Local Government TV

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Our Country Was Not Founded By Men With Guns and Buckets of Shit

Rick Fisher
Last year, I met Rick Fisher at a heavily attended Bangor Borough meeting, when three volunteer fire companies were on the war path, ready to scalp its Council members. Rick was Bangor's zoning officer, but also did code enforcement in other Slate Belt municipalities like Upper Mount Bethel and Portland. He was giving it all up that night to move West and become a male stripper or bottom-feeding blogger.

"I thought all the people were here to say goodbye to me," he said when firefighters left before the announcement of his impending departure. "I forgot. I'm a zoning officer," he joked.

Today, that's more sad than funny. Ross Township's zoning officer is dead. He died in a hail of bullets after dispossessed property owner Rockne Newell allegedly shoot through the walls of a municipal building during a supervisors' meeting. Two innocent citizens participating in their government by attending a meeting were killed, too. Three others were wounded.

Most of us reacted with horror to this tragedy. But not West Easton troublemaker and Borough Council candidate Tricia Mezzacappa. She instead penned a letter to The Express Times, portraying Newell as a victim of government tyranny, just like her. "I thank the Lord that I have had the patience to continue putting up with this tyranny," she writes, certainly hinting that might one day ran out of patience and who knows what will happen then.

It's a disgusting letter, but many of the numerous comments that follow online actually support her view. Frequent commenters there, like "Amend Wun" and "Tag42Day" believe that's because Mezzacappa was creating all kinds of bogus online identities to pretend she has support that she lacks. I tend to agree with this assessment because many of those comments also trash Mezzacappa's enemies, i.e. West Easton Boro Council Prez Kelly Gross and yours truly.

Moderators must share this assessment, too. They've been busily deleting many of the names she uses to comment. Not just the comments, but the actual accounts.

But Mezzacappa fooled one person. Rick Fisher. He posted this comment tonight, giving the perspective of a zoning officer in that neck of the woods.

I am shocked that so many people feel there is justification for homicide in our society. In this particular case, these were people who were doing their jobs, enforcing the laws that protect your wells that you drink from, your property values that you cherish, and your safety- whether it be adopting an ordinance that lowers a speed limit or enforcing the Clean Streams Law and Sewage Facilities Act which protects your water supplies, your lakes, rivers, and streams. No one deserves to die for doing their job. These are public servants, regular folk like you and I, most are volunteers who choose to better their community rather than sit on the doorstep and bitch about everything that is wrong with our society.

The zoning officer was a paid public servant. He chose a profession that helps people and protects their safety. He was good at his work and was careful in his decisions. He never wanted to violate a person's rights and so he took care with his decisions and always acted in a professional manner. He did not deserve his fate.

I worked with the zoning officer who was murdered. I sometimes sat at the desk across from him and more than once we drove to sites together to improve our safety. Is there a justification for killing him for doing his job? When two neighbors feud over a property line, a fence, or when one complains that the other has turned his property into a junk yard, and we go there to do our job- is our death OK because we did our job and enforced the law by, in your view, pushing the man too far? The same law that each and every one of you would want enforced if the property filled with buckets of shit was next door to your home? I bet you'd be at every Council meeting screaming to high heaven about how you can't open your windows because of the stench, how there are so many flies, and how you will never be able to sell your home as long as that man is allowed to live on his uninhabitable land.

The author of this letter is wrong wrong wrong. I know most of the people he shot at. I know one of the men who died. Did the Township secretary deserve such a tragedy for simply doing her job, to spend the rest of her life having blood and death in her memory for her long service to the citizens of that township? No, she did not. Nobody deserves to die for simply doing their job. No one deserves to be traumatized.

Rockne wasn't pushed too far. You can't push crazy too far. You just can't. Maybe he would have snapped 6 months later at the diner over his poached eggs. Maybe he would have snapped in a mall, in an Elementary school, in a movie theater, or in a grocery store. This was a man living in shed illegally, with 5-gallon pails of sewage inside and outside his shack, living on land that he knew was uninhabitable when he bought it. It was written on the deed plain as day- failed for onlot sewage disposal. He broke the law when he moved onto that property, he violated one law after another, local, state, and Federal law. He was a lawless man who didn't give a damn about anything but himself. And when his day in court finally came and he lost because he was wrong, he broke the law again- and now three men are dead.

This country was not founded by men with guns and buckets of shit. It was founded on LEGAL principle by men who based their claim for for freedom on law. They then took up arms and fought for a free country where law-abiding citizens could live in harmony. It has worked for over two hundred years.

The sewage laws were written with the understanding that the greater good for all must override the desire of one person. We have standards for sewage disposal in rural areas without city sewers. These standards must be equally enforced for all citizens in order to protect each person (even from themselves).

