In Defense of Good Men
August 28th, 2008 by Bill ColleyIn good conscience I cannot stand by and watch a good man like Greg Hastings be savaged by friends of John Atkins. Thursday Mr. Atkins paid me a late day visit. Apparently I’m not following his script and serving as his campaign publicist. Until recent days I was neutral about the race for the seat in District 41. This despite a steady stream reaching my ears of vile allegations against Mr. Hastings, a man I believe to be good to his wife, his family and his community.
John suggests I don’t like him because he’s now a Democrat. No, Mr. Atkins, it’s because you accuse Greg of failing to show up for a candidate’s forum when the man is out of town attending the funeral of his best friend. In my church a factual omission is considered a lie. It’s because Mr. Atkins accuses Greg Hastings of turning hard working farmers into the environmental regulators when in fact Mr. Hastings responded to a constituent concern when the farmer dropped chicken carcasses on the property line. The buzzards that followed then decorated the neighbor’s home with droppings. Mr. Atkins, I support Greg Hastings because I find him to be an honest man, who stepped up to help his community in trying times, after you embarrassed your family, your constituents and your office.
I’ve been involved in political campaigns as volunteer or reporter for nearly 30 years. During that span I’ve only been impressed by just three people. A Democrat, Joan Christensen, serving in the New York State Assembly. Rick Guy, a conservative lawyer working for the federal government and maintaining his Christian principles in a partisan work atmosphere. Number three is Greg Hastings. He’s the type of fellow I aspire to be in my own life but so often fall short. He’s the type of man I someday hope my daughter and niece will meet. He’s the kind of Christian I long to be.
You, Mr. Atkins, from my vantage point, are a selfish man who believes he’s entitled to power. You are, from my view, a petty and vindictive man unable to come to terms with your own shortcomings. A man who wounded himself but only looks for others to blame and you twist the truth and smear good people to your own advantage. You’re right; maybe I don’t understand Delaware, however. Where I come from we don’t stand by in silence as good men are ridiculed and belittled and subjected to scorn.
Mr. Atkins, if you seek an enemy begin each day by staring into the mirror. I fear it won’t offer much reflection. The voters are likely going to send you back to Dover. You represent the weakness of most of us and that includes me. Mr. Hastings will move on but he’ll still have what’s most important in life. God, family and the respect of his associates. It profits a man not to sell his soul for the world but for the Forty First?
August 28th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
[...] Somebody else sees the light. [...]
August 29th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Thanks, Bill.
I am not in Mr. Atkins’ dstict but was appalled by the way he conductd himself during “his ordeal.” It seemed he was channeling Bill Clinton on how to endure through adversity, parsing the words “endure” and “adversity” and skewing the situation to appear that it was he who was enduring and not his poor voters.
Good luck with the ensuing rage that I anticipate from your comments.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Bill: I cannot believe it! After one year with gmd, i have finally found a blog that you write that I can agree with! Maybe this is start of a newfound friendship? Na, but just a thought.
I always believed Atkins was a snake, not just what people wrote about him, but from extended family members of his that told me of his doings behind the scene.
I do not know much about Hastings, but ABBA (anybody but atkins) is the cry for this election.
Thank you for the blog, you show your moral character on this one.
Lets hope that the Atkins voters can put their two brain cells together and keep Hastings in office.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
By golly Bill, you are so right on this one, I want to cheer! Sometimes I find you obnoxious, but can look past our differences. And that has nothing to do about where you’ve come from. Nobody has a right to judge people harshly for “not being from around here”. What the heck does “understanding Delaware” have to do with discerning a crooked politician when one see’s one. John Atkins has been a self-serving, card-flashing good-ole-boy ever since he suceeded Charlie West. And maybe before: ask Gary Conaway. And he wants he wants his old seat of power back with an unbridled greed. Let’s not forget - drunk driving, domestic violence, and coercion. And that’s just what we know about.
And please don’t take for granted that Atkins can just run and have his old seat back. There are a whole bunch of us that haven’t stuck their Hastings signs out quite yet. Greg Hastings is a virtuous man who has and will represent us with conscience and integrity. He will get my vote, and hope the folks will search theirs hearts and make the best choice for the 41st.
August 30th, 2008 at 1:20 am
[...] bottom line is this: Hastings has always been a good man. His opponent has [...]
August 30th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Because a man (or a woman) has God in their life does not make them virtuous, ask any Catholic Priest who has been ex communicated for being a pedophile.
I have nothing against Mr Hastings, I really dont know that much about him, not because I choose not to but because he doesnt seem very approachable, or always accessible.
