So, the City of Auburn has a self admitted – unrepentent – anti-American Veteran – cemetery desecrating – grave robbing – blatant thief and media braggart on it’s payroll under the guise of a so called Ward 1 Councilman by the name of Arthur Dowdell.

To protect him, the City (Mayor Ham had to agree with this) has said in a public statement Dowdell is a private citizen, even though every single media story has plainly and clearly quoted him and others as saying he was acting as a city representative while acting in this alleged illegal venture.("some have complained to me and I went over to remove them")

The ink on the laughable press statement wasn’t even dry when Councilman Dowdell stated the Auburn Police Dept were racists. Back in 1999 he called Auburn University racist as well.Seems the so called "Reverend" was ordained as a race card playing hypocrit.

It is understandible that the Mayor would wish to protect Dowdell, as in a March 27th 2009 article in the Auburn Villager, Dowdell waxes poetically about how he and Mayor Ham "Go Way Back" – even having attended school together!  I say the friendship is apparently standing in the way of the enforcement of the applicable laws of Alabama, and it is past time to stop protecting a buddy and start prosecuting crimes A good one to start with is Al Law Section 13A-7-23.1 (a) Another is Section 13A-11-12. With the latest attack against Auburn’s finest, the weak and silly press release should be reworded to a more appropriate demand for the immediate resignation of the anti 1st Amendment race hustling bigot named Ward 1 Councilman Dowdell. His entire behavior has proven him a liability and a detriment to American, Alabama, and Auburn values. Even US Rep Artur Davis has condemned Dowdell’s actions.

As for the decoration of American Veteran graves, please know that the most sacred military resting place in America is Arlington National Cemetery. The largest statue in Arlington is the Confederate Memorial, inside Jackson Circle, where Confederate Veterans are interred. The US Govt decorates thier graves with stick Confederate Flags. The Memorial was sculpted by a Jewish Confederate and includes a depiction of a black Confederate soldier.

I notice that among the header photos on the official city website, there is a picture of American Veterans being honored, http://www.auburnalabama.org/images/HeaderPics/veterans207x122.png

After openly defending the actions of Dowdell by attempting to say Dowdell is a private citizen instead of actually reading his quotes to the media and statements to the press, perhaps Auburn has chosen politics over American Veterans.Why would the City of Auburn seek to protect a publically self admitting criminal who disrespects American Veterans? Is the rumor true that a white juvenile was charged with a crime for doing the same theft from the same cemetery 5 years ago?

The United States Govt by law recognizes Confederate Veterans as United States Veterans, and provides full benefits as such. In the late 1950’s the United States issued Congressional Gold Medals to the last 2 living Confederate Veterans.

Many US Army bases are named for Confederate Generals – Ft Lee, Ft AP Hill, Ft Gordon, Ft Benning, Ft Hood, Ft Bragg, etc…, The US Navy had 2 Ballistic Nuke Submarines named for Confederate Generals – SSBN Robert E Lee, and SSBN Stonewall Jackson, and at least 2 current US Army military units continue to bear the names of Confederate brigades – the Stonewall Brigade, and the Tiger Brigade. The NC Univ Tar Heels and LSU Tigers are named for Confederate units.

In my opinion, Dowdell is as wrong as any criminal race card race baiting street thug can ever be. Having read the Villager article in detail http://www.auburnvillager.com/story.html?1238173252003815 and basically everything Dowdell claims as being his good qualities was thrown out the window by his self admitted actions against innocent women, American Veterans, and the good City of Auburn.The further attack on the Auburn Police Dept should be the final nail in his political ‘career’

Hopefully the City Council will stand up for the Law, the Constitution, Auburn and America and make our citizens proud once again.

Thanks & God Bless

Billy Bearden
Carrollton Georgia 30117