Apology or not, comments made by Fayette County Republican Commissioner David Barlow at the Nov. 13 County Commission meeting on the treatment of conservative Christians by liberal “Demoncrats” continue to be met with negative reactions by Democrats and Republicans.
Barlow’s remarks have opened an outcry from across the political spectrum. Weighing in with outrage about Barlow’s comments were Fayette County Democratic Committee Chair Dawn Mabra, Fayette County Republican Party chair Scott Fabricius, the Fayette County Issues Tea Party and Fayette County Commission Chairman Steve Brown.
After a firestorm of criticism from both parties, Barlow on Nov. 19 said:
“My passion for Jesus Christ and saving lives was wrongly portrayed by me this past Thursday evening. During a regular commission meeting, I gave a prepared statement to our local press and during commissioners comments read the statement into the record. I was wrong,” Barlow said. “I spoke with Ms. Pota Coston and offered my humble apology to her and asked for her forgiveness, which she graciously gave. Also, I am sending this apology to the other board members to include the local Democratic Party, asking for their forgiveness as well. I truly regret my comments and would like everyone to know that I look forward to working with Pota as we move Fayette County forward.
“The Lord hates six things, in fact, seven are detestable to Him; arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony and one who stirs up trouble among brothers – Proverbs 6:16-19. I clearly violated, ‘stirs up trouble among brothers.’”
Though he commented on Barlow’s apology earlier in the week, Brown in a Nov. 19 letter to Barlow said, “I appreciate your apology, but I wish you would not have ripped me in the Fayetteville Main Street meeting the other day. I have to question the sincerity of your apology when people come to me saying you were verbally abusive towards me in that meeting, for using the pronoun ‘we’ of all things, when I described all the things ‘we’ have accomplished. Your passion for Jesus Christ is not the issue. The demeaning language toward a segment of our county’s population related to party affiliation and race and blessing it with Jesus’ name at the end is the problem.
“I have enjoyed your company in the past, David. I truly wish things were different. Honestly, it would be refreshing for me not to have people telling me you were trash-talking about me in meetings around the county (and they come tell me because they do not like it). You still have my assurance that I will treat you no differently than any of our other colleagues, as I have always done, regardless of what you say.”
The statements which caused the firestorm to erupt came at the Nov. 13 commission meeting when Barlow said, “We conservative Christians have been unmercifully attacked by the liberal demoncrats [Barlow’s intentional misspelling] and liberal press throughout Obama’s presidency,” he said. “November 4 changed all that. I will work tirelessly to see that in 2016 the GOP regains the presidency thereby nullifying the evil that has been proliferating throughout our great nation. I declare this, in the mighty name of Jesus.”
Barlow on Nov. 13 congratulated Commissioner-elect Pota Coston (District 5) while including an apparent reference to the recent federal court decision to impose district voting. Speaking of the time several years ago when they met, Barlow said, “Pota and I would be on the street every morning holding signs so naturally we began to speak to one another. We even prayed together for God’s will to be done. Even though I disagree with how she won, I look forward to working with her.”
Barlow’s statements led to comments from Fayette County Democratic Committee Chair Dawn Mabra, the Fayette County Republican Party chair Scott Fabricius, the Fayette County Issues Tea Party and Brown.
Mabra’s comments in a Nov. 18 letter to Brown asked why he permitted Barlow to continue with his remarks at the Nov. 13 meeting.
“With all due respect, Chairman, no elected official should be given the ‘latitude’ to use their position as a platform for their personal crusade against any group of individuals. I am sure you are aware that our first amendment right to free speech is not absolute and does not protect hate speech or ‘fighting words.’ Allowing Commissioner Barlow’s statements to stand on the record unchallenged shows a lack of leadership. While I appreciate your letter to the local newspapers, it reads as an afterthought with no accountability.”
For his part, Brown in a Nov. 16 letter to Mabra said he did not know what Barlow would include in his remarks at the meeting.
“With Commissioner Barlow being an elected official of the citizens of Fayette County, I gave him significant latitude to express himself,” Brown said. “I purposefully chose not to engage in debate with Commissioner Barlow in his current state of mind, thinking it could elevate his level of hostility and the meeting could get out of hand.”
Brown in a Nov. 16 letter referenced what he said were recent and past comments by Barlow directed at Democrats and blacks.
“In prepared remarks, Commissioner Barlow demeaned people in the audience and others in our community, namely Democrats, calling them ‘demons’ and ‘evil.’ There have been consistent verbal and written attacks on the Internet that consist of name-calling and venomous insults of Democrats and specifically female Democrats. Commissioner Barlow often adds that his insults are given in the name of God as witnessed in (the Nov. 13) display at our meeting with him saying, ‘I declare this, in the mighty name of Jesus,’” Brown said. “Local citizens have approached me with copies of Commissioner Barlow’s Facebook posts that reveal lists of invectives of a more brutal nature. I had to sit through one tirade where Commissioner Barlow debased “the Blacks” with stereotypical racial insults, saying he knew such things to be true from his days of living in Mississippi. I reminded him in front of colleagues that he was talking about my wife and he offered no apology.”
Also weighing in on the issue was Fayette County Republican Party Chairman Scott Fabricius.
“While Mr. Barlow was elected as a Republican candidate, it should be clearly understood that his statements are neither endorsed nor embraced by the Fayette County Republican Party,” Fabricius said. “Moreover, his attempt to buttress his personal expression by adding that his declaration was done ‘in the mighty name of Jesus’ made it even more objectionable.”
Also commenting was the Fayette County Issues Tea Party. A statement on the organization’s website said, “At the Nov. 13 County Commission meeting, Commissioner David Barlow made a series of highly inflammatory comments that the founders of the Fayette County Issues Tea Party strongly object to. While our position on voting for BoE (Fayette County Board of Education) and County Commission candidates is different than that of some other organizations in Fayette County, members of those organizations remain fellow citizens, and in some cases, friends and neighbors.”
