Chris Coons

From KeyWiki

Christopher Andrew "Chris" Coons (born September 9, 1963), is an American lawyer and Democrat from Wilmington, Delaware. He lives in Wilmington with his wife, Annie Lingenfelter and their three children, Michael, Jack and Maggie.

He is the County Executive of New Castle County. On February 3, 2010, he announced his candidacy for the Senate seat vacated by then Vice President-elect Joe Biden and is currently running against the Tea Party/Republican candidate - Christine O'Donnell.^[1]

Early Life, Family and Education

Chris Coons grew up in Hockessin, Delaware. His family fell on hard times when he was a pre-teen and his parents divorced. Soon after those tough times, his mother, Sally, re-married when Coons was just 14 years old. She married Robert Gore, wealthy Chairman of W.L. Gore & Associates, the Newark-based fabrics-maker.^[2]

He graduated from the Tower Hill School and then Amherst College in 1985 with a B.A. in Chemistry and Political Science, earning a Truman Scholarship. During his junior year of college, Coons studied abroad at the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

Tower Hill School states in its mission:

The school prepares its students for citizenship in the global community and encourages an appreciation for the lifelong process of learning.

Amherst College states in its mission:

Amherst College is committed to learning through close colloquy and to expanding the realm of knowledge through scholarly research and artistic creation at the highest level. Its graduates link learning with leadership—in service to the College, to their communities, and to the world beyond.

In the early 1990s, Coons earned a Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.) at Yale Divinity School specializing in ethics, graduating in 1994.^[3] Coons made a sweeping quote of his intentions in the Senate: Serving in the United States Senate would be a "great way for me to apply the principles and values that were honed at YDS."

Yale Divinity School Courses and Required Reading:

• Witchcraft and Witch Hunting: Specifically listed as REL 717: Witchcraft and Witch Hunting, the "REL" presumably stands for "Religion."

• Queer Worship. The formal name for this course is REL 786, Liturgy and Gender (Queer Worship).

• Queer Globalizations: Citizenship and the Afterlife of Colonialism is a great place to start. And Queer Globalizations? What values are to be found there? A check over at Amazon shows such interesting chapters and sections as "The Wily Homosexual" "Queer Values in a Global Economy" "Redecorating the International Economy: Keynes, Grant and the Queering of Bretton Woods" and "Stealth Bombers of Desire."

• Feminist/Womanist/Gendered Theologies: This course is listed as "REL 749." It is designed, the course description says, "to formulate a robust theological understanding of today's theopolitical issues" by "using feminist, womanist, and ethnic gendered theologies." A religious movement focusing on how exactly to liberate African women in America. Drawn from feminist and liberation theology.

• Introduction to Christian Ethics II: Yet another opportunity here in "REL 715" for Coons to study up on his favorites. Black Liberation Theology guru James Cone is mandatory reading here. Values taught in the reading for a class on Christianity? In God of the Oppressed, Cone salutes the values of Marx in a chapter called "Marx and the Sociology of Knowledge" while also musing about "Jesus is Black" and the "Meaning of Liberation."

Professors at Yale Divinity School:

• Thomas Ogletree - The Dean of the Yale Divinity School during Coons' time at YDS was Thomas Ogletree. Professor Ogletree has also been the Frederick Marquand Professor Emeritus of Ethics and Religious Studies at YDS. He is now listed among "Faculty Emeriti" after years of teaching Ethics, the very subject in which Coons received his degree from YDS.

A snapshot of Dr. Ogletree's view of the world that he imparted to his Ethics students can be found in a 1974 book he co-wrote that bears this title: From Hope to Liberation: Towards a New Marxist-Christian Dialogue Co-wrote? And with whom did Professor Ogletree, future Dean of Yale Divinity School and Ethics Professor for almost two decades, have as his co-author?

That would be the late Herbert Aptheker. The same Mr. Aptheker who is known in history famously in the day as a prominent member of the National Committee of the Communist Party USA and the founder of the American Institute of Marxist Studies.^[3]

• Sister Margaret A. Farley - Sister Margaret, Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics -- Ethics being Coons' focus at YDS -- has her own interesting background. She shares with a late colleague the fact of being the first Catholic member of the YDS faculty.

