Joey Dauben, host of the Ellis County Observer Radio Show on BlogTalkRadio, mentioned my new association with the Democratic Party, and called my support and activism for Barack Obama as “Multicolored Socialism.” I would like to let everyone know that I am a Liberal, not a Socialist. Many would say there is no difference, but there is. Socialists believe in complete Government control over economic policy, and strong Government supervision of personal activity. While I stand strong for quality & affordable healthcare for all Americans, I do not believe the Government should be peeking into the bedrooms of average Americans and telling them what is right and what isn’t, nor do I believe the FBI/CIA should have the power to tap into phone lines at the slightest suspicion of terrorist communications. I would also like to speak for the Democratic Party and say that we as a whole are not Socialist, or else we would call ourselves by that label. Just because the Democratic Party is “left” in the political spectrum, I do not refer to anything to the right as Nazism. Sounds like something our radio host would do.

          Many Conservatives say that many Liberals are afraid to drop the “L-Bomb”, or say the “L-Word” about themselves. President John F. Kennedy said it best when he said “If by ‘Liberal’ they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer’s dollar, then … we are not that kind of ‘Liberal.’ But if by a ‘Liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’”. I too, in this context, am happy to call myself a Liberal.

Joey Dauben, although the next wanna-be Joe McCarthy, also cannot accuse me of “jumping all over the board” between parties and candidates, without standing firm himself. For a long time, I was a strong advocate for Republican candidates and Conservative action. When the reality of the Minimum Wage crisis came to me at my first job and the Healthcare issue became more clear, I realized that the GOP was losing it’s way in truly making progress in America. Joey himself has done some jumping of his own, going back and forth from the Libertarian Party to the Republican Party. When I met him, he was a strong libertarian Republican (The small “l” means you are a libertarian by philosophy, not party affiliation. Uppercase “L” shows you are an official Libertarian) who stood for the Ron Paul Revolution and wanted not only to reform the local party to Paul’s Liberty-oriented platform, but work together in a network to do the same to the national party. Now he has announced that he will join back up with the Libertarians in January of 2009. But his party jumping doesn’t stop there. He also made an appearance at the headquarters of the local Democratic Party, asking if he could start a Young Democrats chapter at SAGU, doing so under the name Joseph instead of his popular and casual Joey. So Joseph Dauben once had a “D” next to his name? I’d prefer a question mark.

When we look at how politics works, we see that it’s all about doing what it takes to win, and what it takes to make your opponent lose. Unfortunately the Republican Party has resorted even to attacking the candidate’s spouse in the form of Michelle Obama, Barack’s loyal wife, something I do not feel is just in any form or fashion. Joey was willing to not only jump between two parties, but to even nudge a third.  He’s a true Conservative, protecting the status quo of the political game. I don’t think it should be a game. We live in a Democracy, in which the people pick their leaders. How about we start doing what we say we will do and stand firm on what we campaign on, instead of saying we’re with one party while we sweet talk another? Joey’s done this for way too long, and I personally could not do the same, as my conscience wouldn’t allow it. I guess maybe I’m too good for politics. But I believe it needs a change, and I’m willing to be a part of it.

-Kevin Crouch, (D-Waxahachie)

The problems with the server for the new site have been resolved. The content is about to be uploaded, and the new site should be available soon.

Update - the new site is now available at http://www.elliscountyobserver.com/

We’re still in the process of uploading the content and adjusting the site’s appearance, so it will be changing regularly for a while, but it is now up and running.

The Observer is in the process of being moved to a different service.  The domain name elliscountyobserver.com is currently inactive.  There was some trouble with the new host.  We are trying to resolve the problem.  This version of the Observer will continue to be available at eco2.wordpress.com.  We hope to have the elliscountyobserver.com domain name restored by tomorrow.

Readers, please direct your attention to the Classifieds tab at the top.

The following was added:

For Sale - Materials
Railroad ballast rock in Dallas - Call 214-882-1349

This ad works well with others. Only $20/month.

