Sussex Central Vs. Middletown (or is that Little-town) tonight!

GO CENTRAL!

A Dan Gaffney Show audio pep ralley.  Listen here (3.5 minutes).

Thanks Mari Lou

A couple of days ago another missing college student was reported. The photo shows a 18-years-old, all american college girl, cute and innocent looking. I’m always horribly disturbed when I hear of any young girl missing. I don’t know why that bothers me than other stories. It just gets me. It reminds me that there is evil in the world. But, then a different kind of evil started showing up in this story. The cut-throat media. I labored over why was I so bothered by this story. Turns out the missing girl had an Interet site where she took off her clothes for money. Well, boy howdy… How the 24 hour news cycle leeched on to that little tidbit. No longer were we looking for a missing girl… we were looking for a missing PORN STAR! (not hardly, what she did was more akin to being a stripper than a porn star) - Every news outlet.. Every Network.. Every Web site “missing college girl leads double life as PORN STAR” — They then forgot that this was a real person and not some juicy information the public can salivate over — “Oh, Henry… did you hear about that missing porn star? She had some internets sites.” — I’m horrified. It took me a little bit of time to realize why I was so bothered by the story. The police said that the media’s rabid attention on her Internet activity had nothing to do with the crime.. but, also that the media’s obsession “greatly inhibited” the investigation. Right, salivating dogs no longer wanted to help find her… they wanted to know what her Web site was… “Really, where can we send pictures too.” — Now, come 24 hours later… They may have found her body. I’m sick over the emerging details of the crime… and what will the media say “Figures, Porn Star found dead.” — Sure, she made a bad decision to do that site… but, you’re tarnishing life as a whole to focus on what someone does not who someone is.

1. We’ve heard many times how our troops have been fighting Al-Qaeda over in Iraq so that we don’t have to fight Al-Qaeda here. This is a good strategy, except how do we know Al-Qaeda terrorists, suicide bombers and sleeper cells aren’t already in the United States? The border situation has me wondering.

2. I’ve also heard it said: “There hasn’t been any major terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11.” That’s true, but how do we know something as bad and even bigger isn’t currently in the planning stages? There were several years between the two World Trade Center attacks. President Bush’s Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend was one of the ones who had mentioned how America has been free of major attacks since 9/11, and also stated that Osama Bin Laden is ”a man on the run in a cave who is virtually impotent.” Well, he could be more than impotent—he could be dead. But does that mean the threat is gone and that his followers will all of a sudden stop trying to carry out attacks?

3. We’ve heard about the decline in violence in Iraq, but could part of the reason be that the terrorists are regrouping? It was reported back at the end of August that Radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his dreaded militia to stop attacks on US-led forces as part of a six-month suspension of the militant group’s activities. “I direct the Mahdi Army to suspend all its activities for six months until it is restructured in a way that helps honour the principles for which it is formed,” Sadr said in a statement issued by his office in the city of Najaf. The AFP reports that in December last year, the Pentagon identified the militia as the biggest threat to stability in the war-ravaged country, even ahead of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the local affiliate of Osama bin Laden’s network.

4. While going on the offensive in Iraq may have put a dent in Al-Qaeda, what about Afghanistan in the Tora Bora region and the area in Pakistan, where they believe Bin Laden is hiding out? Shouldn’t there have been more of a focus on these areas?

5. Even if we wiped out every terrorist and every terrorist cell, does that mean all the evildoers are gone? As long as there are evil ideologies, radical Islam, and violent radicalization, it is likely that new ones will pop up.

I’m sure this all sounds rather pessimistic, but what is really going on here? Lastly Senator Joe Biden this week told New Hampshire voters that they have the Bush Administration to thank for the rising costs of oil. Biden called the temporary increase of troops in Iraq a “fantasy” saying that there is no evidence that it’s working. As reported from the Associated Press and as posted in WGMD News, Biden says the uncertainty in Iraq and Iran are adding an extra 30 dollars a barrel. I heard this week that global warming is being blamed for everything. It sounds like the Iraq war is also getting blamed for a lot of things that have gone wrong.

 

Ed Hudgins is a smart man.  He is with The Atlas Society and The Cato Institute.  He has made many television appearances and is a frequent guest writer for many newspapers on subjects such as ADA.  Here is one of his pieces about the disabilities act:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/reg18n2e.html

 And check this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT2YET6sg5I&feature=related

Sorry to keep playing the Grinch, folks, but these websites more than back my claims about paper bags in landfills:

 

http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=7

 

http://www.goodmagazine.com/section/Portraits/paper_not_plastic

Don’t the animal welfare groups say “don’t give a puppy as a Chritmas gift”?  I wonder what they would say about auctioning off a puppy to raise funds for Delaware Republicans?