But Sister Margaret is not your run-of-the-mill Catholic nun. She is, in Catholic circles, famous as the Sister of Mercy feminist, pro-abortion activist. In 1984, Sister Margaret signed a statement supporting abortion that appeared as an ad in the New York Times. In a review of Sister Margaret's book Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics, Anne Barbeau Gardiner, herself a Professor Emerita (of English at John Jay College of the City University of New York), titled her review of Sister Margaret's book: Reverend Mother Libertine. Ouch. Why? Because among other things Sister Margaret is a staunch supporter of abortion, defends masturbation, "heaps contempt on the Catholic view that marriage involves the 'total gift' of self," "contradicts the teaching of the Catholic Church by endorsing divorce and remarriage," and makes a "full-throated defense of homosexual relationships." Or, again quoting Gardiner, "defends the entire gamut of sexual activity outside of marriage."^[3]

Awards and Honors

In 1999, Coons was awarded the Governor's Outstanding Volunteer Award for his work with the "I Have a Dream" Foundation, the Governor's Mentoring Council and the United Way of Delaware.

He has been named an honorary commander of the 166th Air Wing of the Delaware Air National Guard and is an honorary life member of the Minquadale Fire Company.

Professional Career

After graduating college, Chris Coons went on to work in Washington, D.C. for the Investor Responsibility Research Center. While there, he wrote a book on South Africa and the US divestment movement. He then worked as a volunteer for the South African Council of Churches and as a relief worker in Kenya. When he returned to the US, he worked for the Coalition for the Homeless in New York. In 1992, he earned his J.D. degree from Yale Law School and a master's degree in Ethics from Yale Divinity School.^[4]

Coons clerked for Judge Jane Richards Roth on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He then worked for the National "I Have a Dream" Foundation in New York.^[5] When he returned to Delaware in 1996, Coons began his 8 year career as in-house counsel for W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. They are a Newark, Delaware-based manufacturer of Gore-Tex fabrics and other high-tech materials. He was responsible for ethics training, federal government relations, e-commerce legal work and for general commercial contracting.

Coons serves on several boards including First State Innovation, the Bear/Glasgow Boys & Girls Club and the Delaware College of Art & Design.

Political Career

Coons first became involved in politics working on behalf of Republican politicians. He first worked for Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign in 1980 and then for Bill Roth's Senate campaign in 1982.^[6] During college, he switched from being a Republican to a Democrat and in 1988, Coons worked as a volunteer for the Senate campaign of Democratic Delaware Lt. Gov. Shien Biau Woo.^[5] He was a delegate from Wilmington to the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

County Executive of New Castle County

Coons' first elected office was President of the New Castle County Council, elected in 2000 and serving four years before being elected County Executive in 2004. He was the endorsed candidate of the New Castle County Democratic Party in 2008 and was re-nominated by the party on September 9, 2008.

Coons was re-elected on November 4, 2008, defeating Republican candidate and former New Castle County Executive Thomas P. Gordon.

2010 Senate Campaign

On February 3, 2010, Coons announced his candidacy for the Class II (Junior) U.S. Senate seat for Delaware, vacated by then Vice President-elect Joe Biden, himself a former member of the New Castle County council. In the interim, the seat has been held by Ted Kaufman, an appointee. Coons was unopposed in the Democratic primary. He is running against the Republican's chosen candidate, Christine O'Donnell. O'Donnell is also the Republican/Tea Party candidate.

Let's take a look at where Coons stands on the issues:^[7]

Abortion

• Pro-choice, but no federal subsidies. (Sep 2010)
• Support embryonic stem cell research. (Sep 2010)

Civil Rights

• Targeted by Stonewall as pro-LGBT candidate. (Jun 2010)

Education

• Every student deserves a quality public education. (Jul 2010)

Energy and Oil

• Buildup of carbon dioxide is unsustainable. (Jul 2010)
• Oil drilling poses an environmental risk. (Jul 2010)

Free Trade

• Link fair trade with national security. (Jul 2010)

Government Reform

• Campaign spending is not a form of speech. (Sep 2010)

Gun Control

• Respect 2nd Amendment with common sense limitations. (Sep 2010)

From The Daily Times:

One reader asked Coons about the "F" grade the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund recently gave him for his positions on gun rights and the Second Amendment. The NRA has endorsed Republican Christine O'Donnell in the race.

"We need to work harder to keep guns out of the hands of felons and those with demonstrated mental problems and to promote gun safety, but I strongly believe in the right of Americans to own and use firearms for self-defense and sport," Coons wrote.

