Rep. Clampitt’s values aren’t mine
To the Editor:
The current issue of The Smoky Mountain News (September 7) has a sticker affixed to the front page that states: “Mike Clampitt NC House District 119 Conservative Values.” I assume that this was caused to be affixed by Mr. Clampitt’s reelection campaign.
Rep. Clampitt, in The Smoky Mountain News last year, addressed his membership in the Oath Keepers as reported by that newspaper. He began by stating that you should “Never judge a book by its cover,” which he attributes to being a saying first observed during WW II.
This is the first of the inaccuracies of his explanation. The quote seems to come first from George Eliot’s “The Mill on the Floss” of 1860 where a character in the book refers to Daniel Defoe’s “The History of the Devil,” where it references the beautiful binding as compared to the inner writing. This is a fairly good analogy of Mr. Clampitt’s statements concerning this matter. He makes blanket statements of how he supports the Constitution, the rule of law, and how he is opposed to violence. He states that “A lot of good, well-meaning organizations become hijacked by overzealous individuals participating in an activity that becomes out of control.”
That is the cover of Mr. Clampitt’s book. In the inner written pages he never does condemn the Oath Keepers as an organization. He attempts to pass the buck, to pass the responsibility onto a few rogues that just happen to be the founding members and the leaders of the group. This is disingenuous. Mr. Clampitt either supports the Oath Keepers or must disavow them. Silence indicates tacit approval of the organization. Only actively denouncing them will set the record straight as to where he stands. If he cannot, or will not do so, he should resign from his position in the state government and end his reelection campaign as he has shown that he does not represent the people as a whole.
Since this organization (The Oath Keepers) that Mr. Clampitt has been a member of, along with other organizations such as The Proud Boys and the Three Percenters, attempted to overthrow the legal presidential election and overthrow the government of the United States, I wonder if these are the “Conservative Values” that he espouses. If so, I am pretty sure that I will need to vote for someone else to represent District 119.
Luther Jones
Sylva