CHRISTMAS GALA @ BAYWOOD,  open to the public, will be held on December 5, 2007 from 6 pm to 9 pm.  Cost is $75/person.  The spectacular Live Auction will include such items as a registered black lab puppy, a signed and numbered print by Abraxas, a 2000 year old oil lamp, a golf package, a trip to Jamaica, art by Peter Sculthorth, a 16 X 20 portrait session, President?s Box Seats to NASCAR.    The Silent Auction items will keep you bidding!  

Music, an open bar and heavy hors d?oeuvres will keep everyone happy.  Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent or have no political party affiliation, please JOIN US for a festive party evening!  
 

Sponsored by the The Sussex County Republican Party and The Republican State Committee of Delaware.  
 

Reservations:  Checks payable to Republican State Committee, mail to Christmas Gala at Baywood,

P O Box 2905, Wilmington, DE 19805

.  Telephone Credit Card Reservations will be taken at 302- 651-0260. 

Someday government may not be available to assist your every need.  It’s a bit like losing your parents.  Mine have been dead for some years now and during lean times I can no longer ask them for a handout.  Yet I never did put the bite on them.  I didn’t believe they had enough for themselves much less me and they also made it clear they didn’t run a hotel, bank or charity.  So I guess I was taught to survive and be prepared for the day when times could be very, very tough.  After all they survived depression and war and were subjected to deprivations I still can’t imagine. 
 

Yesterday two people took great exception to my program.  When I get to 20 complaints daily perhaps I can rest easily and assume I’m getting the job done correctly.  The first angry email came from a woman I’m guessing is hitting the bottle during the day.  Believe me I’ve met some listeners who’ve got a good bag on by 5:00 o’clock most afternoons.  In retrospect I can’t even fathom the woman’s pique other than she believes I didn’t respect her Brahmin caste? 
 

The second email was a bit more jarring.  It came from a friend and a self-proclaimed conservative.  He’s upset because I agreed with a caller that the Americans with Disabilities Act became an intrusion into the lives and works of American business.  The man writing me has a disability.  It should be noted he favors cuts in assistance to poor families.  The ones with hungry young children and the man won’t support expansive government healthcare programs.  He does support all government programs directed for his benefit.  He’s also a veteran and there was an issue with something labeled post traumatic stress disorder.  Let me note my support of government programs for those who once wore or currently wear the uniform.  It’s a covenant we must honor.  If we don’t someday there may not be anyone willing to defend us.  The man also has a second disability and it’s not service related.  It was caused by a drunk driver.  This is tragic and it’s the reason I’ve not climbed behind the wheel of a car myself after a night of howling at the moon since 1986.  The drunk driver owes my friend an indemnity.
 

Government on the other hand, well, I’m not at all sure about this one.  The disabilities legislation closed a great many small businesses.  There were exclusions for the really tiny merchants.  Interestingly these were the local stores where most disabled people, I imagine, would shop.  As a small shopkeeper it probably would’ve occurred to me that one way to compete with Lowe’s and Home Depot would be to make my store accessible to the disabled.  It’s because the disabled also spend money.  It’s probably why a great many small storekeepers did make some changes without government edict.  It’s also why the very large chain stores and restaurants did the same.  As for those smaller businesses that weren’t exempt and didn’t have the money to appease coercion, it’s why many businesses folded.
 

Let’s make it clear.  One special interest group lost its livelihood to appease another. 
 

Several years ago I snapped my left leg in a fall and spent a great many weeks in a cast and on crutches.  My leg never fully recovered but it was sure a relief to get back on both legs and walking about.  Crutches are misery writ large on self-esteem.  So many “normal” things I was doing just days before and suddenly found myself greatly diminished.  After one week I ventured out into winter and driving and shopping.  I couldn’t just set in a chair waiting it out.  One day I was struggling to open the door of a bakery as I wanted to buy some bread for my visiting mother and sister.  It was windy and the door wasn’t cooperating and my balance was precarious and then a man from inside opened the door for me.  He asked what I needed and he filled my order and made change at the door.  Then he spoke to me in heavily Italian accented English.  “When you gotta bad wing you need help flying”, he said.  He helped me.  The government didn’t.  An immigrant may not realize there was a time in this country when we all pitched in for our neighbors and the government didn’t intrude. 
 

