Sam Wilson and the Lesbian Bible Killers

Filed in Delaware by on July 31, 2013

Sam Wilson is the Vice President of the Sussex County Council and is pretty het up over the defeat of the Bible Study course at Cape Henlopen School District. Het up enough to have taken to the airwaves (WGMD Delaware 105.9 – don’t know who this host is) to tell listeners far and wide that he was plenty disturbed over the 3-3 vote. According to him, at least one of the Cape Henlopen Board members is a *gasp* — lesbian! And (according to Wilson) lesbians are “not strong on the bible”. He seems to think that said lesbian(s) had too much influence over the vote. But thank goodness there is western Sussex to hold strong on the bible and morals, because I think that eastern Sussex doesn’t have time to demand that their neighbors “Show Us Your Bibles!” — since they are too busy tending to their own lives (and getting reservations to all of the good restaurants). Take a listen (approx 4 minutes):

Sam Wilson on the Radio

Really? This is a public official who gets his sour grapes on by spinning up a lesbian conspiracy theory. This is a REPUBLICAN public official spinning up a conspiracy theory, so I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised. But if this kind of thing is the face of the GOP rebuilding in Delaware, well, all I can say is you better be sure there is enough popcorn for ALL of us. I don’t care if it *is* Sussex County, you won’t be doing much building with your public officials leaning in with this kind of bigotry.

h/t Anonymous Tipster

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"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm

Comments (45)

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  1. X Stryker says:

    This sort of response proves all the arguments against the class. In any case, this is the sort of elective that is far more useful at the college level than the high school level. Also, it’s not really an elective if your parents can legally force you to take it.

  2. Dave says:

    It’s not just an argument against the class, its just demonstrative of the lack of class by folks like Wilson.

    Even if the board voted to have the class, I would consider a law suit because they would be using the bible without the deuterocanonical books as well as 7 additional books from the Old Testament (the Apocrypha) that the Protestants removed from the Bible after the Reformation. In short, it they want to teach the bible, they need to use the right one and given the inability to agree on the right bible, they shouldn’t be teaching any Bible, Qur’an, Torah, whatever.

    Maybe in lieu of the bible literacy, maybe they could teach gun safety. After all, the bible and guns are one and the same to that crowd.

  3. anon says:

    It is against Cape policy for the Board to get involved in curriculum. Once again we have crazy Sandi Minard pushing her Delaware Family Policy Council agenda at Cape, just like she was pushing her 9/12er agenda when she tried to have Cape pull out of Common Core and her own political agenda when she pulled kids off of a bus because the driver was gay. The school board meeting where the course was shot down was full of her DFPC cohorts from other parts of the state, just like when she went after CC and packed the meeting with 9/12ers from around the state.

    Sandi Minard does not care about education, if she did, her oldest wouldn’t have failed out his senior year at Cape without her knowing about it.

  4. cassandra m says:

    Indeed, if the politicians are rolling out to decry the lack of respect for the bible and the lack of morality by Some Group of the Other, then you know that this class wasn’t about some objective survey of the bible as literature or history.

  5. Dave says:

    Well the school board president (Spencer Brittingham) publicly stated at the board meeting what this was about (http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/p/supporters-appear-unsure-whether-class-is-supposed-to-be-religious/1036962)

    “Brittingham drew upon his experience working in prisons, where many of the inmates are between the ages of 18 and 30. These young people, he said, were unfamiliar with the Bible because it had been taken out of schools. They were unfamiliar with biblical principles such as “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The result: “We reap what we sow.” We must do what we can to stem the tide, he said.”

    I think that pretty much says it all. But Minard adds to it with “She’s supposed to be tolerant, for example, about courses that teach evolution. She seemed to be making the point that if we teach evolution, then we should also be able to teach the Bible”

    It is abundantly clear that the proponents are not at all interested in bible’s influence on history, art, culture, etc.

  6. SussexAnon says:

    Clarification:

    Sam Wilson was being interviewed by Dan Gaffney of Delaware 105.9 (not WGMD). Gaffney used to be on WGMD but left to start his own talk radio station. He took one of the hosts and MANY advertisers with him and “WGOP” is struggling with the new competition.

