When All Else Fails, Campaign, Campaign, Campaign!

Looks like Deval tried the whole governing thing and figured out pretty quickly he sort of sucked at it. So...*sigh* Back to the campaign!

If it ever really ended.....

On Saturday, Patrick began a series of eight "town meeting" style forums across the state designed to help him rally loyal backers to push back against the established politicians and lobbyists he says are trying to undermine his agenda.

"It's you're government. It's your civic responsibility. And it's your moment in time," Patrick told the crowd, made up largely of well-wishers, who turned out to hear him.

Also Saturday, Patrick's campaign staff launched a revamped web site designed to make it easier for average citizens to pitch ideas to Patrick.

Patrick's efforts to remind his supporters why they backed him as a candidate comes as he struggles with the realities of governing and tries to recover from some of his early blunders -- including his decision to upgrade his official car to a Cadillac and redecorate his office with pricey drapes.

It seems the campaign never ends. It's got it's own web site, a place to make a 'contribution' and everything. No, not the kind of 'civic engagement' contribution, try campaign contribution. There are locations where he'll be stumping, policy stances and lots of nice pictures of everyone wearing burkas, doo rags, Red Sox hats and more.

Welcome to the new world of never ending campaigns in Massachusetts.

This little quote was my favorite:

"Show up. Make your voice heard. Nobody's giving us anything," he said. "Governing is about power, there's no mistaking that, and my power has never come from the insiders with connections and the powerful special interests, my power comes from you."

Apparently it's our fault that he doesn't have an agenda of any kind. What a steaming pile.

Comic of the Week

Ponser Turns Out Lights on Ward Rep. Trial

Thank god this trial is done, at least for the time being.

Judge Ponser decided to suspend the trial, at least until the election was over and the legislative process had taken it's course. What a novel concept: Let elected officials decide this issue rather than unelected judges! Ponser and I probably see eye to eye like a pair of feet, but my hats off to him, this is a great decision.

Since Ponsor's query, the petition has been assigned a bill number and was hustled to the Joint Committee on Elections. It could be scheduled for a hearing as early as Tuesday.

State law requires legislative approval of any change to a city charter.

Plaintiffs' lawyer Paul E. Nemser yesterday said he supported a stay, but did not believe their case was on the ropes, as City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula suggested.

Pikula argued against the stay, warning the interrupted trial could "cast a shadow" over the election.

Ponsor said he was unaware earlier in the trial that the City Council and Mayor Charles V. Ryan had approved a measure last summer to provide eight ward seats and five at-large. Nor did he know that a majority of voters approved a similar ward system in 1997, he said.

"The very body whose election system is under scrutiny ... has proposed change," Ponsor said.

The 1997 referendum got on the ballot through a signature drive. Though it was approved by 58 percent of the voters, the turnout was too low to satisfy the wording of the ballot question. The current proposal requires only a simple majority of voters for it to pass.

Although the plaintiffs supported the stay in testimony, several said yesterday they still considered the home rule petition unsatisfactory.

"I won't work against it getting through the Legislature," said Michaelann Bewsee, director of Arise for Social Justice, one of the plaintiffs. "But the plaintiffs are working for an all-ward system."

Of course ARISE doesn't like this. When you try to gerrymander districts and wards to insure the election of the candidates you support, that's usually the way it has to go.

Oink, Oink

How or why can anyone justify adding to fmr. Senate President Billy Bulger's pension? Treasurer Tim Cahill announced yesterday that retired college Presidents would be receiving substantial increases in their pensions.... even thought they don't need it.

According to Cahill, the five-member state Board of Retirement will meet Thursday to take up requests from 16 retired and active college presidents seeking to benefit from former University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger's legal victory in November to boost his pension by $17,000.
Former Holyoke Community College President David M. Bartley and former Springfield Technical Community College President Andrew M. Scibelli applied to increase their annual pensions by between $12,000 and $15,000, Cahill said. The board will probably vote unanimously to approve the requests, along with similar bids by other current and former college presidents, Cahill said.

"I don't think any of them need it," Cahill said. However, he added, "It's certainly theirs as much as it was Bulger's."

Bartley's current pension is $137,566; Scibelli's is $136,522.

Tiny Tim..... if they don't need it, THEN STEP IN AND TELL SOMEONE THAT! I thought this state was a little strapped for cash or is it only strapped for cash whenever someone other than a Democrat needs some extra dough in their retirement fund? Kind of like how we were strapped for cash when Mitt Romney wanted to use State Police helicopters to help local police in Boston and the state legislature turned around and said the idea was nuts because we didn't have the money to do it. Deval Patrick suggested doing the exact same thing the other day and now he's a genius.

I'm seriously beginning to question the sanity of the people of this state that they'll just let their public officials not only enforce a ridiculous double standard, but steal this much from tax payers. This is a complete travesty and level headed (and even some not so level headed) people everywhere should be appalled.

Global Warming Now Shrinks Our Heads

Just when you thought we had enough problems in the world, we find this out.

In addition to the impact of global cooling, "By paying close attention to the geographic origin of each of the fossilized skulls," said Gallup, "it became clear that seasonal variation in climate may also have been an important selective force behind the evolution of human cranial capacity.

I think Universities are making us dummies, but what do I know. Maybe we all just need to turn up the air conditioning.

UPDATE: This just in, Tourism also causes Global Warming, too. Nanoo Nanoo.

Shocked, Almost Awed

Take a look at this piece from the Lowell Sun.

Treasonous!?!? What has the editorial board been smoking at the Lowell Sun lately? And I mean that in the nicest way possible. The same Editorial board that staunchly defended outgoing congressman Marty Meehan (D-Massachusetts) unloaded on the Democrats' War appropriations bill, which by the way, is stuffed with pork.

Take a read, you may not believe it.

I'm sure that hundred million or so for Spinach will be of great aid to the troops in Iraq:

The Cruelest of Ironies

Some might not exactly like the fact that I'm going after this, but I think it warrants a conversation at the very least.

John Edwards' decision to continue running for President, despite his wife's being re-diagnosed with cancer, disturbs me.

I cannot support any person that makes a public exhibition out of a loved one's illnesses for political gain. Yesterday's staged event was meant to do that. The day before getting ready to take off on a fundraising tour that would include a stop here in Massachusetts, John Edwards wants everyone to know his wife's cancer has reoccurred. There was John, Standing about five feet away from her, not holding her hand, not consoling her, leaving her off to the side like a beaten puppy dog, he addressed the nation as if he were President already, chalking up sympathy for his utterly listless campaign.

This just goes to show how different politicians are than us. John Edwards 'needed' to tell the world about his wife's cancer. She 'needed' to 'come clean' to the public and show that she was going to conquer all. Deval Patrick held a press conference to tell us his wife was combating depression. Senator Chuck Hagel decided to stage a press conference to let us know that he hadn't made a decision yet on whether or not to run for President. The vanity of today's modern politician is unbelievable and frankly, inexcusable.

Not running in today's political culture is akin to death. These people have no shame and will continue running, even when it isn't time to run. Running sustains their unending vanity. At least John Edwards, unlike our own John Kerry was at least good at something, and that was raking hospitals over the coals. I find it to be the cruelest of ironies that Edwards is now going to have to depend on the same doctors and hospitals he's swindled millions from over the years, to save the life of his wife.

