. In his main segment, Mr. Oliver laments the decline of local media coverage. Over a year ago, we cried into our coffee over the shutting down of the Gazette, and reminded y’all to support the Frederick News Post . We here at the Yokel heavily rely on the reporting in the FNP, because let’s face it, we aren’t journalists. You won’t find your Lady Yokels calling anyone up or doing a face to face interview with Shrelauter or Blaine. The press is truly the 4th branch of our government. They are our eyes and ears when we can’t be there. They are the ones who investigate corruption when we don’t have the time. They are the ones who hold our leaders accountable for their actions and expose them when they do wrong. We know that national news is sexier, especially this election season. Just for a moment, though, think about the consequences of losing a local paper as so many other cities across the country already have. If you are having trouble imagining this, or think it’s not that big of a deal let the creator of The Wire and a former Baltimore Sun reporter, David Simon, imagine that scenario for ya:
“The day I run into a Huffington Post reporter at a Baltimore Zoning Board hearing is the day that I will be confident that we’ve actually reached some sort of equilibrium.There’s no glory in that kind of journalism, but that is the bedrock of what keeps [corruption at bay]. The next 10 or 15 years in this country are going to be a Halcyon era for state and local political corruption.. one of the great times to be a corrupt politician, you know I I really envy them. I really do.”
Just think about that folks! Imagine our own local government officials with absolutely no accountability. No reporters to sit in on their meetings or workshops. No one around to investigate claims of impropriety. You think the former BOCC was bad, imagine a world where none of their transgressions were ever called out! We hope we have your attention now. So no matter your feelings about the Frederick News Post, we hope you’ll jump on over and sign up for a subscription. For without them there would be no Local Yokel!
A few weeks back we let y’all know that we had been nominated for the Frederick News Post’s 2016 Best of the Best! Now’s the time to show your Local Yokel just what we mean to you. From now until August 21 you can vote for your favorite place to stay informed on Frederick politics. Just go to www.fredericknewspost.com/boband then follow our directions laid out below in pictures:
Once you are at the website, click here for ballot!
Then click on the side bar for Entertainment.
Finally, select Local Blog and choose us!! We hear that a few of these blogs don’t even originate here in Frederick so make sure you choose local!
You will have your Lady Yokel’s undying gratitude and affection should you choose us!
Today, the FNP ran a piece about the statement Billy et al put out about Bud changing parties. We covered it pretty well here, so we won’t revisit the “content” of their statement. What does need attention is this:
At least one person is considering a lawsuit seeking a return of the funds, Shreve said.
“I told them, ‘If you can find an attorney that’s willing to do it, I will bring it before the [central] committee for a vote,’” Shreve said, referring to the possibility of a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Frederick County Republicans.
First bahaha! If you can find an attorney willing to take on a losing case that has NO basis in the law (cha-ching–billable hours, tho!), then sure we’ll join! (And the Yokel has a very good idea who this one individual is). Can you imagine the time and money wasted in such an endeavor? Sounds totally reasonable, doesn’t it? And this coming from people who commonly lament frivolous lawsuits. Just imagine for a moment if every time a donor was upset with a politician’s decision they took them to court. We would have to establish a whole court devoted just to this! Not to mention the fact that politicians would be afraid to do anything lest they be sued. But really, we aren’t suprised. This is just one in a really long list of Billy’s really dumb ideas. Make sure you visit the comment section of this piece. No Billy love at all. Our fave is former BOCC member Lenny Thompson’s post:
jthompson Jun 8, 2016 7:01am
Bud ain’t the first to receive threats from local Republicans. The high-water mark of the Gray BOCC (1998-2002) in terms of camaraderie occurred in 2000 when the Republican Mens Club (forerunner to the Frederick County Republican Club) sent the four GOP members of the board (Gray, Rhoderick, Hogan & moi) a letter threatening “appropriate action” if any of us voted for proposed increases in the County’s property and income taxes. Three BOCC members (Gray, Rhoderick & Gardner) supported the increases with Ilona and moi opposed. Ilona promptly and publicly pointed out some hypocrisy in that the author of the letter had also written the BOCC advocating an increase in spending. I promptly & publicly indicated that while I opposed the tax increases I understood why my colleagues were in favor. I promised to come to the defense of my colleagues, regardless of party, should the Republican Mens Club attempt to take “appropriate action” against them. We never heard any more from the Republican Mens Club.
Billy you really need to step out of your little echo chamber. The people in your club and on WFMD are not indicative of the larger group. There are a lot of people who appreciate the change, order, and sanity that Bud’s leadership has brought forth.
We’ve heard through the grape vine that today is Cliff Cumber’s last day at the Frederick News Post. Your Yokel Ladies have enjoyed his editorials over the years, but none so much as Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter:
Knowing Councilman Kirby Delauter as we do, we weren’t surprised that he threatenedThe Frederick News-Postwitha lawsuitbecause we had, he says — and we’re not making this up — been putting Kirby Delauter’s name in the paper without Kirby Delauter’s authorization. Attorneys would be called, Kirby Delauter said.