Health Care

• Longstanding need to fix health care system. (Jul 2010)

Homeland Security

• Link security with development and human rights. (Jul 2010)

Immigration

• Supports comprehensive federal immigration reform. (Sep 2010)

Social Security

• Against privatizing Social Security. (Sep 2010)

Tax Reform

• New approach to replace Bush tax cuts. (Aug 2010)
• Increase property & sewer taxes; layoff 75 county employees. (Mar 2009)

War and Peace

• Responsibly end the war in Iraq. (Sep 2010)

On September 18th, 2010, Coons stated at a debate in Wilmington, Delaware, that he supported Obamacare as currently written and indicated that there was little going on in Washington, D.C. that he would change. He also indicated his support for extending Miranda rights to terrorists. Coons raised taxes in 2005, 2007 and 2009. He also raided the county's reserve fund and increased water and sewer fees. The size of County government has grown every year under Coons and the budget has steadily increased.^[8]

His support for taxpayer-funded abortion and partial-birth abortion earned him a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. He favors amnesty for immigrants who are here illegally. His statements on the economy indicate that he thinks we need another stimulus bill.

Founding Members of Republicans for Chris Coons

A number of Progressive Republicans in Name Only announced their support publicly for Chris Coons on Oct. 26, 2010. Tom Evans - former Congressman. Bob Carpenter - son of the former Phillies owner. William "Bud" Roth III - Senator Bill Roth's son. Norm Veasey - former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.

Founding Members of Republicans for Chris Coons:^[9]

Campaign Contributions

Campaign Contributions for 2010 Senate Bid - Top 20 Donors (as of 10/04/2010):^[10]

• Raised: $1,622,522
• Spent: $678,291
• Cash on Hand: $944,230
• Last Report: August 25, 2010
• PAC contributions - $326,085 (20%)
• Individual contributions - $962,849 (59%)
• Candidate self-financing - $250,000 (15%)
• Other - $83,588 (5%)

.....

Record and Controversies

Self-Avowed Bearded Marxist

On May 23, 1985 at the age of 21, Coons authored an article in the Amherst Student, the student magazine at his university, Amherst College. The article was entitled "Chris Coons: The Making of a Bearded Marxist." In the article, Coons, then 21 years old and about to graduate from Amherst College, chronicled his transformation from a sheltered, conservative-minded college student who had worked for former GOP Delaware Sen. William Roth and had campaigned for Ronald Reagan in 1980, into a cynical young adult who was distrustful of American power and willing to question the American notion of free enterprise. In one passage of the article, Coons explains how in the months leading up to his trip abroad, “leftists” on campus and college professors had begun to “challenge the basic assumptions” he had formed about America. A course on cultural anthropology, noted Coons, had “undermined the accepted value of progress and the cultural superiority of the West,” while a class on the Vietnam War led him to "suspect…that the ideal of America as a ‘beacon of freedom and justice, providing hope for the world’ was not exactly based in reality."^[11]

Click here for a PDF of "The Bearded Marxist."

Harry Reid's Pet

After predicting that Chris Coons will win 'safely' in the Nov. 2nd, 2010 general election against GOP nominee Christine O'Donnell, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) infamously stated the following:

"I'm going to be very honest with you — Chris Coons, everybody knows him in the Democratic caucus. He's my pet. He's my favorite candidate."

"Let me tell you about him: A graduate of Yale Divinity School. Yale Law School. A two-time national debate champion. He represents two-thirds of the state now, in an elected capacity. I don't know if you've ever seen him or heard him speak, but he is a dynamic speaker. I don't mean loud or long; he's a communicator. So that's how I feel about Delaware. I've always thought Chris Coons is going to win. I told him that and I tried to get him to run. I'm glad he's running. I just think the world of him. He's my pet."^[12]

Black Liberation Theology/Social Justice

Coons traveled to Africa in the 1980s - emerging as a committed leftist after volunteering for an organization supporting Black Liberation Theology, the South African Council of Churches and working as a relief worker in Kenya.

This is the radical religious philosophy espoused by left-wing activist James Cone and President Obama's one-time spiritual mentor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Black Liberation Theology is an off-shoot of liberation theology, a Marxist-driven interpretation of Christianity.^[13] This is not a detail you will find on Coons' website or in the mainstream media. The left has done their best to scrub this from public view.

While in South Africa, Coons was aligned with Frank Chikane who joined something called the Institute for Contextual Theology, quickly becoming its director and later a "Co-ordinator" of the ICT. The ICT is a Christian think-tank inside the South African Council of Churches. The same SACC that Frank Chikane would serve as General Secretary for from the late-1980s until the mid-1990s.

The SACC and ICT both promote liberation theology - a Marxism-as-Christianity philosophy from which James Cone developed Black Liberation Theology. According to the World Socialist Movement, their goal was "to transform black consciousness into class-consciousness."^[13] This is referred to as the Black Consciousness Movement.

From The American Spectator, the liberation theologists viewed the gospel in the same light:

They were all united in the conviction that Christianity and the Gospel message had an edge of justice, liberation and a preferential option for the poor. Many of them operated in a global theological context that included the Latin American theologies of Liberation and all of them were firmly convinced that the Gospel is political.

