Press Release: Democratic Talk Radio announces Hero and Villain 2006 awards
Press Release: Democratic Talk Radio announced their choices for Hero and Villain of 2006
Democratic Talk Radio announced their choices for Hero and Villain of 2006. A pair of exceptional women from the Greater Huntsville (Alabama) metro area has been jointly awarded our 2006 Hero Award. They are examples of exceptional citizens in their communities. Every exceptionally involved Super Citizen deserves similar recognition for their important contributions to improving community life. Our choices are Kay Campbell and Linda Haynes.
Kay Campbell was our choice for a non-partisan hero. Linda Haynes was chosen as our partisan hero. While the average voter deserves recognition, the above average community leader is seldom given recognition proportionate to their contribution to community life. Few of us can aspire to be future leaders as significant to our nation as former Vice President Al Gore, Senator Russ Feingold or DNC Chairman Howard Dean. However, we can all realistically aspire to follow in the footsteps of Kay Campbell or Linda Haynes. As activists of various types, we can make our nation better places to live by changing one community at a time.
Kay Campbell is a journalist with a strong background in education. As a reporter for the independent Huntsville Times, she helps educate tens of thousands of readers about their community. She explores the challenges faced by the average guy along with reporting on the doings of the elite. At the Huntsville Times, she wears another hat as Faith & Values Editor. Her writings educate the citizenry about their fellow citizens while showing strong human compassion. While Kay Campbell probably has strong political views, they cannot be easily determined by her over 20 years of reporting for various newspapers in Alabama and Tennessee.
Other hats worn by Kay Campbell include Super Mom, wife, church leader, education advocate and community activist. Like many other of our Super Citizens, juggling family commitments with the demands of jobs and civic involvement is difficult. Somehow, Kay Campbell successfully juggles these competing demands. Her boys are both artistically and scholarly talented and well-adjusted.
Campbell is First Soprano in the Huntsville Master Chorale and a Choir member at First Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville, Tennessee. Campbell is a member of the Christian Education Mission Unit for Middle Tennessee Presbytery. Since 1998, she has been volunteer Head Coach for the Lincoln County (Tennessee) High School Academic Team. Kay Campbell was a founding board member of Leadership Lincoln County. She is an active volunteer for the Huntsville Humane Society.
Linda Haynes is our partisan choice. She is very active with both the North Alabama Peace Network and North Alabama Media Reform. Linda Haynes is deeply involved in Democratic politics in Madison County. She was very active locally in the Presidential campaigns of Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
Many other choices for partisan hero were obviously qualified. In Greater Huntsville, other contenders certainly would include Anna Ray, Teresa Davis, Doug Dermody, Pat Fraley, Janice King and literally hundreds of others. Linda Haynes was chosen because of her main areas of issue involvement. Haynes is very actively involved in getting our soldiers safely out of the mess in Iraq. Every day, Linda Haynes does something to promote peace in the Mideast and worldwide. She is a strong defender of civil liberties and individual freedom. Haynes is an active opponent of the falsely named Patriot Act.
Linda Haynes is a crusader for media reform. She supports more balanced coverage, local ownership and diversity. Haynes understands how important a truly independent media is to the preservation of American Democracy.
Haynes has demonstrated strong leadership skills in all her activities. She showed exceptional moral courage with her strong, early opposition to Bush’s Iraq policy in the strongly pro-military community of Huntsville. Huntsville has strong economic ties to the military because of local bases. Greater Huntsville has many high tech industries and research facilities related to NASA or the military.
Our choice for villain of the year is George W. Bush. Bush can be condemned for assaults on civil liberties, irresponsible tax and spending policies, anti-worker actions, anti-consumer activities, Iraq, assaults on our environment, undermining the America middle class, etc. The primary reason he was selected for DTR’s Villain of 2006 is his continuing use of un-Constitutional “signing statements.”
Bush’s use of “signing statements” is an illegal attempt to place the Presidency above the law. They have been widely condemned by the American legal profession. In these “signing statements”, Bush has claimed powers of a dictator or tyrant. He is fundamentally attacking our Constitutional checks and balances system devised by our Founding Fathers.
Bush’s “signing statement” declarations are the best grounds for seeking his impeachment. They are a threat to American Democracy and reason enough for us to declare George W. Bush our Democratic Talk Radio Villain of 2006.
Confirmation of Copy: Attention: Stephen Crockett( host of Democratic Talk Radio http://DemocraticTalkRadio.com ). Phone: 443-907-2367. Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland 21919. Email: [email protected] .