Our thanks again to Chris and Tamera Moses for sending these photos of the flooding in the Red Oak area yesterday. Mr. and Mrs. Moses report that approximately 5.6 inches of rain fell.

http://i275.photobucket.com/…/000_1302.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/…/000_1301.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/…/000_1300.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/…/000_1299.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/…/000_1298.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/…/000_1296.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/…/000_1293.jpg

Byron Walker, Ward 1 councilman, had a warrant issued for “felony fraud” out of Clay County, Texas, according to a news tip to The Ellis County Press today.

Ennis Police Chief John Erisman reportedly told Clay County authorities that Walker would turn himself in today.

Details TBA…

It was an interesting night for Bardwell Police Chief Michael Spurgeon.   Volunteer firefighters discovered the Bardwell Chief on a stretch of county road near the Navarro County line asleep in his squad car.  Volunteer firefighters, unable to awake the Chief, contacted the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department who dispatched a deputy to the location.   The Chief was on the border of the Navarro/Ellis County line, in uniform in the city police car- asleep at nearly midnight over the weekend.    This was an interesting call on the scanner to say the least.   Question-  Why was the Bardwell Chief so far out of the city, on a county road, asleep close to midnight, in uniform and in the police car?    Better Why was he difficult to wake, forcing the firefighters to call Ellis County dispatch?    Medical condition?  Drunkedness?        We can bet it wasn’t a medical condition, since there was no ambulance called.    

Some readers have experienced viewing problems on this site.

We strongly recommend Mozilla Firefox for viewing this site and its features.

Be sure to download all of the browser updates as well.

Comments? Suggestions? Request a date with the publisher? Contact info@elliscountyobserver.com.

What would a Libertarian sheriff administration look like? The first person candidate Mike Treis sought to bring on board was Constable Steve McKinney, who finished two percentage points out of the March 4 GOP primary. McKinney, who is set to endorse James Ledbetter publicly, declined the offer.

Meanwhile, Robert Guest has picked up the chairmanship of the Libertarian Party of Ellis County. You can reach him at robert@robertguest.com or 972-207-2540.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - LEAP - will be making an Ellis County stop.

Now this should provide for an interesting April 8 run-off.

We haven’t spoken in a while and I wanted to make you aware of something we were doing in your area soon.

A production company in Waxahachie has produced a 1st episode of a movie called “The Colombianization of Mexico” and they want one of our top speakers in it. On Sunday, Norm Stamper is flying into DFW and then on Monday or Tuesday he will go down to Waxahachie for 3 hrs of interviews. On the day that he is not in Waxahachie, we want to keep him busy around Dallas. For instance, I have already written Mark Davis to see if he would like to have Norm on his radio show. I will email/call other talk show hosts. I also thought “why not reach out to city council members, the mayor, and others in the criminal justice system like the police chief, sheriff or the DA?”

The Dallas city council is on vacation next wk but we might find a few still in town and available…

City Councilwoman Dr. Elba Garcia, for instance, is the chair of the public safety committee. Good place to start.

Pauline Medrano is chair of the Govt Services committee.

David Neumann is on the public safety committee.

Dwaine Caraway is vice chair of the public safety committee

Vonciel Jones Hill is a judge

Carolyn Davis was recently elected; housing committee

Tennell Atkins—public safety committee

And Angela Hunt appears to be an up-and-comer.

I didn’t list them all but what I intend to do is try to set up some mtgs with a few of these people to talk abt drug policy in general and some Texas initiatives. Being a Texas resident and since you practice in Dallas County, I wondered if you wanted to go along on any of these mtgs? Maybe you have some insight about these people. I haven’t looked at the county leg folks…

Any suggestions for newspaper contacts? TV?

Maybe you could broker mtgs in Kaufmann County? Didn’t know if you wanted to do that since that’s where you run your practice…are there any radio shows down your way in Kaufmann or Ennis?

Finally, I’d like to get you involved in the organization. Maybe you’d like to place a blog entry or two onto the LEAP blog. How about an occasional OpEd? Would you like to speak to a civic club? I’m not asking for everything all at once; once a month is fine for any of the above. No matter. What I’m concentrating on for now is Norm’s visit to Dallas next wk.

Let me know what you can do—I know it is last minute.

Thanks

Mike Smithson