Social justice is the language of Black Liberation Theology.

James Cone's influence on the leadership of SACC was discussed in "James Cone's Legacy in Africa: Confession as Political Praxis in the Kairos Document," a paper written by O.U. Kalu, a Research Associate at the University of Pretoria, when he studied at the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. (A .pdf of the paper is available here.) McCormick Theological Seminary has hosted Reverend Jeremiah Wright and advertised his book, Preaching with Sacred Fire: An Anthology of African American Sermons, 1750-present. McCormick has also been advertising book signings at Trinity UCC Church in Chicago.^[13]

All involved with SACC and ICT, including Chris Coons, believe in Marxist/Socialist policies - specifically a redistribution of wealth ideology that would transform the United States into a Marxist state.

Taxation and the Redistribution of Wealth

In 2004, while campaigning to become New Castle County’s top executive, a position he was elected to, Coons promised not to raise taxes. Since then he has raised taxes three times.

From The Washington Examiner:

“Coons inherited a surplus. Celebrating victory on election night in 2004, he said his ‘top priority would be to continue balancing the budget without increasing property taxes,’ according to an account in the local News Journal.”

“Yet in 2006, he pushed through a 5 percent increase in property taxes. In 2007, he raised property taxes 17.5 percent. In 2009, he raised them another 25 percent. Coons wanted to raise other taxes, too. He proposed a hotel tax, a tax on paramedic services, even a tax on people who call 911 from cell phones.”

Also see: The Chris Coons Project - how Tweed Park Project gave to the rich and took the property of the working class - Delaware News

The Pension Loophole

The News Journal reported on 02/14/07 that, as New Castle County Executive, Chris “Coons voted to open a pension loophole that would have allowed County employees to buy into the pension system, or to transfer credit from other government services. He [Coons] saw to it that his buddies and top staff people — and all six of the new County Council Members and their staff — were grandfathered under that loophole which has, and will, cost Delaware taxpayers millions of dollars.”^[14]

Violation of Citizen's Rights

Chris Coons was sued for using his County position to harass, defame and intimidate attorney Thomas S. Neuberger (Plaintiff), a Delaware citizen who was investigating government corruption.

Excerpts from the Judge’s opinion:

“Plaintiff claims that private medical information was made public in contravention of his constitutionally protected right to privacy and that his ability to engage in protected First Amendment activities has been chilled. As I must accept as true all well-pleaded allegations of fact, I find plaintiff successfully alleges actual and particularized invasions of legally protected interests.”

“First Amendment Retaliation Claims:

Plaintiff alleges that defendants published newspaper ads and released his private medical information to retaliate against him for his exercising his First Amendment rights in two ways: (1) by speaking to the media and public challenging government corruption and illegality; and (2) by filing lawsuits on his clients behalf challenging the same.”

“Fourteenth Amendment Privacy Right Claim:

The privacy right is “the right to be let alone – the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. To protect that right, every unjustifiable intrusion of the government upon the privacy of an individual… must be deemed a [constitutional violation].”

On page 21 it states, “Individual Defendants claim they are entitled to qualified immunity for all of plaintiff’s remaining claims.”

Although Chris Coons unlawfully released and circulated Mr. Neuberger’s personal medical records, he successfully averted justice by getting off on “official immunity.”^[14]

And there is more... From the American Glob:

(August 2007) WILMINGTON, Delaware (AP)- A third lawsuit alleges that New Castle Co6unty Executive Chris Coons retaliated against county employees because of their political views.

Dennis Parkstone filed the latest lawsuit last month. He claims he was fired after 35 years for a minor violation because he voiced support for Coon’s rival in 2004, Sherry Freebery. However, county spokeswoman Christy Gleason says Parkstone was fired because he sent inappropriate and explicit e-mails on the county’s e-mail servers.

A lawsuit filed by county police Corporal Trinidad Navarro is scheduled to go to trial next month. Navarro alleges he was passed over for a promotion because he supported a police chief appointed by the previous county executive.

And two years ago, Freebery’s brother alleged in lawsuit that he was improperly fired because he supported his sister. He was the general manager of Special Services for the county.

Personal Gain from Cap and Trade

Chris Coons stands to make millions off of middle and low-income Delawareans through his wealthy family business (Gore-Tex) when, if elected Senator, he helps push through President Obama’s Cap and Trade legislation.

No wonder Chris Coons is Harry Reid’s “pet” and the President and Vice President are campaigning for him.

