Martha Dean, Judeo-Christian for CT AG

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We don’t do a lot of religion in electoral politics here in the Land of Steady Habits, so when it’s introduced into a race for public office those of us in the biz take note. Thus, I offer for your consideration Martha Dean, who yesterday beat out a moderate Republican and became the GOP candidate for state Attorney General. She went to Phillips Andover, Wellesley College, and the UConn Law School, where she made law review. She does regulatory law and is a big wheel in the local branch of the Federalist Society.

Dean, who gave AG Richard Blumenthal a small run for his money in 2002, was the only Tea Partyish candidate who prevailed in the CT primary. Her views are, well, on the idiosyncratic side. A native of “Live Free or Die” New Hampshire in the days when it was as rock-ribbed as they come, she thinks the Second Amendment is the most important item in the Bill of Rights, supports the right of anyone to own any firearm, and stirred up some controversy by advocating gun instruction in the public schools. She also opposes the death penalty, wants to open a discussion about decriminalizing drugs, and says she’ll defend Connecticut’s same-sex marriage law (though she doesn’t like it). Ditto for abortion. Color her pretty darn libertarian.

Dean’s platform is the Three F’s: Freedom, Faith, and Fortune–”pillars
of a prosperous and desirable State.” I’ll leave it to you investigate Freedom and Fortune for yourselves. The Faith pillar has to do with what “the Judeo-Christian values” teach, to wit: “tolerance for others, a
higher duty owed to God’s law when it conflicts with the laws of government,
and the importance of private acts of compassion.” What will that mean for her conduct of the AG’s office? A striving “to demonstrate and encourage”

appreciation of, and respect for, the Judeo-Christian
underpinnings to our free society
acceptance of other cultures and faiths, without
denying the significance of the faith foundation upon which our freedoms
as Americans were built
an understanding among public officials, education
officials, and the public that separation of church and state does
not mean, and has never meant, eliminating recognition of
Judeo-Christian faith heritage from public ceremonies (prayer; pledge
of allegiance, etc), public places (Christmas trees; nativity scenes, etc),
or public things (“In God We Trust” on our money, etc)
an understanding among all in Connecticut that government
did not create our rights and government cannot take them away

In fact, these days we Nutmeggers bear witness to our Judeo-Christian heritage by not letting convenience stores sell beer, or liquor stores sell anything, on Sundays. Heck, on Sundays even supermarkets can’t purvey lager. But Dean’s against all that. Fortune dictates that such “unseemly” practices cease.

Ms. Dean’s own personal religious commitment cannot be determined from her website. My son Ezra, who last night was reporting from Dean headquarters for the Hartford Courant, found one supporter who described her as “Sarah Palin with a resumé.” Palin didn’t advertise her specific religious affiliation either. But here in Connecticut, we like resumés.

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Reverend Barbara Sexton

posted August 11, 2010 at 7:44 pm

“We don’t do a lot of religion in electoral politics here in the Land of Steady Habits, so when it’s introduced into a race for public office those of us in the biz take note.”–Mark Silk
You’ve GOT to be kidding me about not being aware of the role ‘religion’ (more properly “Black Liberation Theology”) played in the last presidential election. Read this piece I wrote for a taste of the reality you obviously do not recognize:
http://dearoneshealingministry.blogspot.com/2010/06/uccdont-call-me-snowflake-conversation.html
It’s one of MANY from this 22+ year refugee from the ‘Obama/Wright church’. Get up to speed, man, if only for your son Ezra’s sake.
There are errors of omission and commission. I’ve been sounding like a broken record quoting Proverbs 17:15, “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent–the LORD detests them both.” (NIV)
For the record, MARTHA DEAN is EXACTLY what we NEED today in CONNECTICUT! You like ‘resumes’? I, dear brother, ask you to prefer God’s TRUTH over all else, and not just resumes. Your apparent disingenuousness here about Martha Dean is neither clever nor believable. I wish you’d just state that you’re a progressive-lib dem (or whatever you are politically) and leave it at that, instead of ‘pretending not to understand’ where our next CT attorney general ‘stands’theologically. Please don’t ‘dumb down’ your reading audience, because we are ‘sharp cookies’ here in the Nutmeg State!
Write about what you know about, Mr. Silk…and know about what you write, I say.
Reverend Barbara Sexton
“The Biblical Biochemist-Where Science Meets the Cross”
http://www.DearOnesHealingMinistry.blogspot.com

Heather

posted August 12, 2010 at 12:34 pm

Thanks for your generally fair and informative article about Martha Dean. I voted for her and support her; what an improvement over Blumenthal for 20 years!! Businesses might even want to do business in CT again!
However, there was NO need to take a gratuitous shot at Sarah Palin, a woman of many accomplishments. See here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35447297/Governor-Palin-s-Accomplishments
Unless, of course, your idea of accomplishments is where someone went to school – since you seem to take great glee in listing all of Ms. Dean’s elitist educational institutions.
Thank God that Ms. Dean was not spoiled by her elitist associations, but continues to think for herself as a Federalist.
I think you might consider that where someone went to school is not as important to the general electorate as you think it is.
Consider:
The U.S. Presidency has been run by Ivy League grads since 1988. The country’s in great shape, ain’t it?
Nope, I’m not anti-education; I have a BA in Communications/Journalism.
My point is that it’s what you DO with your education that counts. What you DO in life and career that matters.
Wasn’t Bill Gates a college dropout? Didn’t Harry Truman have only a high school education? etc. etc.
Sarah Palin has accomplished quite a lot with her BS in Journalism/Political Science. In addition to the above summary, you can check primary sources of her governorship here:
http://wayback.archive-it.org/1200/20090726150429/http:/gov.state.ak.us/archive.php

Otter

posted August 12, 2010 at 12:59 pm

We need more people like this running for office. People who know and understand the Constitution and Bill of Rights. No political party boss is going to tell her how to vote. She has a diffilcult road to walk in liberal CT. I wish her all the luck in the world and wish there were more like her.

Andrew Cort, author of 'The American Psyche in Search of its Soul'

posted August 12, 2010 at 3:03 pm

Educated people in government are always still desirable, and religiously oriented educated public servants are needed. But the reason religious vibrancy survives in America is because of the separation of church and state. We need to honor this principle. I hope she votes her individual conscience.

TEEBONE

posted August 12, 2010 at 8:18 pm

Obongo’s Hope and change is hope to change our country to a socialist nightmare.
I “hope” candidates like this one “change” it back to a condition more resembling its original design.
LIBERTY.
Get rid of all the Democrats first, then get rid of all the RINOs.
You want a positive change? THAT will get it done.

Brandon T. Bisceglia

posted August 14, 2010 at 6:42 am

I’m a little confused as to what she means by “God’s law.” Which interpretation of which God is she talking about, and where are these laws catalogued? (I hope for everyone’s sake that she’s not referring to Deuteronomy.)
Incidentally, one of the central tenets of humanism is also “private acts of compassion.”