Irreverence Invades Fernandina Beach On D-Day

June 6 was the 82^nd anniversary of D-Day, when Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower authorized the landings at Normandy, France that resulted in the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany and brought the planet closer to the end of World War II.

Approximately 2,500 American soldiers lost their lives on that single day, June 6, 1944.

So, how did the city of Fernandina Beach commemorate this historic event? It ignored it.

Instead, it celebrated a pride group event by hanging rainbow banners along Fernandina’s Centre Street, authorizing a pride parade through town, and a pride affair in Central Park where they proudly handed out free condoms. It was a family affair they boasted, bring the kids. “Hey kid, that’s not gum or a balloon. Take it over to the playground area and the guy in a dress and a wig will explain it to you.”

Commissioner Joyce Tuten read a proclamation at Central Park recognizing the pride event that was also attended by City Commissioners Genece Minshew and Tim Poynter. Where’s the proclamation recognizing our local veterans or acknowledging D-Day? The pride stuff goes on the entire month of June while veterans have one day, which city hall commemorated by giving them a collective finger and parking tickets.

‘I want to thank all the organizers and volunteers who made today’s Fernandina Beach Pride Parade and Festival a great success,” Minshew wrote on Facebook. Where was her gratitude for local veterans?

The city is devoting June to the pride crowd but couldn’t manage to mention the U.S. military’s D-Day heroics even once or acknowledge the historic Normandy landing and the bravery and sacrifice of American soldiers.

This was an improvement over the city’s disgraceful Memorial Day performance, May 25, when its meter maids swarmed the local American Legion Post 54 and VFW Post 4351 veterans’ cars while they were setting up for the somber downtown memorial services, slapping them $50 parking tickets.

Former Army Ranger and veteran Bill Cimino chose to move his organization’s annual Cross the Line Paddle for Veterans’ fund raiser event from the downtown marina to the Dee Dee Bartles site so that its 150 paddlers and more than 70 volunteers won’t get hit with parking tickets due to that event lasting from 7:00 am to around 4:00 pm. “We didn’t want any of our people to be forced to pay for parking the entire day, or worse, get a $50 ticket for volunteering their services to veterans,” explained Cimino.

Not only did the city lose out on a much appreciated and fun event, but downtown businesses lost the revenue this group, its friends and families generate. Paddlers begin arriving tomorrow morning, Saturday, June 13, from an enthusiastic and friendly downtown St. Marys, GA..

Commissioners James Antun, Tuten, Minshew and Poynter have emerged as the four horsemen of the downtown economic Apocalypse riding roughshod through Fernandina Beach mounted on their jackasses of Arrogance, Irreverence, Greed, and Disrespect.

Fernandina’s subservient and odious online Observer news outlet’s propagandist and wannabe Jimmy Olsen, Mike Lednovich, unabashedly cranked out a laughable piece lauding paid parking in that pretend news outlet headlined: “Fernandina paid parking nets $104,428 in May despite Shrimp Festival, Construction work.”

There was no mention of the city ambushing area military veterans who were setting up for the Memorial Day service. This isn’t a news outlet any more than Lednovich is a reporter. It’s a slobbering, pandering city newsletter and Lednovich is as objective as Joseph Geobbels.

The city has yet to explain, much less apologize, for its disgusting behavior toward local veterans. And the local media ignore it, hoping their blinders will result in being rewarded with some of the city’s legal paid advertising.

Who speaks for the city? Certainly not Mayor Antun, the Commission chamber’s potted plant. He can barely wait for his term to end.

Logical thought is not a métier for which the city of Fernandina Beach is well suited.

Where is any rational explanation for the disrespect the city has shown to veterans the past two weeks?

What does City Manager Sarah Campbell have to say? This is a gal who rakes in $215,000 of taxpayer cash annually for a city of 13,400. Florida’s Governor DeSantis makes $141,000 and governs 23.5 million. For that kind of cash shouldn’t city residents hear from Ms. Campbell occasionally other than her just popping up during city Commission sessions. And why does she need a Deputy City Manager who is paid $175,000 annually?

Also, what exactly does Mary Hamburg, with the title of Communication Director, do all day at city hall? It sure ain’t communicating. Based on the city’s dismal record she should be busier than a one-legged gal in a butt-kicking contest. She’s missing in action. Has anyone ever seen this mysterious person?

Where did the city find its alleged communications gal? At Bud Light? Target? Cracker Barrel? Is she a graduate of the Baghdad Bob School of PR or just following City Commissioners Poynter’s and Minshew’s grumpy, closed mouth “Harrumph” lead. Tuten sits patiently awaiting her direction from former City Commissioner Chip Ross, who now lives in Jacksonville. Mayor Antun is as anxious to end his Commission tenure as a cross-legged boy standing in front of the restroom door waiting for it to open.

The city is infested with easily intimidated sycophants who fall all over themselves catering to the loud-mouth liberal activist crowd while ignoring folks like the local veterans who go about their activities with quiet dignity and restraint.

The D-Day generation of young men and their leaders knew what was worth fighting for, whereas today’s local leaders are unsure of everything including the pronouns they should use for one another.

America received a magnificent inheritance from the greatest generation while people like the four moral pygmies occupying the Fernandina City Commission and city hall ignore it, acting in a manner that disrespects our veterans and would shock and embarrasses our forefathers.

It must be terribly embarrassing and agonizing for Commissioner Darron Ayscue to have to sit amongst this group of pathetic screwballs during slapstick Commission sessions. However, hope is on the horizon as one of the candidates running for Antun’s soon to be vacant seat is Scott Inglis, who successfully ran the Shrimp Festival the last three years and is a veteran and member of local American Legion Post 54.

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But Wait! George Vaille, the quirky print News Leader columnist, who occupies a chair in a Centre Street pocket park dispensing “Free Advice ” every Saturday, did pen a poignant tribute to America’s veterans on page 1 of the “Around Town” section, May 27, two days following the actual May 25 ceremony to America’s veterans. That piece escaped that publication’s editors’ red pens. I wonder if anyone in city hall read it.

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There’s Even More: New York Giants quarterback Jason Dart has been smacked around by the liberal media and less successful NFL minions for introducing President Donald Trump at a May 22 speech.

Donald Trump is the President of the United States, and this young man was provided the honor and privilege of introducing him and he, of course, jumped at it. Only a liberal halfwit would turn down such an honor. I’m sure he would have been equally honored to introduce Joe Biden,

Probably because there are more women beaters than conservatives and patriots in the NFL, the liberal media and Dart’s football player critics were silent when Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs was charged with strangling his girlfriend. Where was the liberal media and player outrage over that? Maybe she was a conservative and they assumed she deserved strangling.