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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Friday, August 07, 2015

Ten Commandments Plaque Missing From NorCo Chambers Again

Mat Benol and the Decalogue
It's happened again. A Ten Commandments plaque has mysteriously disappeared from Northampton County Council's chambers. Council member Mat Benol, who placed it on a wall behind his seat on July 1, noticed it was missing last night. He reported the loss to his fellow Council members at the conclusion of business.

This is the second time that a Ten Commandments plaque has vanished from NorCo Council chambers.

When he was on Council, Ron Angle had hammered a plaque onto the wall behind his seat in 2002. That way he could check them off as he broke them.

When he left office at the end of 2011, the plaque stayed, with most of the Commandments checked off several times. This was Ron's parting gift. But not for long. Council Clerk Frank Flisser noticed it was missing just before Easter. Despite a $500 reward offered by Angle, it was never recovered.

Then Executive John Stoffa suggested that Moses must have them.

Angle's plaque lasted ten years. Benol's was gone in a month.

After the meeting, Benol indicated he will simply get another. He denied any interest in reporting a theft. "I won't waste the Sheriff's time," he meekly explained.

Maybe he should get the Beatitudes.

Director of Administration Luis Campos will investigate whether any security cameras reveal the culprit.

Ken Kraft denied he had anything to do with it. "Hey, I've been gone the past two weeks," he explained, as his nose grew an inch.

I confronted Glenn Geissinger about them because he is, after all, a Mormon. I heard all about them when Obama was running for president.

"Neither I nor my 50 wives had a thing to do with it," he answered.

Executive John Brown denied responsibility, too. "I've been too busy interactively conceptualizing cost-effective catalysts for change," he explained.

Who could it be?

Well, there's one bastard who refuses to participate in the prayers before meetings, and often makes faces at Council members during these quaint rituals in which everyone pretends he's holy. .

Me.

Objectively speaking, I'd have to say I'm suspect #1.

The only thing I've got going for me is ... come to think of it, nothing. But every time I touch a religious object, I get electrocuted.

So this is a mystery.

Who dunnit?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trish?

Anonymous said...

Bill White?

Anonymous said...

Excellent, Bernie. Very funny.

Anonymous said...

Who cares? The commandments should never have been on the wall of a government building to begin with.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Crivellaro "bumped" into it!

Anonymous said...

Agree with 7:23. They never should have been on the wall of a government building to begin with.

I like your strategy of hiding in plain sight. Crazy like a fox.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I don't believe in any display that might give the impression that one set of religious beliefs has some exalted position. That violates the first amendment. But when an individual council member chooses to adtertize his religion, it does not trouble me.benolacted on his own, and I think he has that right. But he also has no right to complain if someone purloins the plaque. It is not county property. Nor is it his. He abandoned it by leaving it on property he does not own. There really is no theft.

Anonymous said...

I took them. Enough with these grandstanding politicians using my commandments for their own aggrandizement. I am working on the 11th commandment. No more politicians may display my commandments.

GOD

Anonymous said...

I thought this Benol was a purported "libertarian"?

It goes to show, every "libertarian" is a Republican with a beard.