I wish the best of luck to his wife and my prayers are with her. However, I couldn't imagine running for any office being more important than tending to the health of my own wife. Birch Bayh, father of Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) ran for President in 1971. When he discovered his wife had breast cancer, he dropped out. I would urge John Edwards to do the right thing, and drop out of the race himself.

Why Don't Afro-Americans Vote Republican?

Last night at the Calvin Coolidge banquet I had the chance to hear Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott speak after receiving the public service award for being the best Republican public official and all around stud. I was almost ashamed to have never heard the man speak in the past and feel like we could all learn something from him.

During his award 'acceptance' speech, he said 'You think It's hard being a Republican in Massachusetts; you should try being a Republican and black in Massachusetts". I know it's not easy. One of my very best friends in college, a guy I very much admire and look up to is also an African American and Republican. He used to joke he was a 'walking contradiction'. He was black, Republican, and possibly the biggest hippie I had ever met in my life. Nothing about him made sense, but he was one of the few people I ever met whom I could seriously deem 'unique'.

I remember my friend being called a 'shoe shining, Uncle Tom N**ger' for being a Republican. I remember his listening to the phone messages people would leave at his house. Shockingly, these messages weren't left by white people. They were left by black people. They despised him because he was different. They despised him because he believed in self-accountability and was courageously outspoken on his feelings regarding affirmative action and other controversial issues.

I'm sure Chief Scott's dealt with this kind of stuff plenty of times himself. We all dealt with it a little, as someone decided to phone in a bomb threat to try and deter us from enjoying our function. "No one has done more for black people than conservatives" the Chief said almost with a tear in the eye. Chiefs don't cry though, but it made me seriously pause for a second and realize how thankful I am for good, honest people. It's folks like Chief Scott that restore faith in humanity. It was certainly a pleasure to hear him speak.

I walked away from the event thinking on the drive home about my friend and about people like Chief Scott. Why don't African Americans flock to folks like that in droves? Why do African Americans vote Democrat when it seems their core values couldn't be further from the Democratic Party's idealogical core?

I hate the concept of hyphenated Americans, and maybe I’ll do an article on that subject one of these days, but for the nonce I will accept the politically correct term in order to focus on more pressing issues. I cannot understand why the African-American community seems incapable of recognizing that the party they perpetually prop up is working at cross purposes to their own interests. Furthermore, given the nearly even split between the parties, it is unquestionable that African-American voters have the power to swing elections to the Republican side should they decide to do so. Let’s examine a few positions taken by the Democratic party that are in direct opposition to the best interests of the African-American community.

Gun Control:

The Democratic Party is the party of gun control. These feel-good policies might sound good, but the actual effect is to disarm law abiding citizens, or turn them into unwitting criminals, while doing absolutely nothing to stop gun violence and crime. Given the disproportionately high crime rates in the urban neighborhoods in which many African Americans live, the need to maintain the ability to defend oneself is self-evident. The police aren’t going to be there until long after the crime has been committed. Since the state has no affirmative duty to come to the defense of the citizenry, disarming average citizens seems to be an all cost and no benefit position. The inability to defend oneself, particularly in high crime neighborhoods, has been actively supported by the Democratic Party. This is contrary to the best interests of the African-American community.

School Choice:

The Democratic Party is beholden to the powerful National Education Association, the lobbying arm of the teacher’s unions. Any effort to reform the education system will have to come from somewhere other than the Democrats. Unfortunately, school choice (i.e. vouchers) is vehemently opposed by the Democratic Party. In fact, any serious effort at real education reform will be opposed. If a good education is the foundation for moving up and out of poverty, the Democrats haven’t delivered it in over two generations. This is hardly beneficial to the African-American community which has a disproportionate share of underperforming schools. The Democratic position is again contrary to the best interests of the African-American community.

Gay Marriage:

As one of the most deeply religious and church centered groups in the nation, the African-American community doesn’t support same-sex marriage. The uproar that occurs when the gay community tries to compare itself to the civil rights struggles of African-Americans and co-opt the moral high ground earned by them supports this conclusion. These two Democratic constituencies have very little common ground beyond the way they vote. Given the inordinately high illegitimacy rate in the African-American community, undermining the institution of marriage certainly isn’t in their interests. Getting back to a more traditional family model would be an enormous benefit to the African-American community, but not if it’s compromised in the way the Democrats seem determined to do.

Social Security Reform:

Given the shorter life expectancy in the African-American community, social security is a total rip-off for them. Nearly every dollar earned by African-Americans is subject to the FICA tax, and the wealth accumulated during a longer than average working life is forfeited when the earner dies. Having ownership of these savings would allow families to pass on this accumulated wealth to their children, supplying the seed money from which empires are built. Through their fear mongering, the Democrats have managed to gain support for the confiscation of this wealth from the very people from whom it is being expropriated. This is hardly in the interests of the African-American community.

Affirmative Action:

In what can only be the longest running inside joke in the history of mankind, the elites have peddled this monstrosity to the African-American community. On its face it seems like a good idea and a boon to the recipients of this largess. But it is really nothing more than a condescending willingness to concede that African-Americans cannot succeed without the help of their white superiors. It makes a mockery of the concept of equality and runs counter to the ideas of Frederick Douglas and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Every African-American success is tainted by this program, and the elites get to take credit for being so enlightened. Undermining the concept of merit and installing a sense of entitlement in its place isn’t in the true interests of the African-American community. The staunchest defenders of affirmative action, and its close cousin, diversity, are the Democrats.

Welfare Reform:

The hyperbolic predictions emanating from the Democratic Party on welfare reform never came to pass. The planets didn’t stop orbiting the sun. In fact, once its success was apparent, the first “Black President” jumped to the front of the parade and claimed credit for the success. This reform was only signed in the eleventh hour by a president whose concern for reelection overwhelmed the virulent protests of his party. That welfare reform disproportionately benefited the African-American community is indisputable; as is the Democrat’s opposition to the reform in the first place. Once again, the Democrats were working against the true best interests of the African-American community.

How can the African-American community continue to support the Democratic Party? It just doesn’t make sense to me. The “War on Poverty” hasn’t delivered on the promise in over forty years. We’ve spent enough money to give every poor person at its inception a nice three bedroom home and a college education to every child in those homes, and where are we at? Affirmative action gets candidates into colleges and jobs that are beyond their abilities, and the subsequent inevitable failures that follow are simply ignored. It’s insanity to keep doing the same things over and over again while expecting a different result every time. Isn’t it time for a change? With folks like Chief Scott laying the groundwork, perhaps one day we'll see it.

Calvin Coolidge Banquet Interrupted by Bomb Threat

We must be doing something right.

Tonight's Western Mass Republican Dinner was briefly interrupted by a phoned-in bomb threat. When we were told about it, everyone shrugged it off and everyone stayed in the room for the end of the program. Only in Western Massachusetts. Nothing screams tolerance like bomb threats.

I guess what makes me laugh about the whole thing is how it illustrates the difference between conservatives today and liberals. Liberals are scared of people eating food. Conservatives could care less about a bomb. Amazing.

