Asheville's John Boyle: Agenda 21 is the stuff of paranoid

by Rod Williams, July 27, 2012 - An editorial appearing today's Asheville Citizens Times, Agenda 21 is the Stuff of Paranoid Delusions, exposes some of the paranoia and silliness associatied with the John Birch Society led anti-Agenda 21 campaign. I am glad to see someone exposing the radial fringe and having a little fun in the process.

It is unfortunate that the Republican Party has allowed the JBS to become the puppet master and they dance to their tune. This Agenda 21 stuff makes me embarrassed to say I am a Republican at times. It certainly makes me embarrassed to say I am part of the Tea Party movement. How did the Republican Party become the party of the nut-case fringe instead of the party of responsible adults?

To read the full article, click here. Below are some excepts.

I’m battening down the hatches on my third of an acre as we speak.

Hey, the threat is real. Just recently, according to news release from the City of Asheville’s Office of Sustainability, “sustainability directors from 22 cities across four southeastern states met in Asheville on June 14 and 15 to share notes and strategies for creating greener and environmentally sound organizations. The Southeast Sustainability Directors Network kicked off its first conference with a series of workshops and sessions designed to spotlight energy and waste reduction techniques that work across southern cities.”

Aha! Allow me to translate that fancy leftist prose: “They’re spotlighting ways to steal your land!”

I bet all these sustainability warriors flew here in black helicopters and are secret members of the Tri-Lateral Commission.

And then:

The Agenda 21 paranoia has even touched quasi-governmental agencies not even in the sustainability business, groups such as the nefarious Southwestern Commission, a regional agency that offers planning support for the mountains’ seven westernmost counties and is funded by those counties. Tea Party folks and members of the 9/12 Project, another conservative group, have asked Cherokee County commissioners to stop funding the commission because of fears it’s promoting Agenda 21 mandates.

 Another excerpt:

 In all seriousness, Gibson said his organization gets no funding or directives from the UN.

“It’s just patently untrue,” Gibson said. “I won’t use the word ‘preposterous,’ but it’s just not true. It’s false. We were created by local governments to be servants of local governments.”
Gibson said he’s fairly conservative, but he’s skeptical of Agenda 21 theorists because he hasn’t seen any empirical evidence — numbers-based facts — that the UN or any other international organization is trying to take land or make sweeping mandates.

and this:

When it comes to Agenda 21, the paranoia and conspiracy theorists just muddy the waters on sustainability, which basically is an effort to develop responsibly while maintaining the world’s beauty, which we’ve got plenty of here in the mountains.

“As a friend said to me, ‘if not sustainability, do you want unsustainability?’ If not ‘smart growth,’ do you want the opposite?” Gibson said.

Clearly, he’s a commie. (read more)

This anti Agenda 21 campaign has turned into something of a witch hunt. There is almost a competition to see who can spot Agenda 21 in action.  Anything, someone does not like is being labeled part of Agenda 21 including traffic roundabouts, wide shady sidewalks, traffic calming, bike lanes, annexation, green ways, high rise residential developments, and mass transit. It is ridiculous. I am embarrassed that our Republican dominated state legislature joined the silliness by passing a meaningless Anti-Agenda 21 Joint House Resolution. I am proud of Governor Bill Haslam for not signing it.

To read more about Agenda 21, follow this link: Agenda 21.

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