La Mar Gunn’s FB ad : Delaware Liberal

Dorian Gray says:

October 21, 2016 at 9:09 am

Answer: Someone not influenced by a 2000 year old urban legend.

Does anyone else find it odd that while he asks who should be on the Board of Pardons in the background of the photo there’s an icon of Roman execution? Poor messaging?

Brian says:

October 21, 2016 at 9:16 am

Specifically, an icon of a Roman execution arrived at by questionable prosecution tactics.

puck says:

October 21, 2016 at 9:18 am

Or, it could be seen as an emblem of forgiveness and redemption – “Go forth and sin no more.”

Dorian Gray says:

October 21, 2016 at 9:20 am

Yes! Once the state sanctions an execution, all are redeemed! Through state violence comes salvation. As long as the deceased can rise from the dead. Great logic.

puck says:

October 21, 2016 at 9:26 am

Um, the “go forth and sin no more” story is about the HALTING of an execution.

Dorian Gray says:

October 21, 2016 at 9:31 am

Boy, thanks goodness religion tell us to try to be good. And if we are bad to ask for forgiveness and try better next time. Who could have possibly come up with a premise like that without a disjoined, bronze-age fairy tale?

liberalgeek says:

October 21, 2016 at 10:01 am

I heard a fun story about Mr. Gunn. One of BHL’s supporters had a fundraiser for her recently. It turns out that the supporter was a neighbor of Mr. Gunn. When he realized what was going on, he parked his Gunn for LG vehicles in front of the house and made a bit of a nuisance of himself.

puck says:

October 21, 2016 at 10:04 am

“Who could have possibly come up with a premise like that without a disjoined, bronze-age fairy tale?”

Sorry to burst your fine grumpy bubble DG but “go forth and sin no more” is a secular story and doesn’t depend on religion for its message. And the story is set well after the Bronze Age had ended. It’s about hypocrisy, conscience, and compassion, and it works just fine in a secular reading. Unless you subscribe to the Nietzschean belief that compassion = weakness.

Jason330 says:

October 21, 2016 at 10:10 am

“A bit of a nuisance”

It could be the DEGOP marketing tag line

Dorian Gray says:

October 21, 2016 at 10:15 am

Your fucking weak shit could never even make a scratch. Of course it comes from secular ideas, because everything does. That’s the point.

The rationale (such as it is) that Jesus ‘saved’ in the New Testament is because he supposedly fulfilled the prophecy of the Old Testament (for example Isaiah 14:7). It’s all based on Bronze Age nonsense.

You’re out of your fucking element.

mouse says:

October 21, 2016 at 10:16 am

I covet sin

puck says:

October 21, 2016 at 10:24 am

Well, in the story he definitely “saved” the woman from a stoning. I just reread it and didn’t see anything about prophecy. I’m a non-believer too, but am a big fan of a secular reading of the Bible. Just like I can draw lessons from the Iliad without believing in Athena.

But I see DG is ready with a stone. I guess that story really gets under his skin.

Dorian Gray says:

October 21, 2016 at 10:37 am

Fair enough. As I have also read through the bible multiple times in a similar vain (as well as the Qur’an once). But those people in the photo very likely don’t have the same perspective as you do. Eyes closed hands toward the heavens, etc.

cassandra_m says:

October 21, 2016 at 10:44 am

The thing that you’re missing here is Gunn’s outreach strategy. He is trying to replicate the “souls to the polls” strategy that Chris Bullock did in 2012 in NCCo. And what Sherry Dorsey tried to do on the D side. Lots of networking in churches, especially African American ones. And since there are more African Americans in Delaware jails, the question is who do you trust to be fair at the Pardons Board.

Dem19703 says:

October 21, 2016 at 11:11 am

And then, there’s this…http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2016/10/21/shoving-incident-dover-candidate-under-review-delaware/92506920/

Apparently, turning the other cheek is just for the union carpenter in the sandals, not La Mar.

Dem19703 says:

October 21, 2016 at 11:52 am

What’s not in that article is the main reason for the conflict. Gunn played the race card with Sudler. “Why are you supporting that white woman?” This was reported by some of the folks who were in attendance. Apparently, it’s the only part of the story that wasn’t disputed in the police reports.

Dem19703 says:

October 21, 2016 at 11:55 am

Sudler’s response was “I don’t base my vote on someone’s color. I base my vote on the most qualified candidate.” That’s when it turned into a Trump rally.

Delaware Dem says:

October 21, 2016 at 2:50 pm

Concerning the point that Cassandra made, re his souls to the polls strategy, I did not take this ad to be a religious outreach piece. It is an African American outreach piece. I am assuming that this is an African American church. If that assumption is wrong, then what I am about to say is wrong. But. Does anyone find his asking his question about the Board of Pardons to be somewhat bigoted? He is essentially saying you can’t trust this white woman to pardon. At least that is the message I am getting.

Jason330 says:

October 21, 2016 at 3:03 pm

Something was nagging at me about the ad. It has just a strange vibe to it. Maybe it was that implication? Even if he was alone being prayed over, it might have been less jarring.

cassandra_m says:

October 21, 2016 at 3:03 pm

I didn’t take it to be religious, either — just targeted at an African American audience in a place where you can speak to just that audience. I’m not sure I would say that this is about not trusting her, but in asking folks to remember how a community has been treated (under the New Jim Crow) and asking them who can disrupt that.

Now, I don’t know how much power the Chair of the Board of Pardons has, especially in the face of other board members who might have a majority on a decision.

Dem19703 says:

October 21, 2016 at 3:06 pm

I think he is speaking about the fact that the cross happens to illuminated and positioned behind him in the photo, by coincidence, giving him an aura of benevolence. But, he could also be an arrogant jerk.

Or, both.

ex-anonymous says:

October 21, 2016 at 3:15 pm

i don’t want religion telling/suggesting to people how to vote whatever the religion and politics are. it will anyway, of course, but religion is anti-reason so not reliable on such matters. i don’t know if that was the point of the ad, but black churches seem to have a lot of power in that community.

Delaware Dem says:

October 21, 2016 at 3:15 pm

Cass, ok, I’d rather go with your more charitable interpretation. If that is the message he is intending to send, I hope he talks more about criminal justice reform and systemic racism.

Delady says:

October 22, 2016 at 1:41 am

Mr. Gunn has been playing this “who would you rather have run the BOP?” all along. The night before the primary he went to an AKA forum and did the same thing.