Don’t come to me criticizing government programs that help the neighbors you no longer assist.  Don’t come to me and say you want their programs eliminated but demand that government be all things for you.
 

A contemporary of my parents stated it bluntly.  “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”, were his words.  Oh, and he had a service related disability.  It didn’t interfere with his rise to the most powerful position in the country.
 

My dad admired the dead President and in later years when my old-man was confined primarily to hospitals, one room at home and often a wheel-chair he still managed to get out and play a role in his community.  And he refused to park in any spot marked “Handicap”.  Easy, no, his choice, yes.

I see Cape Henlopen School District is out of school in December for “winter break“.

Indian River School District is observing Christmas!!! Here

Winter Break again at Sussex Tech

Milford Schools take a “winter break” on the 24, and the 26, but they don’t know what to call the 25th of December!  See here.

Seaford Schools observe MLK JR, Veterans, and Thanksgiving, but it’s “spring” and “winter” for the big breaks. Here

Merry Christmas!!!!

A wind turbine similar to the one recently installed at the Bush’s Kennebunkport home.

George and Barbara Bush are powering their Maine vacation home with the help of a windmill. The 33 foot tall structure is “connected to the electric power grid,” and expected to save the couple money on their electric bill:

If the turbine is not producing all of the power needs in the Bush home, it will draw electricity from the power company. But when it produces excess energy, that power goes to the grid and the homeowner will get credits from the power company.

That will probably be the case with the Bushes, said Greig, because the Bushes’ summer home needs little power during the winter.

“When he comes up, he should have a substantial credit on his bill to start off the summer,” Greig said.

The windmill was made by Southwest Windpower and you can check out their website HERE.

When I covered the current President Bush’s visit to Wilmington last January, he was there to speak about energy, and this is what I wrote about his idea of the future American home, (which was obviously written during a low point in the Delaware off shore windpower saga):

The President looked forward to a future where your house “becomes a power generator,” and he brought up wind power, an idea that’s floundering and dying in Sussex County:

“We’ve got a lot of wind, especially in Washington.” -George Bush

So now the current President Bush’s parents are living his vision in Maine. I think it’s great. Maybe Bush 41 can talk the Kennedys into going a little greener in Cape Cod, and maybe he can do a little lecture tour here in Delaware.

The three County Chairpersons for the Independent Party of Delaware voted 3-0 today to “dismiss” Frank Sims as its head.

The removal was sparked after Sims filed a “Certificate of Nomination” endorsing Tom Little as the party’s candidate for Lt. Governor. Wolfgang von BaumGart, the Sussex County Chair, has alleged that the certificate sports a forgery of his signature and that a candidate cannot be endorsed by the party “unilaterally.” You can check out the Certificate of Nomination HERE courtesy of First State Politics.

I spoke with von BaumGart this afternoon about the removal of Sims and he said, “The executive committee had to take swift corrective action,” after what he called the “attempted theft of our nomination.”

Sims released a letter yesterday blaming the use of the form on “a senior moment:”

“I just pulled out a form I have used in the past for nominees without any thought about it being a post convention form. It is embarrassing to admit to a senior moment, but as I studied the form, it was clear that it did not apply in this situation. Our Bylaws permit the State committee to endorse a candidate when the law requires it, and the law did not. We never made up a form for that purpose, which is why, I suppose, I tried to make another one do.” -Frank Sims

You can check out Sims’ entire letter to the Commissioner of Elections, Elaine Manlove, HERE. Sims letter also indicates that the form was filled out in the presence of Paul Baldwin, a Department of Elections supervisor.

According to von BaumGart, however, the party’s Bylaws were “subverted.” He also indicated that an affidavit of forgery for the Department of Elections would be forthcoming.

I asked von BaumGart if Tom Little was “out” as the Independent Party’s candidate for Lt. Governor and he said that there was an “overwhelming probability of that.”

As for the future of fusion candidates, who Frank Sims had rejected in a recent e-mail,

“The Independent Party of Delaware fills the urgent need to develop programs that solve the unresolved issues confronting Delaware citizens as well as develop leaders at every level of govenrment who are totally independent of the bossism of the liberal Democratic machine and the Republican kingmaker machine.

In order to fulfill our mission we will no longer cross endorse candidates of another political party.” - Frank Sims

von BaumGart had a different view,

“We will use Fusion if it’s in the interest of the Party….” - Wolfgang von BaumGart

Surely there will be more to come….