Jasmine Beach-Ferrara

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Disrespect For War Memorials

October 24, 2022 by 2 Comments

Haywood County, North Carolina is not a place where you would expect to find politicians who disrespect memorials to fallen service men and women. I lived there for over 30 years. It is and was a patriotic county filled with many veterans. Thus, when I read the post by my friend Tim who owns Old Grouch Military Surplus, I was shocked and saddened.

His store is located in the center of the town of Clyde across from “the big gun”. That is a decommissioned 50mm naval gun which serves as a memorial to the fallen in all wars from Clyde. The “big gun” is even incorporated into the town’s seal.

In front of the “big gun” is a stone monument in memory of Sgt. Charles Crockett Matthews who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1969. It was placed there by his wife Mary as Sgt. Matthews was the first person from Clyde killed in action since WWII.

From Tim:

They (local Democrats) decided to use the base of the Big Gun as a platform to make political speeches from. I don’t see that as an appropriate activity at a war memorial, no more than it would be a President having a campaign event at the Vietnam Wall would be, but I guess maybe some people could argue differently. But how they did it was utterly disrespectful and disgusting, and nobody can argue it was ok.

There is a stone monument in the front of the Big Gun, a memorial to SGT Charles Crockett Matthews who was killed in action in Vietnam. He was the first person from Clyde to be killed in action since WWII, so to add his name to the memorial his wife had the stone monument you see in the picture made and placed by the gun. When the Big Gun was relocated to its present position a raised pedestal was made to place it in a position of honor in front of the gun.

At least two of the politicians/candidates speaking proceeded to STAND ON the monument to SGT Matthews. And I mean the soles of their shoes right on his name engraved in the stone. Joe Sam Queen did and Jasmine Beach-Ferrara not only stood on it, she used for a step-stool to get up on the platform.

They STOOD ON the monument to a fallen Soldier so they could make political speeches.

For those that are unaware, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara is the Democrat nominee for Congress in the 11th District of North Carolina. She is a Buncombe County Commissioner as well as an ordained minister. What makes this even worse is that she has support for veterans as one of her campaign planks along with abortion, legalizing marijuana, gay rights, and climate change.

Tim notes that none of these pictures are “gotcha, hidden camera pictures” but rather came from the Facebook pages of the candidates involved.

What makes this even more disappointing is that some of the candidates involved such as Josh Remillard and Larry Bryson were veterans. They knew better and still just went along with it.

Tim concludes:

Everyone there- from those who organized it to the candidates it was for to those in attendance- saw a memorial to those from Clyde who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation as a good prop for partisan campaign speeches, didn’t take a second to reflect on if their actions were appropriate, and saw no problem with people standing and walking on top of that memorial for SGT Matthews as they did so. Had they simply stood in front of it and not hung campaign signs on it their event would have been 100% respectful. But that isn’t the path they chose.

I think Tim is 100% correct.

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Early 1-Stop Voting Starts Tomorrow In NC (Updated)

October 19, 2022 by

Early one-stop voting starts on Thursday, October 20th, in North Carolina. The premier race is for the US Senate. It pits Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC13) against former NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley. This is going to be a very, very close race as they are virtually tied.

For those who value the Second Amendment this is a critical race that we must win. On one side you have Ted Budd who not only supports gun rights but owns a gun store and range. He isn’t afraid to be seen shooting in his campaign photos and ads. You may remember I mentioned running into him at Montgomery Community College while he was touring the gunsmithing department.

BRUCE HENDERSON bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com

On the other side, Beasley is an Everytown Gunsense endorsed candidate. She also put this on her campaign website. Need I say more?

Cheri also believes that we must keep our children and communities safe by also implementing common sense gun safety measures like universal background checks, encouraging safe storage and closing loopholes to prevent domestic abusers and those with mental health issues from being able to obtain a gun. We must also do more to stop the plague of mass shootings across our communities by keeping combat-style weapons and high-capacity magazines off our streets and away from our schools. 

I have highlighted all the buzz words used by gun prohibitionists.

There are many other races as well that are just as critical ranging from Congress to the appellate judicial races to the state house and senate.

In my own Congressional district, you have self-made businessman St. Sen. Chuck Edwards who just happens to hold a FFL against Buncombe County Comm. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara. While neither has made gun rights a part of their campaign, you have to know that Edwards will support gun owners and Beach-Ferrara will not. Her main campaign focus seems to be abortion where she portrays herself as a caring, pro-abortion minister. Edwards’ focus is on the economy and inflation.

Two NC Supreme Court seats are up for grabs. If the Republicans take both of them, they will then be in the majority on the court and we probably won’t get rulings overturning the vote on constitutional amendments dealing with tax reform and voter ID. While both Republican candidates are good, Judge Richard Dietz who is now on the NC Court of Appeals really stands out. He has argued the Abramski case before the US Supreme Court. While he unfortunately lost, we know he is pro-Second Amendment and pro-self defense.

The other seat has Justice Sam J. Ervin IV (D) versus Trey Allen (R) who serves as the General Counsel for the Administrative Office of the Courts. I met Jimmy Ervin (who now goes by Sam) years ago when in college. He and I were both heads of our respective chapters of College Democrats. (Yes, I was young, stupid, and a Democrat at one time.) Despite his Harvard Law degree, he never has been seen as one of those brilliant lawyers who must be on the bench. What he does have is a famous last name. Grandpa (Sam Jr) served like Jimmy on the NC Supreme Court and as a US Senator while Daddy (Sam III) served as a NC Superior Court judge and on the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. We don’t have hereditary rights to office in this country though it seems that the sons and grandsons of politicians often “inherit” a seat. He is running an “aw, shucks” kind of ad saying he works to balance the law and the facts. If that was really the case, then he would have broken with the Democrat majority on the NC Supreme Court in voting down voter ID.

In the State House and Senate, if the Republicans can flip just a handful of seats, they will regain their super-majority. In terms of gun rights, this would mean the end of the Jim Crow era pistol purchase permit who Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed.

To see where the legislative candidates – state and Federal – stand on gun rights, Grass Roots North Carolina has their candidate evaluations posted. You can search by name or by district. The GRNC-Political Victory Fund recommendations have been released and have gone out by email. As soon as I get a link to it, I will post it. One thing I should note, if a candidate didn’t have a voting record and didn’t return the GRNC survey they are rated zero stars. For the life of me, I cannot understand Republican candidates who just ignore the survey. You don’t have to be great; you only have to better than the Democrat.

The Judicial Fairness Project has their recommendations posted for NC appellate level judges. These are candidates who have pledged to uphold originalist interpretations of the Constitution.

One thing I heard at the recent Gun Rights Policy Conference was that over 30% of gun owners don’t bother voting. Just imagine if the majority of them did vote and voted for gun rights.

UPDATE: I now have an updated link to the Grass Roots North Carolina – Political Victory Fund candidate recommendations for the General Election.