Newspapers / Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / Jan. 9, 2010, edition 1 / Page 19
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general gayety by leslie robinson :: qnotes contributor Homo stupidicus You've heard of Peking Man and Java Man. Now meet Mecklenburg Man. This prehistoric specimen, Bill James, is a Mecklenburg County commissioner. At a recent public meeting in Charlotte, commissioners debated whether to offer domestic-partner benefits to county employees. During the proceedings, James, a Republican white man, sat next to Vilma Leake, a Democratic black woman. Presumably each now wishes the other had been sitting in another country. Leake revealed her personal tie to the debate; "A son that I birthed that died of AIDS and I did not know that in 20101 would be sitting hereto defend...his lifestyle," she said with fervor. After her speech, James leaned over and asked, "Your son was a homo, really?" James is a caveman, really. Leake responded, "You're going to make me hurt you. Don't do that to me. Don't talk about my son." After the vote—where the board approved domestic-partner benefits for Mecklenburg County employees in same-sex relationships — Leake briefly left her seat, still smarting. She wants an apology and the chair of the commission agrees. James told The Charlotte Observerhe won't apologize. He said he was just asking for a clarification, wasn't making a derogatory comment and used a slang word he grew gp with. Language was limited in the cave. WBTV asked James for an interview, but he said with all the recent talking and interviews he'd lost his voice. Before you say hallelujah, check out how ignorant and nasty he can be when he types. In an email to the TV station, James called Leake "a religious hypocrite" who "used her son's 'lifestyle' and his death from HIV-AIDS to justify voting for benefits to allow individuals to use tax dollars to engage in the same behavior that resulted in her son's death. "It is akin to someone whose son is an alcoholic and died from the disease, using his death from drinking as justification to have the taxpayers pay for more booze." Somewhere, a Cro-Magnon village is missing its idiot. He devotes his longest paragraph to taking Leake to task for threatening him with violence, saying that's her pattern. He has a long history of shooting from the lip, but that he omits. It seems to me the average homophobic politician of today makes an effort to avoid obviously anti-gay language. James is below average. With people calling for his ouster for his initial insensitivity, instead of hushing up, he spewed bile till Charlotte was knee-deep. Not very politic for a politician. My guess is he likes that views himself as a straight- shooter. Or, he might simply be such a Neanderthal that all he knows how to do is speak his simple mind, then if there's trouble, automatically start swinging. He skipped evolution or evolution skipped him. Before he lost his voice, James spoke on local talk radio's "Keith Larson Show." He said, "If Vilma is, frankly, dumb enough to try to use her sick and sadly-dead son as justification for allowing more sickness and more death, then I've got a right to challenge that, in a public setting, in the arena." Yes, he called a fellow county commissioner dumb. Yes, he again said being gay is lethal. Yes, a paramecium has more brains and compassion. How long will the people of Mecklenburg County put up with James? His initial slur even disturbed people who agree with him. It and his subsequent statements should get him booted from the commissioner's chair. Perhaps he'll land in a natural history museum, where he'll be linked with Peking Man, Java Man and others that—to his intense embarrassment—belong to the species Homo erectus.:: Samuel B. Johnson, Attorney, pllc Wills and Estates, Family Law, General Practice J.D., Yale Ph. D., Duke (Mathematics) B.S., Davidson (Mathematics & German) 910 North Elm Street www.samueljohnsonlaw.com Greensboro, NC 27401 (336) 544-0632 e-mail: JOHNSON@SAMUElJOHNSONLAW.COM FAX (336) 275-6045 CHURCH OF THE HOLV SPIRIT FELLOWSHIP, INC. IOCS Burk. Sb«t REV. ROGER E. HAYES Affordable Health & Life Insurance* for Individuals & Families • Health Insurance coverage tailored to your needs • -Coverage stays with you regardless of job status • 24-hour, worldwide coverage ** • No hospital pre-authorization required • Your choice of doctors and hospitals Don’t Delay, Cali 704-560-4956 Today! Anne Douglas Miller - Licensed Insurance Agent www.adm-insuresu.com • admiiler1@earthlink.net InsurMca Plans af« undvwntten by The MEGA Life and Health Iniurance Compeny. a HeeimMarketaft Compafly Admwtraliee offica; N. Richland Hills. TX. Exclusiona and limitations apply. * Optional plans reoure additional premium. *nimaas covsrad by any Worker’s comp or similar ptan. Rv first 30 days of travel. 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Carolina Bio-Hazard Service a division of Carolina Mortuary Service P.O. Box 220864 • Charlotte, NC 28222 Toll Free 1-877-222-2862 24-Hour Calls: 704-563-7676 Business Office: 704'5^3"467^ Fax: 704-566-6430 Email: fred@callcarolina.org r II I M_/rciv-.rv RUSS CARD SALES/LEASING 6824 E. INDEPENDENCE BLVD. CHARLOTTE. NC 28227 704-563-7800 FAX 704-563-9172 DIRECT UNE 704-516-9274 TOLL FREE 1 -800-763-7811 WEBSITE: www.hendrickacura.com EMAIL: russ.gardQhendrickauto.com 2000 PRECISION TEAM DEAURSHIP OF DISTINCTION Call Q-Notes 704.531.9988 YOUR BUSINESS • ^ HERE Jan. 9-22.2010 qnotes 19
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