We can never know what goes on behind closed doors, so Mr Colley, I suspect that you should probably refrain from convincing us he is a step closer to God because he hasnt had any dirty laundry aired, perhaps he has just been smart enough not to get caught.
August 30th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
If only Mr. Atkins was as quick to forgive others of their perceived offenses as he is to forgive himself of his own crimes against the public and his family. Let’s hope Atkins’ followers will remember him as the snake-in-the-grass that he is.
August 30th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
You’ve written a good and stirring piece here, Bill, and I commend you for it.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:45 pm
“I have nothing against Mr Hastings, I really dont know that much about him, ”
Ah, but tlook at what we DO know about Mr. Atkins. He was arrested for a domestic assault. Every realtionship has good times and bad, but at least in the world I was raised in… You don’t hit women.. period. There should be no tolerance in public service for a man who cannot control himself any better than to not strike a woman in anger. Oh, and then there is the abuse of power that night in Ocean City. I could care less about what so-and-so did when they were in office. Prior bad behavior doesn’t make it okay at a later time. Mr. Atkins may have learned his lesson. He may have changed, but sometimes the consequences of your actions last for a long time. Take the martial artist in the recent Olympics. If a moment of anger his career changed instantly. Why? Because he struck a referee. Now he is banned from competition for life. A state Representative is a powerful position full of responsibility. To even entertain the notion that sending a man to Dover with a history like Mr. Atkins’ has when there is a candidate with such an unblemished record like Mr. Hastings is irresponsible.
Maybe you are right. Maybe Mr. Hastings has dirty laundry that hasn’t been aired. However, from what I have seen and heard of him I think that is unlikely. But from what I have seen and heard about Mr. Atkins. I think he is lucky the public only knows about that one night.
“..not because I choose not to but because he doesnt seem very approachable, or always accessible.”
If Mr. Hastings seems unapproachable or inaccessible to you..you aren’t even trying.
September 1st, 2008 at 9:13 am
If you don’t mind, Bill, I would like, for a moment, to switch the subject to another good man, Jack Markell, in opposition to the slur that Dan Gaffney put on him this morning on the air.
Dan used the old “guilt by association” trick, based on information on the Delawonk blog, claiming that Markell should denounce his “surrogates” for inappropriate posts. http://www.delawonk.com/?p=87
I agree, the referenced posts are inappropriate and in very poor taste, but do we blame Markell for this, as Dan tried to do? Of course not! Markell has no control over the behavior of the bloggers; in fact, there is no evidence that Markell even knows about this.
Anyone who knows Jack Markell knows what a fine gentleman he is.
So shame on you for that, Dan!
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:38 am
Hmmm…no comment?
September 9th, 2008 at 7:13 am
bill the badger,,, or more like hiena these are your words.. dated aug 28
QUOTE: As of this moment I will make every effort to ensure Greg Hastings gets another term. This state needs good, Christian men in government.
Then you write this in your double standard ways..QUOTE: Until recent days I was neutral about the race for the seat in District 41. This despite a steady stream reaching my ears of vile allegations against Mr. Hastings, a man I believe to be good to his wife, his family and his community. this is all on the same day, did you for get your mood swing medication? Or do you just like keeping the CRAP stirred. I feel you are determined to undermind anything MR. Atkins does that is good.
let me say i’m oh so glad i don’t go to “christian” church with YOU or GREG or whom ever it is…If I were MR. Hastings I would consider having you and your comments not made at all as it could cause harm to his running with all of your flip flop, mush mouth double standard ways. Maybe you should have tried sales as a liar seems to fit your profile. By the way Christianity is a mask all hide behind, God and only God knows your heart
I’ll be sure to pray for you bill so you can become the man you have longed to be for 30 years (it’s a shame it’s taken you 30 years to figure out what you want to be, if you truely seek god he will set a path for you)
and with hopes that YOU too can learn to FORGIVE.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I’m glad to see Atkins move on from primaries to the general election. Everyone says they believe in second chances but a select few are reluctant to live by those words - definately double standard. I support John whole-heartedly because I know everything about him- what he’s done good and bad. His life has been probed and aired like an open book for all to see. I know NOTHING about Hastings - what is it about him? What is scary to me is the ‘not knowing’ part. I’d rather vote for the person I know everything about, rather than just a name, any name. To vote for Hastings just because you dont want Atkins to have the seat is a pure disgrace to everyone else in the district. To me, that is a selfish reaction to your own self-disgust of not rising above something you may have done in your past. John does have thick skin, good for him, good for us. We need someone in Dover who, when under pressure, can rise above it, and stand up for what we want.