Pa. Councilman-Elect Balks at Cold War Oath

STONEBORO, Pa. Dec 28, 2005 — A former Marine who won a write-in campaign for a borough council seat will be allowed to take office without signing a Cold War-era loyalty oath affirming he isn't a "subversive."

Gerald Massey, 71, argued that the oath was declared void back in the 1970s. Mercer County's solicitor, Mark Longietti, said his legal research confirmed the law no longer applies.

Massey, a Marine Corps veteran and retired philosophy professor, won a two-year seat on the Stoneboro council in November after a write-in campaign. He balked when borough officials told him to sign the Pennsylvania Loyalty Oath, signed into law in 1951 in an effort to keep communists out of government positions.

"I'm just a little write-in candidate in a small rural town. You might say, 'What does that (oath) matter?'" Massey said. "I think that's actually more important. Democracy starts with these grass-roots undertakings."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1448913&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

they're not going to make him go through with that stupidity.

:mad: