Sarah Brady dropped me two poison pen emails.  Mrs. Brady is the wife of former Reagan Press Secretary Jim Brady.  She’s also a gun confiscation advocate and you probably don’t need an explanation for her position.  More than a year has passed since I last heard from her.  During the Delaware Presidential Primary she called my program when Patrick Kennedy was an on-air guest.  “Hi, Patrick”, she giggled.  Then she didn’t have anything else to say. 

The emails arrived at my work account late Saturday morning.  One was addressed only to me and the second was addressed to me, my coworkers and managers.  She demands my show move to overnights and she says the demographics of our region have changed and we need more enlightened talk show hosts.  I wrote a polite reply and suggested she get back to enjoying her retirement. 

The woman claims she rarely listens but can cite all sorts of things I’ve said offending her. 

First, I’ve been a broadcaster for 25 years.  People who make such claims are lying.  They tune in everyday for their regular dose of righteous indignation.  Two, the demographics along a narrow stretch of beach have changed.  The rest of the region is about the same as it has been for 300 years, exceptions being paved roads and electricity.  Three, Michael Savage came to national prominence broadcasting a local show in San Francisco.  He wasn’t fired or moved to overnights for needling the loons on the left.  In fact, his ratings soared.  Fourth, since I arrived the afternoon drive slot has become so popular (in a numbers sense) the station’s entire ratings have nearly doubled.  If you figure the weak kneed on the left don’t admit to hearing me then you can extrapolate an even larger audience. 

Fifth, I’m not a conservative but primarily a libertarian.  While I admire Pat Buchanan I gravitate politically in the direction of Ron Paul, however.  If this country can’t survive as a Republic I sure as heck wouldn’t choose a socialist to run the show.  Number six, a program director in Raleigh called me a “Rush” impersonator some two summers ago.  While it would be nice to be making Rush money if I had been a Bush basher would the man have called me an “Air America” Impersonator?  Opinion leaders don’t reside in the center and I’m paid to be an opinion leader.  My opinions aren’t moderate and certainly not left-of-center.  Read the map of where I was raised and how my parents raised me. 

Seventh, Sarah Brady self identified in her first email as a “moderate”.  The word, from my perspective, is synonymous with “wimp”.  I concur the woman is anything but wimpy.  In fact she’s a clear and present danger from the vantage of our Constitution.  No moderates are campaigning to expunge the Second Amendment.  It’s number two and not 18 or 23 for a reason.  It’s number two because the brilliant people drafting the document recognized the value of self defense.  There are 305 million American citizens.  An overwhelming majority didn’t shoot anyone else over the holiday weekend.  Many more blew fingers off with fireworks, drowned or got loaded and slammed a car into someone else.  Even far greater numbers instead sought to have someone else kill their own children growing inside mommy’s tummy.  Yet Mrs. Brady chooses to lobby for my silence.  I pray to God I’ve a voice until he calls me home.

John Brady’s leap to the ranks of the Democrats didn’t go unnoticed at the Naval Observatory.  This morning the Vice President telephoned John and welcomed him back to the fold.  It may be that John’s decision will be greatly rewarded with such support.  Like many of you I was disappointed.  As I’ve mentioned many times I’m a former Democrat who left during the Clinton years and then briefly came back to the party when Clinton left office.  Democrats were my dad’s party.  He was an old “labor Democrat” who bolted to vote for Reagan.  Twice.  I left the second time when it became apparent following September, 2001 that the party was working to undermine our fighting men and women.  I don’t like appeasers.  There may be a great many Democrats you can live next door to but I’ve a second and greater reason to keep my distance.  The blood of 50 million babies screams out for justice and Catholics like Biden and Pelosi are blazing trails straight to hell.  The same with the Mormon leading the Senate Majority and toss in a multi-trillion dollar spending plan and apparently Democrats suffer from mass delusion.