In fact, we spent quite some time laughing about it. Kirby Delauter, an elected official; Kirby Delauter, a public figure? Surely, Kirby Delauter can’t be serious? Kirby Delauter’s making a joke, right?
Round about then, we wondered, if it’s not a joke, how should we now refer to Kirby Delauter if we can’t use his name (Kirby Delauter)? Could we get away with an entire editorial of nothing but “Kirby Delauter” repeated over and over again — Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter? OK, imagine we agreed because of temporary madness or something funny in the water that week, how would we reference “Kirby Delauter” and do our job as journalists without running afoul of our lack of authorization?
Blanks? Sure, we sometimes use hyphens in the case of expletives. Perhaps we could do that: “K—- D——-.” Or, perhaps, “Councilman [Unauthorized].” We giggled a bit more than we should have when we came up with “the Councilman Formerly Known as Commissioner Kirby Delauter,” which doesn’t seem as funny written down in black and white and includes his name, which defeats the point. Maybe we should just put his initials, “KD,” with an asterisk to a footnote (KD*), or refer to him as GLAT, the acronym for his campaign: “Govern Like A Taxpayer.” We could even make it sound a little hip-hop with a well-placed hyphen: G-Lat. Speaking of, could we get away with “K-Del”? Or we could simply go with the Harry Potter-esque “He Who Shall Not be Named.” (Cue the lightning strike and peal of thunder.)
Yet we could take the low road down even further and childishly mangle “Kirby Delauter” into references you, the reader, would still understand. “Sherbert Deluder,” say. Or “Derby Kelauter.” “Shirley Delaughter” (and don’t call me Shirley). We found a great automatic online anagrammer that generated all kinds of alternatives and could make it a challenge for our readers to decode each time we have to reference the councilman: “Rebuked artily.” That was a good one. “Bakery diluter” is just silly but does have a ring about it. “Keyed rural bit” was another that caught our eye as somewhat telling, because Kirby Delauter’s pretty keyed up. We’re sure there’s a joke in “Brutelike Yard” somewhere.
Discernibly, though, Kirby Delauter’s ignorance of what journalism is and does is no joke, and illustrates one disturbing aspect too prevalent in conservatives’ beliefs: That the media are all-liberal stooges hell bent on pursuing some fictional leftwing agenda. Generally this “fact” is bleated when the facts on the ground differ from conservative talking points. Take Councilman Billy Shreve’s abstract, almost nonsensical defense of KD*: “I think media outlets are cowards and they hide behind the label of journalists and that’s a bully pulpit to expand their liberal” agenda. Cowards? Tell that to the families of the 60 journalists killed in 2014, or the 70 in 2013, or the 74 who died in 2012, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. All in pursuit of the truth, or the most reliable version of it at hand in the most dangerous regions of the world.
Edifying as it may be to lapse into name calling — and yes, we allowed ourselves a little childishness above and maybe a little bit below — we need to make one serious point the councilman needs to hear and understand: We will not bow to petty intimidation tactics because a local politician thinks he can score political points with his base throwing around empty threats.
Legally, Kirby Delauter has no case.
And why? Here’s how Washington Post blogger Eugene Volokh, who “teaches free speech law, religious freedom law, church-state relations law, a First Amendment Amicus Brief Clinic, and tort law, at UCLA School of Law,” nicely sums it up:
“Uh, Council Member: In our country, newspapers are actually allowed to write about elected officials (and others) without their permission. It’s an avantgarde experiment, to be sure, but we’ve had some success with it.” You know, that whole First Amendment thing.
That’s why we’re taking his threat with a pinch of salt. We’ve seen this behavior before (not just from Kirby Delauter) and it’s worth highlighting again. Bullying seems to be the only way Kirby “Don’t say my name” Delauter feels he can lead. Only now, the target is not the public at hearings or occasional “punk” staff member, an arrogant, self-serving, whining middle school teacher or fellow “moron” commissioner, it’s The News-Post. Instead of taking his job seriously like the voters demanded and the rest of the council seem to grasp, he’s grabbing at distractionary shoot-the-messenger tactics that make a lot of noise but, to quote Shakespeare, a man who knew drama when he saw it, noise that “signifies nothing.” Frederick County has big issues to tackle in 2015 and we have yet to hear Kirby Delauter sound out one single, sensible idea. He used the word “govern” in his slogan. Maybe he should apply that to his temper first.
Enough. Seriously. What’s Kirby Delauter going to do? Sue everyone who’s making fun of him on Twitter using the #kirbydelauter hashtag, or on Facebook? Boy, his attorney will be able to retire off that.
Reasonable men (and women) are required to move Frederick County forward. All Kirby Delauter is doing yet again is displaying his inability to control his temper, embarrassing himself, his district, the county and those who voted him into office. If he wants to govern like a taxpayer, he needs to respect the taxpayers whose money provides his paycheck, stop this silly, inflammatory nonsense, and get to work.
———————
* Kirby Delauter.