"Here is how the company pushed for more regulations to tax the poor and make millions for Chris Coons and his wealthy family:

In 2003, W.L. Gore began to actively campaign for more pollution regulation. “In the past, the company avoided talking in public about its position on proposed environmental regulations because it didn’t want the companies that buy its air-cleaning filters to think Gore was trying to tighten standards just so it could sell more pollution control equipment, Coons said. Instead the company would go directly to its industrial clients with details about how Gore’s products could help them comply with current rules, or new rules being developed by federal regulators. ‘What we haven’t done in the past is said it in front of Congress,’ Coons said. Richard A. Bucher, the scientist who testified before the Senate in June, said that two years ago Gore would have declined the invitation of Delaware Sen. Tom Carper to speak publicly at a congressional hearing.” (Steven Church, “Gore Joins Environmental Policy Debate,” The (Wilmington, Delaware) News Journal, 11/16/03)”^[14]

Council for a Livable World

The Council for a Livable World, founded in 1962 by long-time socialist activist and alleged Soviet agent, Leo Szilard, is a non-profit advocacy organization that seeks to "reduce the danger of nuclear weapons and increase national security", primarily through supporting progressive, congressional candidates who support their policies. The Council supported Chris Coons (D-DE) in his successful 2010 election campaign.^[15]

From the Council website;^[16]

Progressive Coons starts his fight to keep Joe Biden's Senate seat in Democratic hands as an underdog, but he has a serious chance of winning.

Coons first entered politics with an extensive background in foreign policy issues. He studied at the University of Nairobi, volunteered with the South African Council of Churches, worked in Kenyan relief efforts, and wrote reports on disinvestment from aparthied-dominated South Africa and rain forest destruction in Central America.

He supports ratification of the two key arms control treaties – both New START and the test ban treaty – and steps toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

Coons advocates “a robust, engaged foreign policy, based on diplomacy and strategic partnerships with other nations.”

Chris Coons' Affiliations

Click here to see Chris Coons' affiliations with different individuals and organizations...

Quotes

• "While the Republicans are seeing how low they can go, attacking each other over student loan debt and personal finance issues, we'll continue talking about something more relevant: jobs for Delawareans." Write Down This Chris Coons Quote, Legal Insurrection, Sept. 16, 2010

• "I came to suspect, through these and other courses, that the ideal of America as “a beacon of freedom and justice, providing hope for the world” was not exactly based in reality.

I realize that Kenya and America are very different, but experiences like this warned me that my own favorite beliefs in the miracles of free enterprise and the boundless opportunity to be had in America might be largely untrue.

The point that others ignore is that I was ready to change. Experiences at Amherst my first two years made me skeptical and uncomfortable with Republicanism, enough so that I wanted to see the Third World for myself to get some perspective on my beliefs. Certainly Kenya provided a needed catalyst; I saw there poverty, and oppression more naked than any in America, and I studied under a bright and eloquent Marxist professor at the University of Nairobi. Nevertheless, it is only too easy to return from Africa glad to be an American and smugly thankful for our wealth and freedom. Instead, Amherst had taught me to question, so in return I questioned Amherst, and America.

Some of the “Leftists” that I met early on were terrifyingly persuasive, although I never admitted that. A few became my friends and provided a constant nagging backdrop of doubt, for which I am now grateful. More importantly, during sophomore year, several professors challenged the basic assumptions about America and the world relations with which I had grown up. Cultural Anthropology inspired a fascination with other peoples, and undermined the accepted value of progress and the cultural superiority of the West." Update: pdf - Chris Coons Studied Under Marxist, Rejected Basic American Assumptions, Riehl World View, Sept. 22, 2010

• Serving in the [[United States[[ Senate would be a "great way for me to apply the principles and values that were honed at YDS." UCoons: I Will Bring Yale Divinity School Values to Senate, The American Spectator, Sept. 27, 2010

• "I would have proudly voted ‘yes’ on healthcare reform." Coons Would Be Obama ‘Rubber Stamp’, Human Events, Sept. 27, 2010

• “I’m someone who would broadly support the agenda of our president,” Coons told a group of supporters. “I think we need more folks in the Senate of the United States who are... willing to work in responsible partnership with an administration that I think made the right choice on healthcare, on the stimulus, on the jobs bill.”Harry Reid’s ‘Pet’, National Review Online, Sept. 20, 2010

• "I think drilling off the coast is bad for our state and our country."DELAWARE POLITICS: Coons distances self from Obama, The Daily Times, Oct. 5, 2010

• "There are areas where I'm solidly progressive, but I am also a fiscal conservative and don't think you can consistently label my positions with either liberal or conservative."DELAWARE POLITICS: Coons distances self from Obama, The Daily Times, Oct. 5, 2010

External links

References