We talk about our constitution and then ignore it's founding principles when a crackpot attacks our own representative government. It doesn't wash. You can't have it both ways. If you want representative government then you have to allow your representatives to do their job and when they come under fire, to support them afterwards. They are the ones protecting your rights. The guy with the buckets of shit- he is the enemy of our society, a terrorist kicking over yet another pillar of our democracy. And you who speak out in support of him do so because our democracy, our constitution gives you the right of free speech. But with that right comes responsibility to think deeply on what you are going to say or write. Your words of support for a mentally unstable man who killed and injured innocent people and disrupted their lives forever do us all an injustice. Rockne did not shoot the wrong people- he was wrong to shoot at all. He had no right. He is a cold-blooded murderer. Defend him you defend the downfall of our society. You can't push crazy too far- it isn't possible.

30 comments:

  1. Couldn't agree more, and any of my comments that happen to slip through regarding disgusting Messykkkrapper's documented background are quickly removed from the E-T comment board. I just don't think any gun law will stop the next Newell from doing something similar. Just as you can't push crazy too far, you can't legislate crazy into legal compliance.

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  2. His is the best comment that answers any ignorant comment Mezzacappa posts under all her aliases.

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  3. This incident is so sad. Such a waste of human life. I guess the real question here is "didn't anyone see and know that this guy was mentally unstable?" Couldn't this have been prevented by having this guy evaluated. Mezzacappa should be evaluated before she does something really crazy. She and Gregory together can do some real harm. Not only with words but with that sidearm she carries. When is somebody going to take this woman on and have her evaluated. We know Gregory has a certificate (evaluated by the courts) that he is at least proven sane. However, remember, he worked in that very system and he can manipulate that system. He isn't a "mensa" only in his own mind. If he was a "mensa" he wouldn't be in the trouble he is in. Can you push someone too far. Only if he is already unstable.

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  4. Bravo Rick and well said. I am proud to call you a good member in standing and faithful employee of the Bangor boro family. I can't imagine the grief and pain Newell has inflicted on the families and friends of Ross Township. We need to change the firearms law before this happens again. Please support your local governmental bodies in fighting for the needed changes..save a loved one or maybe even yourself from harm. Thanks Rick.

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  5. The Express Times Sucks! They are deleting comments left and right if they criticize Mezzzykkkrapper, but allow her unfettered comment space. She has created many names, carnivalcreme is the newest. The ET should be ashamed of themselves. They have a comment policy, but do not follow it when it comes to The Mezz. HYPOCRITES!

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  6. The Express deserves a turkey for allowing her letter to be printed. Then deleting comments.

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  7. Dave @ 8:19 -

    We already have laws against murder, and they didn't help. In addition, the shooter started from outside the building and worked his way in. You know this.

    That you continue to use this incident as a reason for state involvement makes me think that you have a larger agenda.

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  8. My agenda? Equal protection is a U.S. Constitutional right. Lincoln already won that one over a hundred years ago. Remember? You can't go into a PA court of law with a gun..or the Statehouse's of PA. I want guns banned from public meetings..period. You that insecure? Then stay home.

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  9. Agreed wholeheartedly. Now remember that letter the next time you bash public servants and their compensation and benefits. It's stunning how you try to ride both sides of the fence - champion of the Tea Party fanatics and champion of the public servant everyman. Government is not the enemy. Government are your neighbors and people who who "choose to better their community rather than sit on the doorstep and bitch about everything that is wrong with our society."

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  10. "We already have laws against murder, and they didn't help."

    Are you advocating for no laws because someone will just violate them? In other words don't even bother to set standards. Just let the lowest common denominator dictate the rules of society. That's nonsense. If guns are banned in some government buildings, they should be banned in all government buildings. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's majority opinion in the Heller gun rights case supports this common sense proposition. Second Amendment rights are not unlimited.

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  11. 9:28..Thanks for that insight and law lesson. Ban guns from public meetings..period! 41

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  12. As far as I know, The Express-Times has never reported the fact that Mezzacappa is suing the newspaper. I don't know why they would be intimidated the likes of her. But, unfortunately, the editors have been allowing Mezzacappa to use the newspaper and its website to further her personal vendettas. I understand her new target for abuse is the lawyer who defended her (unsuccessfully) at her disorderly conduct trial.

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  13. I believe the Express Times did a public service by publishing her LTE. It makes the public aware just how sick and depraved this political wannabe is. But I'd agree the moderation has been uneven, something papers tend to do poorly. Finally, the fact that she sued the paper is newsworthy and should have been reported in both papers.