Absolute brilliance. And anyone Kirby accuses of having a mental illness is okay in our book. Therefore, Mr. Cumber, we wish you all the best and hope you will take with you this Yokel tip of the hat:
Allegedly. Just throw allegedly and rumored into this like donut sprinkles, because we don’t do straight journalism, but if this is true…and we are reasonably certain that it is…it is CRAZINESS.
The rumors are that Billy and Kirby are all in a snit, because a business could fail. The reason? Failing to have any building (electrical, plumbing) or health department (food safety) permits. And something else about not having the correct zoning for an event venue. How does the blame for this fall on the county? Please explain.
As it was told to us through the grapevine, the fire marshall was a big killjoy and said (and we are paraphrasing with abandon), “Abso-effing–lutely not. There is not going to be a big shindig for some youngsters who want to get everybody Footloose in your event venue that could easily fall down on their heads or have a floor collapse like a balcony at a keg party, with the potential of unplanned pyrotechnics from could-be sparking electrical wiring. Heck, without a plumbing inspector, maybe they don’t even have running water or toilets. Who knows? Sounds like a night(mare) to remember, does it not?!
If you all recall, Billy wanted a legislative priority for the state to be to find out what impedes the business of roadside hot dog stands and take care of it. This is like the crown jewel of all hot dog stands. We are really looking forward to the Delauter executive administration, when the whole county dies of a botulism/salmonella cocktail.
Only under a CE Delauter administration Fire Marshall Bill!
You may have heard that the scourge of modern day American politics slithered his way out to Hagerstown yesterday. What you may not have heard is that Blaine, Kirby and Billy decided to get the band back together so they could scream like a bunch of groupies at a Justin Bieber concert.
Someone needs to work on their selfie technique. What’s going on with Kirby? And poor Billy, put in the back again.
Blaine, Kirby and Billy have all been very vocal about their support of Trump. Billy seems especially giddy over the possibility of a Trump presidency. Look what he said to the FNP:
Shreve, who is also running as a delegate to the national convention, said Trump’s comments mirrored the campaign promises of himself and Delauter.
“It’s really similar to the things we said when we ran for office. He said, ‘We’re open for business,’” Shreve said after the speech. “If he wins, you’re going to see our style of politics get big again in Frederick County.”
Hear that folks? “Really similar.” And do we want that “style” of politics back in Frederick County?
We’ve made no secret how we feel about Trump, and how dangerous his rhetoric is. Not to mention the fact that he has absolutely no experience nor does he possess the temperament to be President of our fine nation. It’s nice to know some of our local politicians admire these traits in him.
Life is all about change. Humans, in order to survive and thrive, must be adaptable to change. If not, you end up denying indisputable climate data and supporting a candidate that promises to make everything great again. So we here at the Yokel want to be adaptable. We don’t want to end up stockpiling canned goods and squatting on National Wildlife preserves. We really don’t! That’s why we want to accept all of the changes we saw at the meeting last night no matter how hard that may be.
First we’ll start with someone who could use a bit of change.
AYE Billy AYE!
We’ve done a few posts about Billy’s oppositional defiance disorder.When he can bring himself to vote he never, ever says Aye. Everyone else can do it, but Billy likes to be a trailblazer. Nobody is going to tell him how to talk, no sirree Bob. Until Billy sends us a message explaining why he does this we’re going to refer to him as a:
Next on the agenda is some sewer talk. The two amendments to the code and one out of sequence item concerning sewer hookup to Lewistown were passed with little to no fanfare. Then came the third reading section of the evening.
First off, Jessica tables the bill concerning the changes that can be made to historical designations. Of course Xenu is playing a hand in this. And the FNP articleon it acknowledges as much. We here at the Yokel agree with Mark Long’s public comments concerning the Scientologists turning the land over to the park service. Enough is enough. We don’t want a bizarre cult recruitment center thinly disguised as a very ineffective drug treatment center in our neck of the woods.
The next bill was also tabled. This time it was medical cannabis that landed on the cutting room floor. In a separate FNP article we learn:
Keegan-Ayer said after Tuesday’s County Council meeting she didn’t have four votes among the seven council members to approve the bill. In early March, she told The Frederick News-Post she believed a majority of the council supported the legislation.
She said Tuesday that she was aware of concerns among some council members, but declined to elaborate what they were.
“In my opinion, they were not based on fact,” Keegan-Ayer said of the concerns.
What’s that you say?! Some council members hold opinions that aren’t based on facts? When did this start? Oh that’s right December 1, 2014. Come on people, enough craziness about marijuana. There’s even been research suggesting that we may not have the opioid/heroine addiction problems if Nixon hadn’t made everyone so cuckoo over marijuana and let it be researched as a pain management drug. Let’s all operate in the real world..please!!!
Now we come to the part of the meeting that still has us scratching our watches and winding our butts. Remember a few weeks back when Councilman Chemlik was all so against the impact fees? We recall a longsoliloquy in defense of our poor, downtrodden developers. Fast forward to last night and oh how things have changed. We like the change, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t want an explanation! Tony is now for both of these fees! He was so very excited to vote for them that he screamed Aye into his microphone before the vote had even been taken. We would like to accept his vote and move on, but we can’t. What the hell happened?
frederick local yokel 