All said let’s get back to Mr. Brady.  It doesn’t come up much in polite society here but John is a gay American.  Well placed Republicans never mentioned it but speaking to me yesterday two did.  Apparently John was O.K. while a gay Republican but as a gay Democrat the playing field is altered.  A couple of things of note, what in blazes does that have to do with his ability to hold elective office and why should this suddenly end friendships?  You can’t live in Sussex County , Delaware and not have friends or do business with people who are gay.  Are there people suggesting we place these neighbors behind barbed wire?  If so, who’ll protect your liberty when it’s threatened?  John is my friend.  He has been a good public servant and he certainly is smart enough for any job he tackles.  John Brady is the smartest person I’ve met in Delaware and I’ve even met “Pete” DuPont.  As for the local GOP, politics was once a grass roots effort and I applaud some of the changes being made here, however.  Ultimately the party will follow the national lead and Mr. Steele is no conservative.  A very good friend of mine wanted to get involved with the local Republican Party.  She’s a woman and was told she could be of great help with bake sales.  Bake sales!  Gentlemen of the GOP, this is 2009 and not just in the rest of the United States but as well as in Sussex County . My friend is articulate and extremely photogenic so why is there this effort to assign her to an auxiliary? 

While all of these things have been taking place on my show and in my life a much more sinister subplot is bubbling in the background.  A fellow by the name of Jon Paul Benedict, or that’s his email name, has been sending me messages demanding I campaign for gay marriage.  I suggested he take it up with the man he voted for in last year’s Presidential election..  This only fried J.P. and he gave me grief about being a divorced American.  Yes, it’s true, and this fool Benedict has no clue as to why I’m divorced and my family is off limits.  I’ve mentioned it on-air because people have asked and to say I’m currently married would be a lie.  Then he emailed me to say he and some shadowy organization he belongs to were going to investigate my personal life.  A warning, I’m a big man and I’m the father of a lovely daughter.  Don’t cross me.  Not only would I die for her, pal, I would kill for her. 

I don’t spend much time talking about gay issues on the show.  Oh, I shared a Pat Buchanan column last week for discussion purposes but the issue is really rare on my program.  Also I’ve stated that government doesn’t belong in the marriage business.  Churches and temples can decide who gets married or whatever name you want.  This argument that same sex couples can’t get the same benefits is a wash.  No couples should get any changes in benefits with marriage.  A system of fair taxation counts all equally and not two as one or one and one half.  We’ve got too much government in our lives and if we continue asking Washington or Dover or Trenton to carry us across the puddles then we’ll be nothing more than children with curfews, bed checks and no liberty. 

This is why I don’t like “victim” politics.  Race victims or sexual preference victims or immigrant victims.  It’s destroying us and the intent of The Constitution. 

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If ever there was a quote from my past to carry me through difficult times it comes from Eugene Mastin. “You have to play with pain”, he would tell us. It was August and later autumn of 1977 and it was the one year I played football for the man. He drove us until we ached. He drove us until we cursed him. He drove us until we did things for him we wouldn’t even do for our fathers. We worked so hard on the field that my gut would churn and three days into practice we couldn’t walk on sore muscles. So instead he made us run. We lost just one game that year, defeated 14-7 on a long pass late in a game against our arch rivals. On the bus trip home there was nothing but silence. It followed his words before we left for home. He was so very proud we scrapped for everything we could get before the clock ran out. As I got off the bus when we got back to our school he looked at the expression on my face and gave me a hug.

There were parents believing he drove us beyond civilized behavior. They worried he was overly profane on the practice field and they worried about his volcanic temper. It only made us tighten the circle around him. Heck, he never did anything to me my parents hadn’t done. It’s probably why I flourished working for John Butler for six years from the late 1980s until he left for better pastures. He was a veteran of psychological operations in Vietnam and a Colonel at the local Air Guard Base used to see me and ask after “The General”. It was an appropriate nickname.

I had some tough times then and my dad told me to tough it out. John did the same. It taught me the value of a human being is his/her effort and production and not the paycheck.

Dad, Coach Mastin and John Butler were men of a much distant era. They watched suspiciously as the culture eroded around them. The definitions of hero and success were changing before I even tied my first shoulder pads. The new breed, the parents whining about a coach making men of us, took over the country. A feminized culture is fine for women, I suppose, but judging by the mistakes made by government and Wall Street it hasn’t been good for the men still making most of the decisions.