Regardless, congratulations to the Award Winners Tonight who were all fantastic speakers:

Ronald Reagan Award Winner: Joe Ricco (Southwick)
Republican of the Year: Fmr. State Rep and US Marshall Reed Hillman (Sturbridge)
Public Service Award: Police Chief Anthony Scott (Holyoke)
Chairman of the Year: Rene Laviolette (Westfield)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Walt DiFillipi (West Springfield)

Congrats on an awesome event!

Musings #2

This months edition of things that make me wonder...


How does one reconcile that a twelve year old owns her body to the extent that she can obtain an abortion without her parent’s knowledge, but I have no say about the food I eat (no trans-fats) or whether I wear a seatbelt or not?

Why is everyone worried about Muslims being offended for receiving extra scrutiny at airports? Presumably they want to live, too; and if they don’t, haven’t we identified the problem at that point?

How do the proponents of Marxist philosophy do so with a straight face given that every time it has been tried it has been an utter failure? This wonderful ideology didn’t work in the Soviet Union despite consuming over 20 million lives while it was being fine-tuned to the inevitable dictatorship it became. Ignorance is one thing, but willful blindness is quite another.

When someone refers to “Religious Fundamentalists”, why don’t Buddhist Monks or the Amish spring to mind? Why is it considered impossible to be devout without being dangerous? Does anyone really fear the Jehovah’s Witnesses? Aren’t there Secular Fundamentalists, and aren’t they at least as extreme as those they seek to vilify?

Why does Hollywood rail against “Corporate Interests” when everyone in Hollywood is incorporated? If corporations are evil, why are actors, producers, agents, film companies, special effects companies and every other segment of the film industry incorporated?

Why do they ask you for your ethnicity and sex on a job application “for EEOC Purposes” while simultaneously claiming it makes no difference? If it makes no difference, why ask the question in the first place? If it makes no difference, why not ask people after they are hired? Then the answers couldn’t possibly effect the decision.

How does a physician, schooled in anatomy, reassemble the tissue removed from a woman during an abortion and then reconcile their Hippocratic oath to do no harm with the reassembly of what is obviously a dismembered human?

Why is America always compared to perfection by those that criticize her, and never to any real country? It’s like trying to live up to a widow’s idealized vision of her former mate. Where on earth is there an example of a comprehensive system that works better than the one we enjoy? Could those leveling such criticism withstand a similar barrage?

Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Why do the wonderful ideas touted by the elites always have to be coerced by the government (i.e. at gunpoint)?

Why do they swab your arm with alcohol prior to administering a lethal injection?

When you go to a donut shop, they pick up your donuts with a piece of wax paper so they don’t touch the donuts with their hands. So why do they put that tainted piece of waxed paper into the bag with your donuts?

Why are there Braille pads on drive-up ATM’s?

Good news is worthless; bad news is actionable. If you hear all is well, what do you do? If a customer complains the coffee isn’t hot, you check the coffee pot!

Why are the keys on phones different from the number pads on computers?

Wrestlemania 23 is now officially 10 days away. Glorious.

When The Smoke Clears, You're Usually Left with a Mirror

I am convinced that entropy is the most powerful force in the universe. Nothing works anymore. It’s like the system was designed by idiots, and then endlessly tweaked by even greater idiots to maximize the friction and waste within the system. Let me give you a few examples:

Our schools don’t teach anymore. At the K-12 level, the system amounts to warehousing kids and indoctrinating them. For the more affluent, the children that actually receive a decent primary education, they're promoted to universities where they are not taught how to think, but rather what to think. People with no fear of losing their cushy jobs staff the entire system; receive absolutely sterling health and retirement benefits, and have no accountability whatsoever for the end results. The system is obviously broken.

Our police don’t enforce the law anymore. They basically take reports, often over the phone, and file the paper away. They aren’t allowed to check to see if the person before them is in the country illegally. If they shoot a drug smuggler during the commission of a crime, they get put in jail and the drug runner wins the lottery in court. The border patrol isn’t allowed to exceed the speed limit when pursuing bad guys. The system is obviously broken.

Our courts don’t work anymore. They’ve become a means for imposing a hidden tax on everything and everybody for the benefit of lawyers. Justice has become so commoditized, no one cares about right and wrong anymore; most just want to find the cheapest way out of a system more rigged than a three-masted schooner under full sail. The Supreme Court has almost become a punch line and the confirmation process will likely keep jurists with any self-respect from seeking a seat there. There's more, but I don't have the time. The system is obviously broken.

Our political system doesn’t work anymore. 80% of the citizens in this country are in favor of English first, most are opposed to unfettered immigration, and the overwhelming majority are opposed to same-sex marriage. And while there may be wide disagreement with the prosecution of the war, most Americans are not in favor of a precipitous pullout from Iraq. Meanwhile, our borders are wide open, we’re under a continuing existential threat from Islamic Radicals, and the biggest concern of our elected officials have is whether some lawyers may have unfairly lost their cushy government jobs. Isn’t this an example of a system as dysfunctional as the Bundys? Only the Bundys aren’t real and these problems are! Our system is obviously broken.

The NAACP doesn’t represent black people anymore. Virtually every position they take is in opposition to the fundamental views of black people. The same can be said for the AARP. Hijacked by the left and carefully hidden behind a slick marketing campaign. But it’s not the fact that they’ve been hijacked that’s so troubling; it’s the fact that their members continue to blindly support them. What kind of idiot supports an organization that actively undermines them? That system is obviously broken.

The Republican Party hasn't been working to well these days, either. The party of small government has presided over the largest growth in government in the nation’s history. They’ve added prescription drug benefits for the AARP crowd, expanded the Department of Education with a No Child Left Behind program that hasn’t improved schools in any significant way while increasing spending threefold. The party of fiscal restraint has bloated the federal budget to beyond anything ever seen before in the history of civilization. The party of integrity has so soiled itself with scandals real and imagined that it stands impotent in the face of real criminals. (Think Sandy Berger, $90K Jefferson, ABSCAM Murtha) It's caused many to disown the party. In the end, they’ve sold us out in their pursuit of power and incumbency. Our own conservative system is broken.

Who caused much of this?

WE DID! When we stopped fighting for the quality of our children’s education and handed it over to the teachers unions, we did. When we accepted poor or non-existent law enforcement, or worse, allowed others to demonize those that put their lives on the line for political gain, we did. When we valued convenience over justice and settled with someone when we knew it was wrong, we did. When we voted to keep judges that don’t uphold justice, we did. When we (re)elected people that didn’t deserve our vote, we did. When we joined and supported special interest groups that said one thing and did another and turned a blind eye to it out of misguided loyalty, we did. When we became complacent and accepted the dismal state of the Republican Party and voted for the lesser of evils in election after election, we did. As the great philosopher Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us!”

It’s not the evil Democrats; it’s our unwillingness to actively fight their agenda. It’s not the teacher’s unions, it’s our unwillingness to confront them and hold our ground. It's not the leftist universities; it's our donations to the Alumni Associations and the tuition checks we send with our children that fuels the system. It’s not the courts; it’s our willingness to forsake justice for the sake of convenience. It's not the politicians, it's our votes cast while holding our collective noses that props them up. Until we’re totally fed up with the status quo, things will not change. Entropy will continue to degrade the system until it finally prompts us to do something about it. Then we will have to muster the will to overcome inertia and reshape the system. Until we are ready to put our butts in first gear and bust a clutch, nothing will change. What idiot designed this system? The answer is as close as the nearest mirror.

