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which_chickThe Bedford County Republican Committee had their election last Thursday evening. (Yeah, if it starts out that way, you know it's just going to be a shitshow...)
So, first off the committee ejected everyone that they claimed did not have "enough" votes to elect a leader, according to the "bylaws". (from our local paper): "Those who received less than 10 write-in votes at the April election were asked to leave the room." County Commissioner Winck got 6 write-in votes. His wife got 7 write-ins. They were asked to leave on the grounds of not having enough votes. But, one person who got less than 10 votes was NOT asked to leave.
That person got 3 votes. Her name was Amy Higgens.
Just to be clear, people who got 7 and 6 write-in votes had to leave because they "didn't have enough votes" (This is, according to county soliciter Gabriel Fera PC, not kosher. Fera writes: "The county should certify Delegates who receive a plurality of votes regardless of whether they received 10 votes or less.") The bylaws of the Bedford County Republican Committee do not say anything about this alleged "10 votes" rule.
Some who attended the meeting are claiming that Amy Higgens was allowed to stay because she was appointed by the prior chair of the committee at some time prior to the chair's departure to fill a vacancy in Bedford Borough's East Ward even though no other appointments were made to fill the other vacant positions. If this is true, then probably she could vote as an appointee. But also if this is true, it should be in the Minutes.
(cue the side-eye monkey.)
Anyway, after illegally disenfranchising some of the committee members on bullshit grounds, the remaining fifteen committee members elected a new leader.
The candidates were Christine Ebersole and Bill Higgens. (Higgens, that name sounds familiar... Isn't that the allegedly appointed lady with three votes, up above? Yes. Yes, it is.)
Bill Higgens won, by 8 votes to Christine Ebersole's 7 votes.
Amy Higgens is Bill Higgens' wife.
But wait, there's more.
In 2008, while serving as the county's District Attorney and acting as the Vice Chair of the Bedford County Republican Committee, Bill Higgens had "consensual" sex with another member of the Bedford County Republican Committee (a woman not his wife) in our brand new (at the time) county courthouse following a meeting of the county Republican Party. We know this because the brand new courthouse has video surveillance in all areas for security and stuff. This made the news in an election year, but the good people of Bedford County re-elected him anyway. *sigh* Bill Higgens resigned from the Committee following the... episode.
Good news is that we won't have that problem this time around, though. Amy Higgens is also on the Bedford County Republican Committee as the vice chair. Bill is going to have a lot more trouble cheating on Amy after the meetings if she's ATTENDING THEM WITH HIM.
In 2018, Mr. Higgens was disbarred (lost his law license) and his job as District Attorney and his state pension because he was using his position as DA to trade for sex. Basically he was getting blowies from drug addicts in exchange for giving them information about drug busts, confidential informants, and so forth. He pleaded guilty to 11 counts of "obstructing administration of law or government function" 2 counts of "official oppression", 3 counts of "recklessly endangering another person", 9 counts of "witness or victim intimidation" and 6 counts of "hindering apprehension or prosecution". He also got probation and an anklet and a shitbucket of fines.
In 2023, Mr. Higgens further involved himself with the law and was found guilty of summary harrassment.
This is the person that Bedford County Republicans have chosen to lead their party.
Mr. Higgens says on his Facebook that he looks forward to electing GOP candidates with shared values.
*headdesk*
Republican Party, you are not just rotten and visibly corrupt on a federal level. It... goes to the core of you.
I do not know how many "second chances" Mr. Bill Higgens Jr. deserves... but I sometimes think in my heart of hearts that endless forgiveness and endless second chances and all that stuff needs to be balanced against the legitimate and real harm that non-repentant, unchanged people can do in such a system.
Yes, turn the other cheek. But also... be fucking reasonable about it.
The child-abusing priest, who repents and begs forgiveness and has been counselled within the church, so then that guy doesn't get to interact with the public anymore as a recognized official of the church. Sorry, but you abused kids as a priest, you cannot priest ever again. You can still church, but you cannot priest or deacon or any of that shit.
The first duty of the church is to protect the innocent. (It may be that I am wrong about this. It's possible that the church feels that the first duty of the church is toward the sinner. If that's the case, though, the church is Fucking Wrong and needs to take a hard look at itself in the mirror and maybe listen to the Cardinal Pell song a few times at high volume.)
If that sort of priest still wants to be in the church and dedicated to God or whatever, you can put him in a cloistered monastery where he can tend to the bees or something and think about what he's done and never, ever, leave the property again. No contact with the public, no ministering to any flock, no. Bees. (Or cheese or wine or whatever the hell people do at monasteries.) Or he can choose to be publicly defrocked and disavowed and put on the Megan's Law equivalent for the church, which is PUBLIC and which congregations are ENCOURAGED TO PERUSE. Under no circumstances should he be relocated to a new parish and or allowed to contact the public. Like, there's a limit to endless forgiveness and endless second chances.
You can still forgive people and let them try to do better but you need to protect the innocent and the vulnerable from these folks once you know there is an issue.
Bill Higgens isn't a child molester. He's not a pedophile.
However, he is a criminal, several times over, and a man of very questionable moral character.
Bill Higgens has publicly demonstrated his lack of solid values to the good people of Bedford County repeatedly. Each time he's held an elected office prior to this, he has had to resign that office for morality-related behaviors.
Elected Vice-Chair of the Bedford County Republican Committee. Had to resign because he was caught on video fucking another member of the Committee in his office at the courthouse following one of the meetings.
Elected to DA of Bedford County. Had to resign because he was trading drug bust info and "lighter sentences" to women struggling with addiction in exchange for sexual acts. He lost his law license, his state pension, got a slew of criminal convictions, etc.