    And you could write a book on stupid, ignorant things Sam Wilson says in public. But that’s how they roll in Western Sussex.

  7. cassandra_m says:

    Sorry about that station mistake — WGMD was on the email to me with the tip. Thanks for the correction.

  8. SussexWatcher says:

    Sam Wilson is an embarrassment to Delaware who took 58 percent of the vote in his re-election bid last year. For those of you who are counting, that was an increase over 2008, when he was first elected with 56 percent.

    As long as the Ds keep running nobodies and empty suits, people like Sam will keep winning. That is the lesson for the day.

    Also, Spencer Brittingham is a nitwit who adores Glen Urquhart. He’s also black and very well-known popular. Look for a future legislative run from him.

  9. SussexAnon says:

    “As long as the Ds keep running nobodies and empty suits, people like Sam will keep winning. That is the lesson for the day.”

    Yeah, its the Ds fault. Its not like that district is flaming liberal, progressive, blue, slightly purple or anywhere close to be a democrat district.. He is an old school cracka conservative dumb ass in a conservative district.

    And the offer is always open SW to get in the game and find your dream D and run him or her in any race of your choosing.

    Lesbian Bible Killers would be a great name for a band.

  10. SussexWatcher says:

    SA, my friend, the offer is also always open for you to take my foot and gently insert it in your ass, as well. I can only assume from your sensitivity to the tiniest criticism of the Sussex Ds that you are one of the old drones on the exec comm who thinks winning an election involves a couple hundred yard signs and a press release in the Countian (written on an old Royal typewriter and submitted by fax). I really hope you have a better response when doing door-knocking in Greenwood and Lincoln.

    Let me educate you about topics you know nothing about. The district was changed last time around so Sam lost the Bridgeville area, a hugr part of his cracka base, and gained more of Milford and the east. The Ds ran a random school board guy from Milford, trying to capitalize on the changes. Sam still won. He beat milquetoast Mike Wyatt in ’08 – a nice enough guy, but still bland.

    Remember that the Ds had held that seat for 8 years prior with Finley Jones – a conservaDem, yes, but never a flaming gasbag like Sam. Finley had a base with the fire companies; Wyatt and Wolfe had jackshit. Thus it is the Dems’ fault for not taking Sam seriously and running non-entities. It’s also Finley’s fault for quitting en masse with Dale Dukes and Lynn Rogers, and Tom “I Couldn’t Beat Tina Fallon So That Means I Should Run The Party” Chapman’s fault for not having a Plan B. So all in all, yeah, I’d say it’s pretty much the Democrats’ fault we have an ignorant bigot on the Council. (Well, we actually have two, but one is a smart bigot, and politically astute enough to shut up about crap like that in public.)

    Democrats – even progs – who hail from conservative areas and know the people and speak the language can win in the heart of thumper territory with the right campaign, message, and support. It’ll be hard, but it’ll be a hell of a lot harder to retake the council and the GA if morons like you just write off entire districts.

  11. Aoine says:

    Well the other ignorant bigot can’t keep his pants zipped either. Consensual or not

    So he won’t be long for council 😉

    Both are vulnerable next cycle- stop spouting at each other ….

    And start writing checks…..either to candidates INSIDE or OUTSIDE your personal districts……..pointing fingers from instances years ago has put the GOP where it is and.Lets not copy them and move forward.

    I’m tired of western sussex nut jobs ruling what happens or doesn’t happen in eastern sussex….time to balance the scales some.

  12. One of my Best Friends Of All-Time suggested “The High Colonics” as a great band name.

    But, I gotta tell ya, I think that “The Lesbian Bible Killers” might be even better.

    Any musicians out there? I can sing lead.

  13. Dave says:

    Aoine is right. You have to write checks to viable candidates even when they are not in your district. Personally, I don’t care whether they are Ds or Rs as long as they are not whack jobs. Wilson is a whack job. The label after his name is not relevant. He needs to be replaced, but not by another whack job.