Someone was onto something when they said; "it's not the size of the dog, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

Do As I Say.. Not As I Do

Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma was the preceding chair of the Environment and Public Works committee, until the republicans lost and liberal Barbara Boxer took the chair. Senator Inhofe asked Gore today to take the same pledge that he pushes on every other American. In effect. "I pledge to consume no more energy for use in my residence than the average American household by March 21, 2008.”

He refused.

His hypocrisy is open for all to see. We the people, the taxpayers, the simple ones, just do not understand that Gore is offsetting his footprint by buying his way out. He's got the money. His footprint is really deep too. The obesity police should check on his consumption of calories, as he is not considering the millions of poor in disadvantaged lands who could use a few of Gores calories. For the sake of the poor children, he should make that pledge, to reduce his calorie consumption with some offsets sent to Africa, and also produce time on the treadmill, with CNN watching, to show his sincerity.

Gore, it's your turn.

Byron Rushing: Rolling out the "Welcome" Mat

State Rep. Byron Rushing is insane. I don't think anyone, even some Democrats would debate that. For years now, Rushing has decided to file a piece of legislation that pretty much says we should just forget all that immigration law stuff and 'welcome' anyone into the state who wants to come here.

Well, it's back. And thankfully, it's got about as much of a chance of passing through the legislature as a bill that would put my naked likeness on the top of the golden dome of the state house does.

Democrats were mum on the proposal, which Rushing, one of the Legislature’s more liberal Democrats, has filed annually since 1990. Sen. Therese Murray, (D-Plymouth), who is expected to become Senate president, couldn’t be reached. Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick declined to comment.
Rushing said if his proposal was in place two weeks ago when more than 300 workers at Michael Bianco Inc. were arrested, events might have unfolded differently.
“Our first reaction would have been to help these people, and there would have been no pause,” he said.

Well, "Mum" might be a pretty nice way to put things, but this is Massachusetts and these days, I'll take what I can get.

Byron, Byron... oh Byron.

Trav Resigns, Murray New Senate President

Trav's done in the Senate. Now he's going to go into the influence peddling business, oddly enough with Atty. Tom Kiley, who was counsel for another Senate President you may have heard of, named Billy Bulger. But nope, it doesn't stink. Not even the fact that he's auctioning his services off on ebay.

Our new Senate President, Therese Murray, has an impressive past, even by Beacon Hill Standards. Here's some highlights:

--Was a "mitigation manager" for Stanley Dukakis for $1,022 a week

--Made sure the family is taken care of on the state payroll: Nephew Michael Whalen works for Treasurer Tim Cahill for $32,000 a year. Then there's her daughter Lauren. Can't forget about her! She was hired as a human resources coordinator by Attorney General Tom Riley at $46,000 a year. According to some she left on Jan. 10th because of course, your budget doesn't get cut when Mommy's the President of the Senate.

-- Today in the Boston Herald, Senator Steve Panagiotakos (D-Lowell), who's taking over Murray's post of the head of the powerful Ways and Means Committee said: “She will stand up to anyone. But Terry’s not confrontational for the sake of being confrontational. She’s someone who wants to get things done. She knows as much as anyone about the inner workings of state government.” She sure isn't (she gets others to do it for her) and sure does. Take a look at this.

Let the fun begin.

Thankfully, the Mass GOP tried to at least hold off the vote for a little while over questions surrounding misuse of taxpayer fund at Tourism Massachusetts. Regardless, that didn't hold much up and Murray was elected President today, 34-5, right down party lines.

Democrats "Gonzo"

Is there really anything to this whole firing 'scandal' other than Democrats looking to get some licks in?

Democrats' response to his proposal was swift and firm: They said they would start authorizing subpoenas as soon as Wednesday for the White House aides.

"Testimony should be on the record and under oath. That's the formula for true accountability," said Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Bush, in a late-afternoon statement at the White House, said, "We will not go along with a partisan fishing expedition aimed at honorable public servants. ... I have proposed a reasonable way to avoid an impasse."

This is nothing but a kangaroo court of the worst kind. Since the Democrats are absolutely incapable of passing any legislation at this point in time, they're just going to ramp up the investigations. Gonzo's on the block now, who wants to take a bet at who'll get pulled into 'court' next to talk about absolutely zero wrongdoing?

This Week In Western Mass.....

The Springfield Republican City Committee
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
7:00 p.m. at the Parkview Specialty Hospital on State Street
Guest Speaker will be fellow Blog Maniac Tommy Devine speaking on the importance of a strong GOP city committee
If you want some more info, speak at Mary via e-mail at
mjc@attglobal.net.

The Western Massachusetts Republicans Present:
The Calvin Coolidge Banquet
Thursday, March 22, 5:30p.m.
at The Log Cabin Restaurant, Holyoke
Tons o' speakers will be there and oh yeah.. I WILL BE THERE!, Yes, the sexiest man in the blogosphere will be there, make sure you're there too it's going to be an AWESOME event.

Mitt "El Dictador" Romney

I got a good chuckle out of this story from the Boston Herald.

Cubans in Miami are steaming mad at former Gov. Mitt Romney for shooting his mouth off in stumbling Spanish, mispronouncing names and erroneously associating a notorious Fidel Castro-spewed Communist catch phrase with freedom fighters.
liberty-seeking Cubans by Politicians in South Florida have lashed out at the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 presidential hopeful for describing the socialist saying “Patria o muerte, venceremos” as “inspiring” and for claimingthe phrase was swiped from leftist admirers of Castro. The phrase, which means “Fatherland or death, we shall overcome,” was bellowed as a political speech sign-off by the dictator for decades.

Yikes, Mitt. I know you've got the tendency to be a little bit of a gas-head when it comes to this stuff, so its hard to get angry with you, but really, if you're looking to court Cubans, quoting the guy who inspired them to come here in the first place... is probably a crappy idea.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said of the flap: “The point is, the phrase belongs to liberators, not oppressors. It doesn’t belong to Fidel Castro. It doesn’t belong to Hugo Chavez. It belongs to a free Cuba.”

Eric.... SHUT UP already! GOD! Why not just make some sort of simple, half hearted apology and call it a day after promising never to do it again? Simple as that. Save me the crap on the liberdad or whatever of Cuba and whatever. The problem with the Romney team thus far is that everything short of going to the bathroom requires the Gettysburg Address. "Ladies and Gentleman, four squares of toilet paper ago, which by the way was made by some of the loveliest, nicest, most hard working people in Minnesota, which is the heartland of this great nation and the very soul of every blah blah blah". Apologize and leave it at that. That sort of stuff looks fake. Stop doing it. Just a word of advice from a cranky smear merchant.

Senate President to Resign

It's expected that Senate President Robert Travaglini (D-Boston) will resign tomorrow.

No, he's not taking the Health Care CEO job-thingy. Nope, he's doing what every good Democrat does; starting his own lobbying firm. Nope, no 'cooling off period' here. He's just going to jump right in, head first and start getting goodies while the goodies getting is good!