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  14. I recall a series of blogs by Bernie a while ago reporting on the many calls to the police made by Tricia Mezzacappa. Trish - who supports an accused murdered because, she believes, he was pushed too far by his government - wasn't happy with the state of her neighborhood. What did Trish do? Did she live and let live? No, she asked her government to intercede for her. She called the cops because a taxi was honking its horn and disturbing her sleep. She called the cops because she couldn't find a parking space. She called the cops because she suspected a neighbor of operating a chop shop. She called the cops because she suspected a neighbor of being a drug dealer. But that's Trish. One set of rules for herself and another set of rules for everyone else.

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  15. "But I'd agree the moderation has been uneven, something papers tend to do poorly."

    Tricia Mezzacappa has abused the "community rules" that apply to all commenters on the E-T website. The rules don't permit the use of "multiple account nicknames" in one discussion thread and they don't permit personal attacks. I don't understand why Tricia and all her nicknames haven't been completely banned from further use of the site under the User Agreement. They must have the technology to block her access.

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  16. From my limited discussions with them, I do not think they have that knowledge, or know that technology is available that could completely block her from a given IP, no matter what name she uses.

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  17. Imagine what Trish would do if her next door neighbor stored buckets of shit on his porch.

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  18. ""We already have laws against murder, and they didn't help."

    So I guess we should stop prosecuting murder cases. Geez. Some people ...

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  19. "Imagine what Trish would do if her next door neighbor stored buckets of shit on his porch."

    She is in the ET ranting about the noise from an ice cream truck.

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  20. "We know Gregory has a certificate (evaluated by the courts) that he is at least proven sane"

    I don't know what it proves bc it is sealed. I do know that, as a result of the evaluation, intensive psycho therapy was recommended.

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  21. The Mediterranean Man Slab is back up on Facebook talking about his UnityPAC sponsored radio show soon to debut(How did he fund it and is it registered?)and how he is going to get everyone he doesn't like who wronged him (including you Bernie) He is also doing a passive agressive thing about his ex-girlfriend. Wondering how he can get away with all of this?

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  22. Can you cut and paste his F/B comment? Or send it to me at BOHare5948@aol.com?

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  23. "My agenda? Equal protection is a U.S. Constitutional right."

    A law that treats some people different than others must have a "rational basis" in order to pass muster under Equal Protection. What is the rational basis for treating local legislators differently than state legislators when it comes to guns at public meetings? Maybe a group of local officials should band together and challenge the state firearms law as violating the U.S. Constitution on that point.

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  24. Leave Jim Gregory alone. What has he done to you. Please, you are idiots. His radio show will be sponsored by real friends and many will run and hide.

    The truth about many things will come out and that is why some people want to stop him.

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  25. Funny, I thought the same thing as 10:09's post.

    As to banning guns from public meetings, I understand (even if I still support a ban) the argument that such laws really would do little than create a sense of security that would not have stopped someone like Newell (or his defenders??). Quite honestly it is 99.9% a non-issue as I have never been aware of non-law enforcement weapons being at a public meeting. However, just like in the old west where guns were banned from saloons where passions could run high, banning at public meetings (where I have seen some people be VERY passionate) is logical to have on the books to be enforced as needed. We do live in a very different society today... I can remember a teaching job interview in the mid-1980s (not around here) and the principals office was lined with students' shotguns. It was hunting season, and the students could bring them in so they could go right after school, but had to keep them in the principals office.

    Finally, Mr. Fisher wrote an excellent piece, and your title quote is an excellent commentary for those extremists who love to quote the rhetoric of the Founders, as if those apples in any way relate to today's oranges.

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  26. Not to mention that the shooter lived in squaller and filth while his father owned multiple dwellings.On tape the father noted his sons threats and did nothing.No wonder his wife was a nervous wreck as he stated.Talk about the break down of family values.Bet old man Newell happens to be a card carrying right wing conservative.Shame,Shame,Shame.

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  27. Thank you Rick!!!! Tricia Mezzanutcase is a pathetic specimen of the human species. Her letter to ET is in line with a recent post on her Facebook Page. She continues to try to get a name for herself and this last episode has definitely put the icing on the cake. Get your high heel shoes out cause your going to need them for the hole you keep digging for yourself. We can only be so lucky to see her go back to Jersey.

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  28. Quick Ending: Provoke her into shooting someone.

    Slow Ending: Let us talk the Issue to Death; until she shoot's someone.

    May we then say "I told you so?"

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  29. Best ending: Cops charge her with illegally carrying a gun in her vehicle. She must surrender any and all firearms as a condition of bail.

    We may then say, "I told you she was going to get caught."

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  30. Quick Ending: Provoke her into shooting someone.

    That's a worry many have and it may not even be someone she talks about shooting. It might just be somebody who cuts her off on the highway. Anyone who supports Newell and calls the victims criminals seems to be trying to set up a future defense of mental retardation.

    She is nUtz.

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