Hampstead to Fly Protest Flag
In an act of protest, Hampstead Mayor Haven N. Shoemaker has ordered the Town’s municipal flag to be replaced by the historic Gadsen “Don’t Tread On Me” flag. Mayor Shoemaker will raise the flag after a brief ceremony at the War Memorial in Hampstead at 6 p.m., September 1. The timing of the ceremony coincides with anticipated cuts in state funding to local governments including Hampstead.
“We have the so-called stimulus which is nothing more than an unprecedented issuance of debt. We have ObamaCare. In Maryland, we have a complete failure by Governor O’Malley and the Legislature to balance the state budget,” Shoemaker said. “The $3.8 billion in federal money sent to Maryland was wasted on pork barrel projects and social program spending rather than on rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. Now the State is dumping their failure of fiscal leadership into our laps.”
Mayor Shoemaker directed the flag switch through his first formal executive order. “Normally, I would just call Town Hall and ask our folks to take care of something, but this is a little out of the ordinary.”
When asked what he hoped to accomplish through the symbolic change, Shoemaker was philosophical. “Maybe this won’t amount to anything. Maybe other local governments will decide to join us. In any event, the people in Hampstead will know that there is still one level of government left in America that is of the people, by the people and for the people.”
The Gadsen Flag has become a popular symbol of the recent Tea Party movement. The historic yellow flag features a timber rattlesnake and the phrase “Don’t Tread On Me.” When asked how long he expected to fly the flags, Shoemaker shrugged and responded, “We’ll see.”
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15 comments:
Dont you wish we had a Mayor with a set.
Hampstead. Typical racist white trash community. I should know, I lived there 6 months and bolted. Klan meetings, overt racist comments by local government at town hall meetings. Screw em!
We're glad you left!
Mark Shinemaster said...
Hampstead. Typical racist white trash community. I should know, I lived there 6 months and bolted. Klan meetings, overt racist comments by local government at town hall meetings. Screw em!
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How do you know?
You were there only 6 months you didn't give it time. Whaaaahahaha
Would thirty some czars be considered a Klan???
where were all these guys when Bush was running up the deficit?
Oh gimme a break.Klan meetings?I think someone is a little overdramatic.Anyone who doesnt go along with Obamamania and stands up to all the garbage is racist white trash?Nice try.
Oh,just curious,whats the crime rate in this alleged backwater town?
Yet another reason why I can't wait to move back there!
6 months...naybe next time you'll get 3 to 5 years!
Mark Shinemaster said...
Hampstead. Typical racist white trash community. I should know, I lived there 6 months and bolted. Klan meetings, overt racist comments by local government at town hall meetings. Screw em!
That is the typical response from anyone who disagrees with the dopes running the show now. I have 2 relatives who live in Hampstead, and have visited the town (sometimes for extended periods) for the last 20 years. There is nothing racist, nor white trash about it. You are just a typical liberal Obama/Omalley supporter. I hope you dont live here, if you do, feel free to leave.
Does anyone see the contradiction in the conservative mayor of a small city flying a Gladsden flag to protest not getting his share of a federal tax handout?
In effect he's saying, "Dear Uncle Sam, Keep your federal government off my back! PS - Send me more money."
Yet another "Keep the government out of my Medicare" moment.
- Steve Lebowitz, Annapolis
Good point, Steve.
The more cogent argument would be for the mayor to say, "Fine, we don't want your money. Now rescind all those state and federal laws and mandates we have to put up with."
But you can't stand up for devolution and beg for state/federal handouts at the same time.
Justdafacts and Steve, you obviously didn't listen to anything the mayor said and are commenting out of ignorance. The mayor is not asking for handouts. He is asking that his existing funding not be cut in order to pay for meaningless pork barrel projects, for a welfare program that wastes money on people who have no desire to help themselves, or so that Governor O'Malley (who has lost all touch with reality) can pay for another spiffy suit.
Haven Shoemaker loves two things most of all:
(1) The sound of his own voice
(2) The sight of his name in print. He sees the political world in black and white...therefore he can't understand why he might have to engage in bipartisan outreach to a Democrat-controlled to get "share" he perceives his town is entitled to. He understands little about the larger government he complains loudly about (especially at the federal level). This hollow act diminishes both the history of the Gadsden flag and its current use by the US armed forces.
He's trying to increase his visibility for an upcoming run at a County Commissoner seat (which holds much more influence in a county that is mostly NOT incorporated towns). He's a small-town mayer with a small world view, small ideas and a supersized chip on his shoulder.
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