Left Handed Tolerance: MI Congressman's Office Vandalized

Something to check out. Apparently those who vandalized the office insist that Congressman Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) has 'blood on his hands'. Oh, how childish politics are beginning to become.

For the Full Story from Mass Live, Click Here.

More Fun From Northampton #2

Those crazy folks in No-Ho are at it again...

In a love story only left wing lunatics could love, city councilors Raymond W. LaBarge and Marianne L. LaBarge are at each other's throats once again. Guess what it's about? Name calling.

Remember that thing I wrote about public officials acting like children the other day?

The bad blood between the two councilors boiled over recently after Raymond made a comment about Marianne's ethnic heritage on the radio. Marianne's brother telephoned Raymond from Georgia threatening to put him "in the grave." Raymond called the police.

The latest skirmish between the councilors began last Wednesday, when Raymond LaBarge appeared on the Bill Dwight Show. Dwight, a former city councilor, has a morning news and talk show on WHMP 1240 AM. LaBarge, the senior member of the council at 85, announced that he would run for re-election. He has represented Ward 7 for some 20 years

Oh yes, they're mad at each other because someone made fun of someone Else's nationality.

But oh, it's only to be topped by this stirring piece of statesmanship:

In that call, which LaBarge recorded and played for The Republican, Pappas can be heard telling LaBarge, "You don't ever want to see me because I'm a lot of trouble." He goes on to take issue with LaBarge speaking disrespectfully of his family and concludes, "I'll break your arms and legs. I'll put you in the grave. You're an idiot."

I truly can't wait until the baby boomers are gone.

Wars and Choice

Pundits like to tell us that the defining issue of the 2008 Presidential Election is going to be Iraq. Americans are going to have to make a choice between one party which wants to stop the war and the other that wants to win it.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, who originally voted to authorize the use of military force in Iraq, now says she didn't really mean it and promises to put a half to the proceedings in Iraq if she becomes our President. Sen. Barack Obama's only real claim thus far in the race has been that he'll end the war as soon as he's President. Congressman John Murtha has been blunt about the fact that he's putting legislation out there that's going to limit reinforcements, replacements, funding and support in general. Sen. Carl Levin says he wants to re-do the authorization and limit the President's ability to prosecute the war. Every Democrat has a plan, sponsors legislation, or promises their constituents that they're going to find a way to stop the war. Notice they said nothing about winning it.

On the GOP side of the aisle, President Bush resists time tables for withdrawal, because, he says, the troops will be brought home when Iraq can 'defend itself, sustain itself and support itself.'. None of the leading Republican Presidential contenders, not Rudy Giuliani, John McCain or Mitt Romney, advocate for pulling out of Iraq until we've won the day.

Vote Democrat, and the war's going to end, regardless of what those consequences might be. Vote Republican, and we're going to win the war, but it's going to cost a lot.

To many, stopping the war seems pretty humane. After all, who likes war anyways? However, it's important to apply these divergent political philosophies to other fields of endeavor.

In 1958, the worst team in the NFL won one game. The next year, the Green Bay Packers hired a guy named Vince Lombardi. He wasn't ever a head coach. The team was a loser every year and no one thought they had a chance. Lombardi was a leader though. Famous for his single-minded focus and dedication from the players he coached, leaving us with such memorable quotes as "Winning isn't everything-it's the only ting." Lombardi said that if his players followed his direction, played by his rules, he'd turn them into the stuff champions were made of. That December, the Packers hammered the New York Giants 37-0 to become NFL Champions. The Packers would win five championships in seven years, including the first two Super Bowl Championships.

For whatever reason, I can't imagine Lombardi sitting around with his team and going "Guys, I know we're a touchdown behind. We've got a lot of injuries and the fans aren't too confident in us. I think it's time to pack it in and head home".

In 1960, President Kennedy said "I believe this nation should dedicate itself, before the decade is out, to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Thus, the space race was born. The Russians shot a satellite into orbit and also put the first man into space. They had better rockets, a program bolstered by slave labor and captured German scientists compelled to work on Soviet space craft. Our rockets more or less sucked and the Apollo program began with three astronauts dying thanks to a fire on the launch pad. On July 20, 1969, we landed on the moon.

I don't recall President Kennedy ever saying; "We’re never going to beat the Russians to the moon. It’s costing too much money, too many lives. Let’s stop all this nonsense."

In 1901, Teddy Roosevelt though a canal across the Isthmus of Panama would be a great idea. So he just sort of did it. "No Single material work which remains to be undertaken on this continent is of such consequence to the American people." The French worked on the thing for over a decade and managed to haul a supposed 76 million cubic yards of dirt and spent a billion and a half francs and lost 20,000 cheese-eating surrender monkeys to boot, and failed. The American effort dwarfed the French attempt. Railroads, towns and dams were constructed. Rivers and Mountains were literally moved. Diseases like malaria and yellow fever were overcome and $400 million (imagine that in today's money) was spent and plenty of lives were lost.

Despite all that, I have a hard time thinking that a challenger to Roosevelt could have come out and said at the height of this whole project that "You know what? This is too Hard. The mountains are way too big and the diseases are nasty. This isn't worth it. I promise you we'll abandon the Panama Canal before it goes any further!". Not exactly a battle cry for a nation is it?

The Moral of the story? Any effort that we take to overcome adversity is difficult. The harder it gets, the easier it is to give up.

Right now, we're trying to bring freedom to Iraq. We're trying to help install a form of government to a people who risk their lives to vote in a free election. We fight to turn a nation that once marched at the orders of a brutal dictator into a beacon of hope in an area where there isn't much. We got rid of him and his own people tried and sentenced him. We're opposed by factions inside the country and enemies that are leaking into it's boarders.

In all reality, there's no guarantee that we're going to succeed in Iraq. There's no real clear path to victory and the obstacles we face are gigantic. We're going to lose a lot of blood and a lot of money doing it. And like many other times in our history, we've got two choices.

We can persevere and prove naysayers wrong. We can do this all in spite of polls that are showing increasing numbers of Americans losing faith in the war, setbacks, defeats and tragedies. We can refocus ourselves to a commendable goal and that's to use the defeats to inspire us to defeat the enemy and insure that freedom is upheld and justice is affirmed.

Or, We can quit. We can take counsel of our fears and rationalize our capitulation. there are thousands of excuses available to abandon our efforts. We just need to pick one. Those that believe that peace is achieved by acquiescing to dictators and appeasing tyrants would celebrate our forsaking of this cause.

Whether we like it or not, Iraq is the central battlefield in the War Against Terrorism. There's no other way to put it. We're going to fight this war, whether we want to or not, whether it takes place there or here. The only choice we can make is between the leaders we're going to follow. There are those who want to give up and those who want to strive for victory.

Lombardi hated quitters. He said one time, "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment of all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - Victorious."

As candidates and voters alike approach the Presidential circus, we should all take heed and consider that. : The path of least resistance always beckons, but it is never the course a leader takes.

Ardolino Goes Down.

You better look nervous, scumbag! There's a new bitch for sale in the Fed Pen!

It makes we swoon with joy to watch this clown finally get his.

Illegal Immigration Narcissists

I read this at GOPnews.