    Sometimes I think it would be beneficial to split the county down the middle from north to south creating an Eastern Sussex and a Western Sussex. Rt 113 would probably be the proper demarcation.

  14. SussexWatcher says:

    Dave: It’s going to be very interesting when we hit the population threshold for getting two congressional districts (roughly 1.4 to 1.6 million souls). There are only so many ways to split a state like Delaware. Will they make a NCCo district and a K+S district, ceding the southern seat to the Rs? Or will they slice the state in twain lengthwise, dividing the conservatives?

  15. Keep in mind that, just b/c Delaware’s population is growing, it won’t result in another congressional district unless it grows proportionately larger than other states.

    As long as the population of the United States increases every ten years, then the threshold for gaining a second seat will grow as well.

  16. Dave says:

    Geographically, Sussex could be divided lengthwise or width wise, but it’s population is increasing more in the in Eastern Sussex. I would like to see Sussex divided by using a coastal division with the demarcation being 113 (but more probable because of growth, using 30). More likely, they would carve out Milford and put it in the North.

    I don’t know much about growth in the Kent and NC. Maybe they are growing as well. The most I see of Kent is from Rt 1. It’s sort of drive through county to me.

    Of course logic has nothing to do with it because of the time-honored tradition of gerrymandering.

  17. Sussex09 says:

    Sam is as Sam does.

  18. fightingbluehen says:

    Whatever happened in the case where Sandi Minard commandeered the school bus with the gay bus driver? It happened a couple years back. Was she ever disciplined?

  19. Geezer says:

    The demographic nonsense being promulgated the last few days is mind-boggling.

    The other day Mitch Crane said something about population shifting to the two lower counties. New Castle County’s population is about 550,000 — about 200,000 more than the other two counties combined. To catch NCCo, Sussex and Kent would have to grow faster than the whole state has grown in recent decades while NCCo would have to stand still.

    Even if Delaware keeps adding 100,000 new residents per year — highly doubtful in what is already the 6th most densely populated state — it will be 2060 before we reach the point where we would get a second congressional seat, and that’s only if overall population doesn’t grow.

    We have one seat in the House and will only have one not only for my lifetime, but probably my children’s as well.

  20. fightingbluehen says:

    “New Castle County’s population is about 550,000 — about 200,000 more than the other two counties combined.”

    I believe a high speed rail system could possibly turn that statistic around eventually.
    It’s just a matter of geography. Our state is sort of a triangle shape. The northern part of the state is simply running out of space.
    Give people the option of a half hour commute from down state, and I bet many would flock to the cheaper open spaces of Kent and Sussex.

  21. Dave says:

    @FBH Nothing happened to Minard. She is an elected official so the school has no real authority over her. I suppose that in theory she could have been censured by the board. However, none of the parents made an issue of it so there was no law enforcement involvement or anything further from the board. Not sure it was ever on any board agenda.

    My general feeling is that it was a relatively minor issue (board members of an organization thinking that they have authority in operating the company kind of thing). What makes it major however, is that Minard is one of the whacks in this county. Sometimes I wonder if it is something in the water.

  22. Dave says:

    Actually, I wouldn’t mind a high speed rail if it were coupled with adequate thought given to transportation to and from the terminals so that it doesn’t just create other points of congestion. But remember, it takes two points to create a line and when one of those points is Sussex County…well the county is barely out of the stage coach era.

  23. Geezer says:

    FBH: That’s already happening thanks to Delaware 1. I know people who live in Smyrna who commute to jobs in Pennsylvania.

    The problem with more population in Sussex is that the people who control the county live in the western half. They’re happy to sell farms for development in the eastern half, but they don’t want their way of life to change. Besides, without access to the beach or bay, there’s nothing attractive about life in Sussex County. It’s geographically isolated so it will never be a jobs center.

  24. fightingbluehen says:

    I have been informed that the Sandi Minard bus commandeer situation was handled internally, and that she’s not supposed to do it again I guess.

