This on-line version of The Silent Majority contains the weekly column, preceded by Richard Woldow's contribution to the front page story from this week's Free Press. Due to the 4th of July holiday, TFP is published July 3rd.
In the aftermath of the fire that destroyed the Upper Bucks Senior Center in Quakertown, this column has learned that there have been no mandated fire inspections in the borough since former Fire Marshall Fred Guenst retired in April, 2005.
According to councilman David Zaiser, the borough knows of the problem. "I am aware of the issue with them not being done, but my efforts to pick them up have fallen on deaf ears. I will be speaking more on the issue Tuesday night."
Guenst, who is still fire marshal in Richland, was told by former Borough Manager David Woglom that he would not be replaced, although no one else in the borough was certified to perform the inspections required yearly of all businesses and public places. This includes the senior center, borough hall, Michener library, municipal pool, sewer plant, and all stores and restaurants.
The borough did retain Guenst specifically to continue to inspect the public and private schools, and day care centers. He had been the borough's fire marshal for 20 years.
Guenst said "Woglom told me that he was not going to replace me because the borough didn't need a fire marshal. But there is no one certified to do it. Lots of people have asked me about it, but I don't know what to tell them. There just have been no borough inspections."
Guenst also said that borough building inspector Ken Fretz, and fire chief Doug Wilhelm, had repeatedly asked Woglom to hire a new fire marshal.
Woglom himself resigned as borough manager last January after revelations that he had failed to maintain proper management policies, and had taken shortcuts in borough procedures. Council signed an agreement waiving any claims against him connected to his employment, and also agreed "not to disparage or make any negative statements about Woglom".
Members of the Community Baptist Church, which rented space in the building from April, 2006, through February, 2007, say they notified the senior center's operators last year that the last inspection certificate was dated January, 2005, but that nothing was done. The church moved four months ago to Quakertown Christian School, citing the need for additional space.
This is the time of year to celebrate life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion. But apparently not everyone in Richland is on the same page.
When it comes to bigotry and intolerance in its many forms, if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem. If we fail to teach our children to value the content of a person's character rather than the color of his skin, we are part of the problem. If we fail to stand up to sex discrimination, homophobic slurs, or religious insensitivity, we are part of the problem.
If we just ignore comments like those made on May 22 by Richland's self-described "defender of Bucks County values", Brian Kline, we are part of the problem. "Do you want your kids entering a public school system on par with some Christian school, where kids are socially inept, ill-prepared for human sexuality, learn creationism instead of evolution, and most importantly, are overlooked by colleges and universities?"
The problem here isn't just the actual words - it's the implication, offered by a 35-year old, with no family and no kids, that there is something inferior about these Christian kids and families, and that their values are somehow a threat to our schools. America has shown a very low tolerance for such trash. Forty-seven years ago we elected a Catholic president, despite prejudicial rhetoric from people like Kline that JFK was an agent of the Vatican. Martin Luther King, a Baptist preacher, was the face of the civil-rights movement. No one calls him "socially inept", or "overlooked".
It was hard to find anyone to defend once-popular hottie Mel Gibson, when he proclaimed in a drunken rage that "Jews are responsible for all the wars of the world". Gibson owns his own movie production company, so it isn't likely he'll be disciplined, but Americans sent him the message that his bigotry won't be tolerated by shunning his "Apocalypto" in droves.
Actor Isaiah Washington was recently dumped from the hit TV show ER for a homophobic comment. And though Washington is Afro-American, not even the usual suspects like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton defended him. Public sentiment was clear: loss of a lucrative job is a really stiff price to pay for intolerance, but the example needs to be set.
"Seinfeld" actor Michael Richards absolutely lost all control when he was heckled in a Los Angeles comedy club, and screamed the "n-word" over and over. Afterward, in New York City, (the setting for "Seinfeld"), Big Apple's Council declared that it didn't want to be part of the problem, passing a symbolic resolution banning the "n-word". Other cities followed suit. Don't expect any actual arrests, but council members across the country made the statement that people should never again respect Richards.
Though Kline has now withdrawn in disgrace as a candidate for supervisor, he apparently intends to run for Paul Clymer's seat in the state legislature next year. He also will be heavily involved in the current campaign of his replacement, and good friend, the other Patrick Murphy (the Richland hearing aid salesman, not the Congressman). And Kline still manages the campaigns of Nancy Roberts and Steve Biddle in Quakertown.
Where New York stands with Richards, so should we stand with Kline and those who share in his political agenda. Not only for his anti-religious rant, but because, just days later, he made the same kind of disparaging remarks about women.
In a June 12 blog posted on the Morning Call website, he attacked the Richland Area Softball Association, which has worked for years to create a program for girls equal to what exists for boys' baseball: "In this election year, did the ruling majority on the Board of Supervisors feel it was necessary to create a constituency of soccer moms for their benefit - at the expense of taxpayers? In the coming months we'll find out if RASA is nothing more than an extension of Rick Orloff's campaign."
So Richland's non-profit, volunteer organization promoting women's sports is nothing more than a "constituency of soccer moms", who are playing politics rather than playing ball, and are somehow harming the township taxpayers. Kline's insensitivity is bad enough, but it also rubs salt into the still-fresh wound inflicted on us by radio shock-jock Don Imus. The I-Man got what he deserved, tossed off the air after four decades for making a racially-offensive remark about the Rutgers women's basketball team. While Kline didn't go quite so far, his implication is clear.
And there is an important difference between Imus' idiocy, and Kline's insults, which makes the situation here even worse: Imus, known for his grumpy humor, was trying to make a joke. He surely didn't succeed, and paid the price for his bad judgment. But Kline is dead serious. He sees everything in terms of politics, and if you don't agree with him about your choice of schools, or your child's sports league, then you are the target of his ridicule: Christian school kids are socially inept. Softball volunteers are pawns of the supervisors.
Back in 1988, CBS fired popular sports analyst Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder for his poorly-conceived comments about how today's superior black athletes were benefiting from slave-breeding 150 years ago. Even if Snyder saw some tiny grain of genetic truth peeking through, the very idea of finding a silver lining in the dark cloud of slavery, on national television yet, is insane.
Conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh didn't seem to learn from Snyder's mistake. He was quickly sacked as an ESPN football commentator in 2003 after suggesting that the media favored black quarterbacks, notably Donavan McNabb. No one should have been surprised, given Limbaugh's history. ESPN knew the background, but still became part of the problem. We can not make the same mistake. Just say no to intolerance by saying no to Brian Kline, Patrick Murphy, Nancy Roberts, and Steve Biddle.