This weekend brought more polarization of illegal immigrants and the mainstream population. In New Bedford, a pro illegal immigrant rally came close to violence when a disabled navy veteran named Marjorie Blaha demanded to be heard regarding her opinion of illegal immigrants. After being forcibly removed from the rally Marjorie stated "I'm just angry that an American citizen has to follow the laws but those who illegally came into this country are given ... rights," she said. Police Spokesman, Captain Richard Spirlet commented that she was removed for her own safety as many illegal immigrant supporters began to gather around her. Read the story here.

Elsewhere, the Anti-Defamation League of Massachusetts announced that they were going to support illegal immigrants in the future because those who oppose their presence are “bigots”. "We fight against bigotry in all forms," Andrew Tarsy, regional director of the ADL of New England, commented. "It has become clear both in the extremist world and even in the mainstream that the conversation about immigrants is laced with bigotry." Tarsy later stated that the up-tick in the anti immigrant speech and activity would find its roots in groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Read the story here.

So this is what Massachusetts has become – A place where brave disabled navy veterans who speak out against illegal immigrants are forced out of rallies and told to shut up. And, a place where groups like the Anti Defamation League drop you in the same category as the KKK if you have an opinion opposed to theirs regarding illegal immigrants. Are we just going to sit back and do nothing about this? If the Massachusetts Republican Party can’t win points and votes with the cards these radical liberals are playing then shame on us. Navy veteran Marjorie Blaha should be made a martyr, like Cindy Sheehan, for the cause of getting rid of illegal immigrants. When a disabled woman veteran gets bounced out of a rally for exercising her free speech it’s a clear sign - the left has gone too far. When the ADL claims that those who support enforcement of the laws regarding immigration are bigots from the KKK - the left has gone too far. People, this stuff is a homerun for us and I want to know what the Massachusetts Republican Party’s response to it is.

It's this sort of stuff that should really make every citizen worry. Not only that, but read the story about the incident. Nice job on the part of the journalist to make sure he linked the lady protesting law breakers being given rights that normal, law abiding citizens do not have, with White Supremacists. Classy.

This case, perhaps more than any other story that's hit the mainstream media, screams to us why the anchor baby law needs to be done away with. I would love to take every immigrant into this country so long as they were willing to tow their weight by paying taxes. However, that's quite clearly not reality. Illegal Immigrants use our schools but don't pay for them. They use our health care system but don't pay for it. In some places they are issued Driver's Licenses they don't pay for as well. What this case says is that now, by virtue of merely being a parent, you can't be arrested for a crime nor deported. All anyone is asking of illegals is to obey the law. Fill out the papers, submit the application, do the oath thingy, get a green card even. Nothing more, nothing less. Make some sort of effort to not completely leach off the system.

These raids and the subsequent labotomy that followed it may be the best example yet of political leftism gone completely insane. Democrats, especially here, will never do a thing about illegal immigration because they see these folks, as they do felons and other law breakers, as potential votes. To them, they're just more pigs who can pull levers. They'll race bait, turn in anyone who asks them to do their fair share into bigots or racists, all in the name of making sure these folks show up to the polls and crank the level next to the guy with a "D" next to his or her name. That's the name of the game and boy oh boy is it easy to do, especially in Massachusetts!

What disturbs me more than anything, aside from the political posturnig, is the utter selfish nature of advocates of illegal immigrants. Supporting illegals has absolutely nothing to do with winning 'equal rights' for other people, nothing to do with doing the right thing. It's about self-righteous people bowing down to the temple of themselves. It's egotism run amock.

Illegal Immigration supporters support illegal immigration because makes them feel smarter. It makes them feel more enlightened, progressive, and all other self-loving adjectives one can think of. It's about me, myself and I. They find the one semi-good or 'resembling good' thing they can find in a cesspool, champion it and put it on display as if that was reality. They've put these people on display as model parents, just looking to make an honest living, except of course, no one's really being honest here.

Just as was the case in this situation, it doesn't take long to find these examples of the exception becoming the rule all over the place in lib-land. I was in the movie theatre a few weeks ago and walked past a sign for an upcoming movie called "The Good Nazi". They frequently champion "moderate Islamists" even though there just aren't that many, or at least a number that's large enough to be considered significant. They love to find the black sheep and parade it around in that fourth grade "I Told You So" sort of manner, almost deifying it to the point where the exception becomes the rule. Ever hear "Not all Muslims are terrorists!"? Well, while that may mostly be true, but most folks that employ the tactics of terrorism are Muslims. Before long, I'm sure we'll hear glowing tales of the 'nice' cereal killer. The left needs to stop glorifying the exception to the rule and using them to create alternative realities that simply do not exist.

The next step is usually finding all the ways we're just like the wackos, no matter how basic the highlighted human function may be. "They're parents like us", "They pee standing up like us", or my favorite; "They want the same things we do". Of course they want the same things we do. They just want them for free, just like me, but the difference is, I have to pay of course. If I don't, I go to jail. This isn't a country club or a vacation spa where I, the citizen, provide multiple services for our 'guests' to take advantage of. If this is the case, then I want someone who lives here on Longmeadow Street to pay for my kid's college education. Why? Because I'm just like him!

The point of that mini-tirade was to illustrate how the left goes about transforming the bad guy into the good guy. It's being different just because it's cool to be different I guess. Now, here in Massachusetts, Illegal Immigrants are being transformed into the good guys, and this case, more particularly this story, illustrates that as well as anything. We are the bad guys. It's that superficial self loathing that makes a lefties and immigration advocates feel enlightened and brilliant. You know politics and public discourse has been bastardized when issues become an opportunity, not to discuss differences of opinion, but a chance to whip your pants down and masturbate to the greatness of yourself. That, my friends, is the issue behind illegal immigration for it's supporters. Not the tax payers, not paying your way (which is an entirely liberal concept), not any of that. It's about self-worship and a large group of human beings who never graduated from the anal phase of childhood development, loving themselves in only a way that people who never graduated from the anal phase of childhood development could.

Get the helmets kids, it's going to be a bumpy eternity.

Gore Refuses to Debate Global Warming

Despite repeated attempts, former Vice President and 2000 Democratic Presidential Nominee Al Gore, refuses to respond to calls that he show up and debate many of the claims he makes regarding 'Global Warming'.

The guys making the challenge is Lord Monckton of Scotland, whose issuing Royal Proclamations among other kingly-edicts to goad the former Vice President into debate. I hope both wear burger king crowns while talking about carbon omissions.

Deval's 'Talking Points'

When in doubt, whip up your yahoos and get em screaming. Nothing saves an administration quite like that!

Baby Boomers Bust

When my Father was younger, he told me, he thought he belonged to the best generation that's ever showed up on planet earth. They were the boomers. They invented the whole idea of the Generation Gap by starting a mass rebellion that, even when they were all teeny-boppers, was starting to re-shape America around whatever happened to catch them as their latest whim. There were tons of products invented on the spot and back then, most of them thought all the attention was on them because they were just so darn smart. Now we know the only reason there was a lot of attention was because of their numbers.

The majority of my father's generation settled down, got married, had me and many other MTV Generation folks, raised families and, uh, matured. Everyone else it seems, went into politics. And here we are today, with our still-adolescent yet older baby boomers running the country, shouting from coast to coast, filling the airwaves and papers with more verbal diarrhea than one could ever hope to wipe from their own bottom, unleashing an unprecedented wave of behavioral incontinence that we get to enjoy these days in our politics.

