Mark Grannis: The Only Qualified Candidate!

A friend of mine recently landed a job after a long search.  It was not because he did not know what he was doing.  He was over-qualified.  The jobs he was applying for, only required a Bachelors degree, but he had Masters.  This is precisely why I have concluded that Grannis is the only qualified candidate for House of Representatives in Maryland’s eighth district.

Timmerman, the Republican challenger, is obviously overqualified, and should really be running the State Department, or at least the CIA.  He has spent his entire campaign contradicting the conclusion of the head of U.S. Intelligence, Mr. Clapper, and the 16 separate agencies that deal with international intelligence.  These intelligence experts have repeatedly reported that Iran, who has signed the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, has not developed, nor is there an indication that they will develop a nuclear weapon.  Yet, Mr. Timmerman credits his insight as an “investigative reporter”, that Iran is developing a nuc.

Across the isle, our incumbent, Mr. Van Hollen, has shown an amazing ability to reinterpret the true meaning of our constitution.  The congressman has read into, and through, the lines of Article 1 section 8.  He evidently has found authority for the U.S. Congress to force health insurance on the citizenry with Obamacare, to fund our national indoctrination under the label of education, and to promote a Green Bank and climate control.

Mark Grannis though, is an attorney who works under the premise that the constitution is the core law, that the words mean what they say, and that you cannot change their meaning without amending the constitution.  He also believes that our intelligence agencies may know a bit more than Mr. Timmerman, and that our military ventures and saber rattling actually make the world less safe.  He does not have a master’s degree in investigative reporting or social engineering.  He is the only qualified candidate for House of Representatives in District 8.

Vote “No” to Charter

October’s Emmitsburg News Journal (ENJ), front page story, “Voters asked to choose on charter government”, should have been buried in the Commentary section, if printed at all.  The article references the “Charter Education Coalition” as “a committee established to provide unbiased facts to the public”.  This is simply not the case.  When former County Commissioner Kai Hagen was asked about the “unbiased” Coalition, he said, “It’s a bunch of baloney, of course they are biased.”

To make a proper judgement on this issue we might want to hear from the County Government Education Coalition. If there were such a group, I imagine they would start by informing these snake oil charter salesmen: that we have constitutional representatives in Annapolis, that our county autonomy is currently under aggressive attack by the state, and that our sheriff is just fine.

 The headline story bemoans the lack of a “single voice” for Frederick County in Annapolis.  Why then, do we send state delegates and state senators from Frederick County to Annapolis every session?  Just because other counties wish to expand their executive bureaucracies, Frederick County should not be pressured into changing something that works fine.  If the Governor wishes to hold meetings that exclude counties that believe the best government is a lean government, so be it.

How the Emmitsburg News Journal could print fabrication such as “...Under the charter, the county is granted autonomy from the state, and gains complete control over county policies and procedures”, is disappointing.  This Charter group and ENJ must not have been aware of the biggest state power grab in recent history, Plan Maryland?  Under Plan Maryland the state has reduced private owner property rights to an all time low, and the state has seized control of planning from county governments: charter and non-charter alike.  Commissioner Kirby Delauter had an informative piece in the same issue which highlighted this power grab of Plan Maryland, and identified it’s United Nations origin.

The confusion peaks in this front page Op-Ed with a statement which placed the county commissioners in the legislative and executive branches.  The commissioners are not the lead in the executive branch of Frederick County government.  Contrary to their blurred vision, there is a separation of the legislative and executive branches of government. The Sheriff is the highest executive in the county and he answers directly to the people at the polls.  The sheriff is the personification of the separation of powers, in that the sheriff stands by the constitution to protect we the people, not the political powers of the legislative or judicial branches.  Sheriffs are under attack throughout our nation and destroying the constitutional power of our sheriff may actually be what this charter is about

Frederick County’s constitutional, “non-charter”, form of government has been in existence for centuries.  The top leadership roles of the executive branch are defined as enforcing the laws and managing the bureaucracy.  The sheriff has handled law enforcement in Frederick County just fine.  But, if you want larger government, larger tax bills, a county police force, and larger bureaucracy: buy the snake oil, and vote for the charter.