Editor, The Beacon:
A person cannot declare themselves to be a person of God and then proceed to publicly, before our Florida state House legislative body, disparage a group of people by dehumanizing them with words like “mutants, demons and imps that are not of this world.”
How can Florida House District 29 Rep. Webster Barnaby, who purports to be a man of God, have fallen so far from grace that he would publicly engage in such rhetoric, dehumanizing another marginalized group? There was a time, not too long ago, when he would have been on the receiving end of such dehumanization, simply because of the color of his skin.
We’ve seen this kind of thing before, in the not-too-distant-past history of our nation, as well as in other nations, and we’ve witnessed the lethal consequences of sanctioning this kind of rhetoric and vitriol by placing people like Webster Barnaby in seats of power.
We have a choice to make in this coming election for our District 29 community. We can choose a candidate, Rosemarie Latham, a person who has with authentic presence in service to others, devoted herself to our District 29 community as a practicing nurse practitioner, a member of a profession that is held in the highest regard, ethically and otherwise. She is a person who, by her very nature, understands that caring for and serving others is defined by inclusion.
The choice is clear, and that choice simply cannot be an individual who prides himself on the kind of dehumanizing rhetoric and vitriol that Webster Barnaby is offering. We simply must send a clear and present message to Webster Barnaby, and all those who ascribe to this kind of dehumanizing vitriol, that we are better than that, by unseating him as the incumbent for Florida House District 29, and by sending a person of integrity, Rosemarie Latham, to our Florida House of Representatives.
Joanne Emelock
DeLand
By far and away a better alternative; she knows what it means to work for a living. Mr. Barnaby has been feeding from the public trough far too long.