It reminds me of the playground. There was always one bunch yelling 'she's got cooties!!!" and the other was running to tell the teacher. The only problem now is, there ain't no teacher for these folks. The inmates are truly running the asylum. As a country, we grant power to those kids who throw the loudest temper tantrum. If we could only get them to hold their breaths instead of screaming, might might actually get somewhere these days.

Even I'm old enough to remember the day when you could pick up a newspaper, magazine, or whatever and read flat-out news. No opinion, no nothing. News. Not the dog farted loudly. Just that the dog farted. Only the important stuff. Now that the Baby Boomers are in power, I get to be treated to a whole host of 'news' stories that revolve around, not the event, but one of those he-said-she-said tattling sessions you'd find on a school playground. Newspaper reporters are these neo-hall monitors who wait, ready to pounce at the prospect of the next verbal infraction or speech code violation that seems to change from day to day without rhyme nor reason. A speech code that only the reporters seem to understand.

Our elections for President of the United States now more resemble the idiotic class officer elections I used to participate in in high school rather than anything issues-driven. Now, if you don't look cute on a campaign button or sound catchy-cool on a 2-second sound bite, forget it. Stick a fork in you. You're done. If you're a member of the Democratic Party, you need to have either the correct genitalia or the right skin color. I've never, in my whole entire short life, seen such incredible levels of political pandering to get elected. Remember the girl who always pledge to make every day in the cafeteria 'pizza day' or bring in a 'soft serve ice cream machine' in for everyone to use whenever they wanted to use it? At least for much of my formative child hood, the principals and teachers still ran the school. The class officers could recommend, but didn't really have any real power to enact our truly inconsequential if not down right crappy ideas. Now the crazy school officer candidate DOES make the decisions. They run the federal government.

Ah and who can forget about the Pelosi Pack, who are now in charge of congress. If you don't like what you've seen thus far, I've got news for you: Things are going to get a whole lot worse. This particular woman seems to be every negative thing about the female human nature all rolled up into one overbearing princess who just cannot wait to bang her little pink gavel and wail for our attention.

Now that she's got our attention, what does she do with it? She screams "No fair!, No fair!" every time someone disagrees with her and she figures, of course, it's because she's a girl. She parades her grandchildren on the floor of the United States House of Representatives as though that's supposed to give real weight to her supposed authority. If any man ever did that, he'd be laughed out of the country. But no one's laughing at Nancy0 at least not in public- because they all know the kind of female fit that would ensue from her and the princess' minions.

Take the meaningless Iraq disapproval resolution. She acts like we just went over to play a game of tag with meany-face Saddam, and now that we tagged him- and killed him- its time to come home and leave their playground and come home for a kool-aid break. But that big, bad bully Bush won't let us. So let's throw a public pout to let the whole world know that W is a bully, and we're too scared he will call us nasty names if we really take him on and cut off the money. He might say we're not patriotic, or that we're cowards/ "No fair! No fair!" The old sticks-and-stones thing really isn't true, because those words do hurt. Nancy thinks they would hurt so bad she just couldn't stand it, so she'll just pout until she gets her way.

At least Bush is still in charge, or at least he does evidence a bit more maturity. So far at least, he hasn't sunk too often to the sand box level. Maybe that's because he actually had to face real personal problems and resolve them without resorting to temper tantrums. Maybe it's because he is married to a real woman, who knows where to draw the line and make real demands on a real husband. Or maybe it's just because he was forced to actually grow up-- instead of remaining forever a flower child, going from playground to playground, protest to protest, making a whole lot of noise without accomplishing so much as a darned thing that could actually be called progress.

Unlike the boomers, at least my generation will leave school. Hopefully, we're not polluted with too much of their filth. I hope to god that the younger generations, like gen X right before me, my own MTV generation, Generation Y and the millenials, learn from our Parents' Generation- the one that kept the dirty bath water and threw out the baby instead. I hope we learned that the old American way of sturdy individualism, moral integrity, and respect for God and country really is worth saving. Because there's a big war on and if we continue down the same path our parents have been traveling, our children will be bowing to Allah 5 times a day, with their little iPods pointed towards Mecca.

An American Tragedy.... Or Something

Details of Valerie Plame's 'tragic' existence were revealed Friday in the Washington Post. With her CIA cover blown by Bob Novak's July 2003 column, she has lived the past four years in a surreal world, but today she will speak out at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Since her retirement from the CIA, Plame's life has been fraught with hardship:

Over the past year Plame has completed a book, "Fair Game," which netted her a seven-figure sum, although the book remains tied up in a CIA review process and its publication date is uncertain.

She and her husband have sold the movie rights for their life story to Warner Bros.

Earlier this week the couple closed the $1.8 million sale of their Washington house, which they purchased in 1998 for $735,000.

They have relocated to Santa Fe, N.M., buying a spacious adobe home with a mountain view and a reported $1.1 million mortgage.

Her and her husband's fame give them access to top politicians (including, last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton, with whom the couple had dinner) and Hollywood types.

In his book, Wilson described a dinner in Los Angeles where "Valerie found herself seated between Norman Lear and Warren Beatty..."

Said Valerie,

"My life is becoming more surreal every day."

Why, it's positively heartbreaking.

According to the Post, Plame's goal in testifying is to dispel claims that she was not an undercover agent. We can expect soft toss questions from majority members of the committee which is chaired by the undoubtedly sympathetic Henry Waxman. Committee members from the Republican minority might be somewhat less sympathetic than Representative Waxman, and if they are permitted to interrogate Ms. Plame, a Rick Ballard Column in American Thinker offers suggestions for some questions they might ask.

Since the CIA maintains an office which is responsible for contacts with the press, on what date did you report your May 2 and 3 contacts with Nicholas Kristof to that office?

Did you also inform that office of the nature of your contacts? Who did you speak to?

Inquiring minds would love to hear the answer to these and other questions. For instance: What credentials did husband Joe have to offer Nicholas Kristof in order to gain the credibility for such prominent exposure of his story? You, perhaps? I've been wondering for a really long time now, what was the real reason for husband Joe's trip to Niger in 2002?

More Fun From Northampton

Good Lord, it took me two days to find this. Truly hilarious stuff.

Ladies and Gentleman... I present to you, Irony.

"Interfaith group braves storm in climate change trek"-- Boston Globe 3/16/07

Rosie Officially Falls off the Deep End

Rosie is one gassed-out moonbat. If you didn't think she was completely nuts, read this.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Rosie O'Donnell says she began being treated for depression after the Columbine school shootings and hangs upside down for up to a half-hour a day to improve her mental state.

..."I couldn't stop crying," she said on an episode taped for ABC's "The View" and due to air Friday. "I stayed in my room. The lights were off. I couldn't get out of bed and that's when I started taking medication."

Yes, Columbine was traumatic but if it's caused her to got that loony, it makes me wonder how she copes with day to day life while the Iraq War is going on. Life sucks Rosie, get a helmet.

And she hangs herself upside down? With what? A Crane?

Depression isn't her problem. Being nuts is.