*sigh*
How on earth do God-Fearing Christians get behind this man and say that he "represents our values"? I am confused.
So, first off the committee ejected everyone that they claimed did not have "enough" votes to elect a leader, according to the "bylaws". (from our local paper): "Those who received less than 10 write-in votes at the April election were asked to leave the room." County Commissioner Winck got 6 write-in votes. His wife got 7 write-ins. They were asked to leave on the grounds of not having enough votes. But, one person who got less than 10 votes was NOT asked to leave.
That person got 3 votes. Her name was Amy Higgens.
Just to be clear, people who got 7 and 6 write-in votes had to leave because they "didn't have enough votes" (This is, according to county soliciter Gabriel Fera PC, not kosher. Fera writes: "The county should certify Delegates who receive a plurality of votes regardless of whether they received 10 votes or less.") The bylaws of the Bedford County Republican Committee do not say anything about this alleged "10 votes" rule.
Some who attended the meeting are claiming that Amy Higgens was allowed to stay because she was appointed by the prior chair of the committee at some time prior to the chair's departure to fill a vacancy in Bedford Borough's East Ward even though no other appointments were made to fill the other vacant positions. If this is true, then probably she could vote as an appointee. But also if this is true, it should be in the Minutes.
(cue the side-eye monkey.)
Anyway, after illegally disenfranchising some of the committee members on bullshit grounds, the remaining fifteen committee members elected a new leader.
The candidates were Christine Ebersole and Bill Higgens. (Higgens, that name sounds familiar... Isn't that the allegedly appointed lady with three votes, up above? Yes. Yes, it is.)
Bill Higgens won, by 8 votes to Christine Ebersole's 7 votes.
Amy Higgens is Bill Higgens' wife.
But wait, there's more.
In 2008, while serving as the county's District Attorney and acting as the Vice Chair of the Bedford County Republican Committee, Bill Higgens had "consensual" sex with another member of the Bedford County Republican Committee (a woman not his wife) in our brand new (at the time) county courthouse following a meeting of the county Republican Party. We know this because the brand new courthouse has video surveillance in all areas for security and stuff. This made the news in an election year, but the good people of Bedford County re-elected him anyway. *sigh* Bill Higgens resigned from the Committee following the... episode.
Good news is that we won't have that problem this time around, though. Amy Higgens is also on the Bedford County Republican Committee as the vice chair. Bill is going to have a lot more trouble cheating on Amy after the meetings if she's ATTENDING THEM WITH HIM.
In 2018, Mr. Higgens was disbarred (lost his law license) and his job as District Attorney and his state pension because he was using his position as DA to trade for sex. Basically he was getting blowies from drug addicts in exchange for giving them information about drug busts, confidential informants, and so forth. He pleaded guilty to 11 counts of "obstructing administration of law or government function" 2 counts of "official oppression", 3 counts of "recklessly endangering another person", 9 counts of "witness or victim intimidation" and 6 counts of "hindering apprehension or prosecution". He also got probation and an anklet and a shitbucket of fines.
In 2023, Mr. Higgens further involved himself with the law and was found guilty of summary harrassment.
This is the person that Bedford County Republicans have chosen to lead their party.
Mr. Higgens says on his Facebook that he looks forward to electing GOP candidates with shared values.
*headdesk*
Republican Party, you are not just rotten and visibly corrupt on a federal level. It... goes to the core of you.
I do not know how many "second chances" Mr. Bill Higgens Jr. deserves... but I sometimes think in my heart of hearts that endless forgiveness and endless second chances and all that stuff needs to be balanced against the legitimate and real harm that non-repentant, unchanged people can do in such a system.
Yes, turn the other cheek. But also... be fucking reasonable about it.
The child-abusing priest, who repents and begs forgiveness and has been counselled within the church, so then that guy doesn't get to interact with the public anymore as a recognized official of the church. Sorry, but you abused kids as a priest, you cannot priest ever again. You can still church, but you cannot priest or deacon or any of that shit.
The first duty of the church is to protect the innocent. (It may be that I am wrong about this. It's possible that the church feels that the first duty of the church is toward the sinner. If that's the case, though, the church is Fucking Wrong and needs to take a hard look at itself in the mirror and maybe listen to the Cardinal Pell song a few times at high volume.)
If that sort of priest still wants to be in the church and dedicated to God or whatever, you can put him in a cloistered monastery where he can tend to the bees or something and think about what he's done and never, ever, leave the property again. No contact with the public, no ministering to any flock, no. Bees. (Or cheese or wine or whatever the hell people do at monasteries.) Or he can choose to be publicly defrocked and disavowed and put on the Megan's Law equivalent for the church, which is PUBLIC and which congregations are ENCOURAGED TO PERUSE. Under no circumstances should he be relocated to a new parish and or allowed to contact the public. Like, there's a limit to endless forgiveness and endless second chances.
You can still forgive people and let them try to do better but you need to protect the innocent and the vulnerable from these folks once you know there is an issue.
Bill Higgens isn't a child molester. He's not a pedophile.
However, he is a criminal, several times over, and a man of very questionable moral character.
Bill Higgens has publicly demonstrated his lack of solid values to the good people of Bedford County repeatedly. Each time he's held an elected office prior to this, he has had to resign that office for morality-related behaviors.
Elected Vice-Chair of the Bedford County Republican Committee. Had to resign because he was caught on video fucking another member of the Committee in his office at the courthouse following one of the meetings.
Elected to DA of Bedford County. Had to resign because he was trading drug bust info and "lighter sentences" to women struggling with addiction in exchange for sexual acts. He lost his law license, his state pension, got a slew of criminal convictions, etc.
*sigh*
How on earth do God-Fearing Christians get behind this man and say that he "represents our values"? I am confused.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-14 01:32 am (UTC)