Stop the Madness

By Chairman Alexander Bush

"Two fellows in the Soviet Union are walking down the street. One asks the other, 'Have we reached full communism? Is this it? Is this true communism?' And the other replies, 'Hell no, things are gonna get a lot worse.'"

— Ronald Reagan, telling a joke he got from a Soviet official.

The Great Communicator could have been talking about Montgomery County. What a year 2019 has been. Our county leaders – detached as they are from reality – think they can check off box after box on their progressive checklist without consequences. 

This July, County Executive Mark Elrich proudly announced the most restrictive policy on non-cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the D.C. metro area. At the time, I said that this was a “political stunt all about opposing a President he hates, even at the risk of the safety of Montgomery County residents." Within thirty days of the announcement of this policy, there were seven illegal immigrants charged with sexual assault in Montgomery County, with child victims in at least three cases. And these incidents have not stopped since then. A few tweaks to a bad policy was only meant to distract us. Twice since then, defendants charged with sex crimes, and wanted by ICE have been released on bonds ranging from $1,000-2,000, and with only fifteen minutes notice or ICE, or no notice at all. And in trying to deflect richly-deserved criticism, the County Council accused their critics of joining with “neo-Nazi sympathizers” to spread disinformation.

But our Montgomery County politburo was just getting started. This summer, the County Council unanimously changed county law to allow “accessory dwelling units” on even the tiniest of lots. It didn’t matter to even one councilmember that dozens of homeowners’ associations and tens of thousands of homeowners were against it. It didn’t matter that there wouldn’t be enough street parking for long-time homeowners in their own neighborhoods or that property values could plummet – No, all that mattered was checking off another box.

But it gets worse: our County’s elected leaders don’t even understand basic economics, much like the Soviets. In November, the County Council made it illegal to offer part-time employment to janitors in large buildings. It might not seem like a build deal, but consider the consequences (I mean, someone should – the Council certainly didn’t). If, before the law, the staff spent twenty hours a week cleaning the building, the easiest solution was just to fire 1/3 of them, and have the rest pick up the slack. 

I could go on for several pages. There is so much material, like the Council now unanimously supporting a new early voting center that even Mark Elrich called a waste of money. But let’s not forgot, that we aren’t powerless… 

Independents and moderate Democrats are starting to wake up to the fact that the leftists running our County couldn’t care less about them, and only care about their extreme agenda. We have to be ready to show them that we are a serious alternative. To this end, we’ve refused to let the left control the narrative. Conservative speakers show up to public hearings to castigate the Council and our delegation. They can no longer say that they act with the full support of the electorate. And in just the last six months, our arguments have appeared repeatedly in The Daily Caller, WMAL, Washington Times, Washington Post, ABC7 WJLA, The Epoch Times, and MyMCMedia.

In September, hundreds of proud patriots gathered in front of the Council building to protest the County’s anti-ICE policy, and greatly outnumbered the hired counter-protestors. I hope you saw Marc Elrich’s TV interview from the scene. Oh boy was he sweating. He could not have imagined – until that moment – that there would ever be political consequences for him. 

For those of you given to apathy, remember that the next time we time we vote for representatives in Annapolis or for County Council, we will have new lines drawn after the 2020 census. And we need to be ready to fight for new, winnable districts. Let’s not let these upcoming opportunities go to waste, or else some winnable seat will go to a “moderate” democrat for the next 30 years, while we bemoan our lack of preparation. 

If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for a time to get involved, now is the time! Otherwise, as the Gipper would say, “things are gonna get a lot worse."