Up Next For Dem Chopping Block: Alberto Gonzalez

This congress is going to investigate every member they possibly can of the Bush Administration until they find something that even semi-sticks. If you want proof, look no further than the recent rock-throwing at Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, who's getting raked over the coals for firing 8 US Attorneys for 'political reasons'.

Just an interesting read I plucked out of the NY Times Archives:

ATTORNEY GENERAL SEEKS RESIGNATIONS FROM PROSECUTORS
By DAVID JOHNSTON
Special to The New York Times
1112 words
24 March 1993
The New York Times

WASHINGTON, March 23 -- Attorney General Janet Reno today demanded the prompt resignation of all United States Attorneys, leading the Federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia to suggest that the order could be tied to his long-running investigation of Representative Dan Rostenkowski, a crucial ally of President Clinton.

Jay B. Stephens, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, who is a Bush Administration holdover, said he had advised the Justice Department that he was within 30 days of making a "critical decision" in the Rostenkowski case when Ms. Reno directed him and other United States Attorneys to submit their resignations, effective in a matter of days.

While prosecutors are routinely replaced after a change in Administration, Ms. Reno's order accelerated what had been expected to be a leisurely changeover. Says He Won't Resist

At a news conference today only hours after one by Ms. Reno, Mr. Stephens said he would not resist the Attorney General's move to force him from office, and he held back from directly accusing her of interfering with the Rostenkowski inquiry.

But Mr. Stephens left the strong impression that Ms. Reno's actions might disrupt the investigation as he moved toward a decision on whether to seek charges against the Illinois Democrat, who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

"This case has been conducted with integrity," Mr. Stephens said, "and I trust the decisions in this case will not be made based on political considerations."

Nonetheless, lawyers who have followed the investigation have said that Mr. Stephens has been concerned that the Democratic Administration might try to upset his investigation.

Has Denied Wrongdoing

Mr. Rostenkowski has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and he has not been accused of any impropriety. But if he is indicted, he would be forced by House rules to relinquish his chairmanship, a development that some lawmakers have said could seriously jeopardize Mr. Clinton's efforts to steer his economic and health-care proposals through Congress.

Mr. Stephens and his prosecutors began the investigation that led them to review Mr. Rostenkowski's activities in mid-1991, focusing initially on low-level employees at the House post office who absconded with money. There have been several guilty pleas as prosecutors have worked their way up the ranks at the mailing operation.

Mr. Rostenkowski has been under scrutiny since last year, when his office records were subpoenaed in an inquiry into whether someone in his office used his expense account fraudulently to obtain cash from the post office. Since then, some of his aides have testified to a grand jury and investigators have examined his use of campaign funds. Denies Any Connection

In announcing her order at her first news conference as Attorney General, Ms. Reno denied there was any connection between her action and the Rostenkowski case and said Mr. Stephens had been treated like other United States Attorneys.

Ms. Reno said United States Attorneys "are absolutely integral to the whole success of the Department of Justice," and her aides said today that she did not intend to immediately remove any whose presence was required to complete an investigation.

One official suggested that even Mr. Stephens might be asked to stay on until a successor is named, saying Ms. Reno had made no decisions about who she may choose on an interim basis.

All 93 United States Attorneys knew they would be asked to step down, since all are Republican holdovers, and 16 have resigned so far. But the process generally takes much longer and had usually been carried out without the involvement of the Attorney General. Battles of the Past

Ms. Reno is under pressure to assert her control over appointments at the Justice Department. She was Mr. Clinton's third choice for Attorney General and arrived after most of the department's senior positions were already filled by the White House.

The comments of Ms. Reno and Mr. Stephens evoked the pitched battles of the past, when independent United States Attorneys resisted removal by new administrations.

In 1969, for instance Robert Morgenthau, now the Manhattan District Attorney, resisted efforts by the Nixon Administration to replace him as United States Attorney in New York until he was given what he called an "ultimatum" by President Richard M. Nixon to leave office.

In 1978, Attorney General Griffin B. Bell removed David W. Marston as United States Attorney in Philadelphia, provoking charges, never proved, that a lawmaker under scrutiny by Mr. Marston's office had urged President Jimmy Carter to remove the prosecutor.

Four-Year Terms

United States Attorneys are appointed to serve four-year terms at the pleasure of the President. It was unclear whether Ms. Reno initiated the request for resignations or whether it was pressed on her by the White House. The Attorney General said it was a "joint decision."

Ms. Reno said she wanted the resignations "so that the U.S. Attorneys presently in position will know where they stand and that we can begin to build a team."

Some Administration officials dismissed Mr. Stephens's veiled assertions about the Attorney General's motives as "absurd," as one put it, saying that what was surprising was that it had taken so long before the Justice Department could begin putting its own appointees in place. Abortion Clinic Violence

On other topics, Ms. Reno said she would work with Democrats in Congress to prepare legislation to give Federal agencies a larger role in protecting abortion clinics.

Her comments came after she had ordered a review of current law, which she said was inadequate "to prevent or to help prevent physical interference with access to abortion clinics."

She also ruled out a Federal inquiry into the death of Dr. David Gunn, a physician who was shot to death as he entered an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Fla., apparently by a man who said he was an anti-abortion activist. "Florida law on this subject is more effective than Federal law," said Ms. Reno, a former Florida prosecutor.

Ms. Reno also said she had not decided whether to replace William S. Sessions, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who has been found to have violated ethics rules. "

So, they were fired for no other reason than they were "Republican holdovers." I sure hope Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) isn't planning on getting anywhere over these 8 firings.

The bottom line is this: The President and Attorney General can fire whomever the hell they want, whenever they want, for whatever reasons they want, so much as they fall under all the nice-ness that is the law. Apparently, Democrats LOVE voter fraud, because that's what these guys were ejected for doing, or not doing, however you decide to look at it. These Attorneys were fired because they weren't enthusiastic enough, or at least pursuing enthusiastically enough, allegations of voter fraud. So Gonzalez gave them the heave-ho with the support of President Bush. Not to mention they were Republican attorneys.

Regardless, this whole scandal is a sham. The Democrats need to get back to passing all that legislation they promised us they'd get through and haven't produced yet.


UPDATE: More Fun Reading From the National Review!

Pelosi's Strange Rules

Leave it up to Dems----who didn't know what they were doing in the first place---to make the rules even more convoluted and weird. Of course, she made sure their liberal friends at big universities were all taken care of. I only hope that Speaker Pelosi is the first to get snared up in these stupid rules.

Lawmakers and lobbyists can still meet in exotic places — they just have to get there separately. Sometimes.

The House ethics committee has posted on its website the new rules of the road regarding travel. The House earlier this year prohibited members from accepting “officially-connected travel from a private entity that retains or employs a lobbyist.” Lobbyists also may not accompany a member on a privately paid trip on “any segment of the journey,” according to the new rules. (Private entities that do not retain a lobbyist can still pay for a member to travel).

One big loophole: Universities and other institutions of higher education can pay for a trip, and a lobbyist can come along for the ride.

Also, entities that employ a lobbyist can pay for a short trip: that is, “a single night’s lodging and meals.” But that’s not a hard-and-fast rule either. A member may stay an extra night if the ethics committee determines that it is “practically required” for said member to participate in the one-day event."

Exactly. What Pelosi and other Dem leaders wanted was reform for Republicans' lobbyists; not theirs, of course.

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