Did Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo walk out to not listen to Preston Smith's atheist 'invocation'?

[The issue of invocations prior to City Commission meetings was a long discussed item at the commission meeting last night (11/10). The post below explains Mayor Pam Triolo's reason for walking out of Preston Smith's atheist 'invocation'. There will be more on this later when the City's video is available on the website along with an explanation for the political grandstanding by commissioners McVoy and Maier.]

So. . .did Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo walk out to not listen to Preston Smith's atheist 'invocation'?

The answer is no. But the media will have you believe the mayor and several commissioners did walk out of the commission chambers to not listen to an atheists 'invocation'. Another blogger in Lake Worth is all excited and gleeful about Preston Smith's next appearance; she can barely control her excitement.

Preston Smith posing for a photograph by The Obtuse Blogger (TOB) prior to his 'invocation' last year.

What the mayor and commissioners were disturbed by was this information that was discovered a few days before Preston Smith's appearance at Lake Worth's city hall on December 2nd of last year:

This is a screen grab of Preston Smith's tweet to a young girl (I blacked our her twitter address).

Mr. C. Steven Tucker is a critic of President Obama and his policies vis-à-vis ObamaCare and is not shy about sharing his feelings. Preston Smith took offence and sent a tweet to Mr. Tucker's young daughter. Here is the text of Mr. Preston's tweet to the young girl:

I'd hit that and make her my wifey.

Now you know the real story.

You can read all about this in a blog post titled, "Atheist Progressive Makes Rape Threat About Conservative’s Teen Daughter". Here is an excerpt:

Beyond Smith’s perverse interpretation of an Old Testament passage, it seems Smith had devoted enough attention to his target to be able to locate Tucker’s wife’s account, showing her with the couple’s three children in the profile picture.
     You can imagine how any parent would take alarm at such a comment. Tucker said he has reported Smith to law enforcement, but I’m afraid the Tuckers will be disappointed to learn that, from a legal standpoint, a comment like Smith’s is not be considered a “threat.” A threat, in the legal sense, requires that there be some reason for the target to fear that the person making the threat will actually carry it out.

It will be interesting to see the press reaction to Preston Smith's 'invocation'. I wonder if, like last time, they'll all be so quick to give him the attention he's hoping for.

The debate about whether or not to have invocations prior to government meetings is a valid one and there are good points from both sides. What doesn't help matters is when the debate is more about grandstanding or gaining a political edge, especially in a tiny, little city like Lake Worth of just 6 square miles. I don't think anyone, including Mayor Triolo or any city commissioners object to an atheist giving an invocation. What they object to is crass, disrespectful atheists like Preston Smith.

Isn't there even one thoughtful, respectful atheist here in our City of Lake Worth?