  25. pandora says:

    High speed rail to Sussex? I’m dying here. Yeah, Kent and Sussex will be right at the top of the high speed rail list… well ahead of NYC, DC, Philly, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, LA, San Fran, Boston, etc., and the communities outside these major hubs. Estimated completion time of high speed rail to Kent and Sussex… 2130 AD. 🙂

  26. fightingbluehen says:

    “It’s geographically isolated so it will never be a jobs center.”

    That’s not entirely true. There is a growing airport which supports an industrial air park and airports in general are good locations to support various tech industries. There is also the rail system which can support industry, but you are correct in that Western Sussex rules the county politically, and has a “not in my back yard” mentality.

    “without access to the beach or bay, there’s nothing attractive about life in Sussex County.”

    The attraction is the wide open spaces, and cheaper land, and unless you are in extreme western Sussex, you do have relatively quick access to the ocean and bays, and also redneck activities such as punkin chunkin, if that’s your bag…..yeehaaa

  27. SussexAnon says:

    As always SW, sittin’ on the sidelines ain’t gettin’ the job done. Thats all I am sayin’. Knowing what you know ain’t gettin the job done in Sussex, SW.

    Go find Finley Jones II and notify Mitch Crane, I am sure he could use the info.

    The reality is that if you show up on someones door with a D after your name you are starting with a handicap. A HUGE handicap. D’s carry all the “baby killer/gun grabber/gay rights/property rights” nonsense that Rs and conservatives hang on EVERY D these days. Cause thats how Sussex rolls

    Of course you would know that if you knocked on some doors for a candidate.

    And please continue to dump on those who try to do anything in Sussex. Especially candidates who have the balls to put their name on a ballot and give it a go. They deserve alot more respect than commentators on a blog who think they know a lot yet produce nothing.

    I am not part of the exec committee. I am just someone who is tired of blogs full of people who know everything that is wrong yet don’t do a thing to do what is right. Want to impress me Stevie Wonder? Take the wheel and drive.

    Go find a candidate, run him or her. Full out. Full time. You run the campaign. You write the press. You go door knocking. You put the time in. Impress me with your awesomeness. Put those skill you think you have to good use.

    Threatening physical violence is not a way to win an intellectual argument. But, ok. Bring it. I live in Rehoboth. If it gets you out of your house and actually doing something, come on.

  28. SussexAnon says:

    I rarely, if ever, agree with FBH. But the air park is growing. Yeah, Lynn Rogers spearheaded that effort. But there ya go.

    People move to western Sussex from DC/Baltimore for the lower taxes, cheaper land and so they don’t have to drive “home” to see their families in DC/Balt. There are some people who live right on the Del. line and commute to the easton, and the bridge. There is little to no interest in the General Assembly to improve roads in Western Sussex. They will vote for every improvement to Rte1 so they can get to the beach faster. Improve east west routes for the chicken farmers? Not so much.

    If doesn’t help having conservatives say stuff like “I don’t want a bypass. Why should I make it easier for someone to drive from DC to the beach?” – John Adkins showing his total lack of understanding about how roads create business opportunities.

  29. SussexWatcher says:

    I prefer Transgender Bathroom Invaders for a band name.

  30. Liberal Elite says:

    @SA “If doesn’t help having conservatives say stuff like “I don’t want a bypass. Why should I make it easier for someone to drive from DC to the beach?” – John Adkins showing his total lack of understanding about how roads create business opportunities.”

    Yes, but a bypass can reduce local business opportunities. There’s the rub.

    Why is it that those fine folk at Breezewood, PA have fought so hard to prevent I70 from directly connecting to the PA Turnpike, when a set of simple ramps could save miles and minutes.

    Everyone still has to slowly drive right down the middle through their really crappy town!

  31. LeBay says:

    The attraction is the wide open spaces, and cheaper land, and unless you are in extreme western Sussex, you do have relatively quick access to the ocean and bays…

    You do realize that a high speed rail line from NCC to SC would make the “cheaper land” not so cheap and the “wide open spaces” much more crowded, don’t you?

    Take a look at what’s happened to MOT since the completion of Del. 1.

  32. fightingbluehen says:

    “You do realize that a high speed rail line from NCC to SC would make the “cheaper land” not so cheap and the “wide open spaces” much more crowded, don’t you?”

    You nailed it bud.

  33. Dave says:

    From a transportation perspective, and indeed from almost any infrastructure perspective, telecommuting requires nothing more than broadband and power. In fact telecommuting does not even appreciably increase local traffic since people telecommute from their homes. As I type this, I am telecommuting to DC and NY.

    Sure, occasionally I am coerced into traveling to DC but a few hours and a small price to pay for living at the beach. But creating the environment for telecommuting requires nothing more than adequate broadband and a visionary marketing program to tout it’s advantages and the area to companies who would to build buildings to house employees AND it raises the average wage for the area.

    Unfortunately, Sussex Countians tend to think in terms of pickle and chicken plants, along with an occasional and passing thought of mass transportation to get people to the beach. Consequently, I remain one of the few who sits at home getting paid well to work in my jammies.

  34. SussexWatcher says:

    Dave:

    The county’s industry has tended toward agriculture and food because that’s what most of the land use has historically been. On the county level, taxes are low and services are decent for the amount of money we pay. Unfortunately, the bigger things that can attract different employers – good schools, econ incentives, transit – are handled here at the state level. There’s not a lot that Sussex County Council can do to create a better mass transit system without jacking up taxes insanely and invading DelDOT’s territory.

    Telecommuting is wonderful, but it really only works for a certain chunk of professional jobs. You still have to have people on the ground in retail, health care, education, warehousing, transportation, food, etc. (A significant part of Sussex also still has no broadband.) Still, employers who don’t offer it when they can are dumb.

  35. Knows better says:

    When only small sections of Sussex have actual access to technology such as high speed internet it’s a limitation on what types of economic development can be recruited. In too many instances the high speed stops and the dial up begins. Dial up in this day and age doesn’t get a second look by any corporate entities so the chickens and pickles will be all that thrives. Sadly it’s a slower lower mentality.

  36. Dave says:

    With all the home building going on, which could effectively become offices, you could have a visionary county council that would see both the imperative and the opportunity to manage the future.

    There is much to attract professionals to Sussex County. Good restaurants, the beach, coast lifestyle, fresh local food, proximity to metropolitan areas. But when they find out that people are relying on dial up or DSL, it kinda takes the bloom off the rose.

  37. meatball says:

    I’m pretty sure it is Verizon and Comcast that decide where the broadband goes, not the county.

  38. Dave says:

    I’m pretty sure that the county could collaborate with Verizon and Comcast to facilitate building the broadband infrastructure. And of course the PSC is responsible for granting franchises in unincorporated areas of the county.

  39. meatball says:

    At what cost and for how many customers? WiMAX or something superior in the future possibly, but again, at what cost? No one will even run cable down this chip and tar road east of rt 30 and you want to fund a fiber line to Hardsrcabble so the one guy who lives there can telecommute?

  40. Geezer says:

    If we had always thought that way, Meatball, people in the Tennessee Valley would have to watch their televisions by candlelight.

    This is yet another area in which the USA is nowhere close to No. 1.

  41. Dave says:

    People who live in Hardscrabble typically don’t telecommute. Additionally, technology can and will eventually solve such problems. Usually where there is a will, there is a way, and the will always precedes the way.

  42. Ephraim says:

    Aint no way no how that Verizon will expand its fiber optic cable (FiOS) in Sussex–at least not for a very long time. VZ called a halt to expansion everywhere in 2010 and is focused instead on signing up more customers in areas where FiOS already is available.

    http://www.economist.com/node/17363790

  43. Dave says:

    Ah yes, but optical fiber is not the only game in town. There is long range WiFi technology and similar alternatives. As I said technology is not a limiting factor, it is simply a matter of the collective will.

  44. meatball says:

    “it is simply a matter of the collective will.”

    And the cost, as well as ROI.

  45. Nuttingham says:

    The Sussex Dem Committee should call on Copeland and Lavelle to condemn Wilson. Get them on the record refusing to walk away from this.