It’s gut check time. Dad, Mr. Mastin and John got me through every crisis in my life but I’m really worried now. I’ve been talking with merchants and builders and they tell me they’ve never seen anything quite like they’re seeing now. They’re spooked and their customers are running scared.

It annoys me that I can’t even think about things like marriage or settling into a nice home because some idiot in some boardroom believed the new definition of his manhood was ripping off clients, neighbors and relatives. And his clients and neighbors weren’t any better and from what I can see must still believe in The Tooth Fairy. Lordy, over the past decade I’ve lost two jobs, rebuilt a shattered left leg, lived in five places in 3 states and financed retirement for 2 lawyers fighting an ex-wife in court. I was at the gym today and some woman told me I was an inspiration for everyone else there. The fat middle aged guy can really move on the treadmill and stair stepper. He also biked to Washington last summer, for those of you forgetting, because he long ago learned you have to play with pain. You play through it. It’s persistent and constant and it doesn’t ease with age.

On Tuesday the nation’s first androgynous President took office. Or at least he appears that way for many of you believing he’s in touch with his feelings. Those are the people that voted for Mr. Obama. Let me tell you I’ve an entirely different impression forming. I don’t agree with the man on most issues relating to government’s role in my life and I abhor his views about infanticide, however. There are some old grainy films of The President playing basketball as a teenager and we’re all familiar with so many elements of his life story. This guy is as tough as nails. Those of us on the right underestimated him until he grabbed the big prize. He knows you have to play with pain. Are you ready for what’s ahead?

Endorsements. I say I never offer these. Better description is that it’s rare. First.

President

John S. McCain. He isn’t perfect but he’s the last “Great” man in America. Junior can go back to Chicago and join the bomb making squad and “damn” America.

Governor

Who is Jack Markell? A picture in the News Journal? Mr. Carney at least knows how to get to Sussex County and he likes a cold one. Markell won’t come on a right leaning radio show? Heck, Bill Lee goes into the den of national traitors at WDEL but then Lee, the Marine, is Delaware’s last “Great” man.

Insurance Commissioner

And Delaware’s smartest man is John Brady. Hands down the Big Guy’s brain is Delaware’s biggest..

House of Representatives

I endorse Bill Colley. O.K., I’m pulling your leg as I prefer to continue not working for a living. I very much on a personal level like my two fellow Catholics in the race but I have a higher calling and it’s my allegiance to God. The Church isn’t a democracy and God isn’t asking for your opinions. Infanticide is criminal. You denounce it or you feather your bed in the nether reaches, however. I would like to buy one of the candidates dinner and her name isn’t Mike.

U.S. Senate

Christine O’Donnell. She’s an intellectual, she’s always smiling and you know she doesn’t compromise. My, Lord, she has a moral grounding I can only aspire to. Godspeed, Christine. Uncle Joe, see my comments about the race for the House. And those comments you made about that wonderful man who tried saving your first wife and daughter… Joe, there is a final judge.

Lt. Governor.

Copeland and Denn both have passion for the office. Bill Lee will need an ally. I hope Mr. Copeland agrees.

Sussex County Council

I endorse the entire GOP slate. What great people we have in this county, often from both parties but I’ve met these Republicans and they truly are just like the rest of us. There are so many good Republicans that we don’t have room for all of them. There were 3 battling in the primary for one seat. They could all serve us well.

The Forty First

Remember that comedy routine where the politician is asked if he still beats his wife? He can’t answer yes and he can’t answer no. It’s a paradox. Greg Hastings doesn’t beat his wife. He’s clean as a whistle and he’s what small town America has always been about.

Other State Legislative Races

Some good people here but do we want a one party state? A one party state is called New Jersey. ‘Nuff said. The local GOP has raised a good slate. It could be a model statewide and beyond.

A legal announcement in a local paper caught one of my listener’s eyes:

“Sealed proposals for Bid #7193 for Condoms will be received by the Procurement Branch, Delaware Health and Social Services”.  We sent for the complete specifications and the bid package and found some interesting facts about how your tax dollars will be spent of these condoms.

First, the condoms are said to be needed by “various state agencies” some of which we assume are local schools because part of the package includes instructions on how the winning bid can get paid when supplying local school districts.  The bid specifications for the condoms needed over the next year in Delaware are listed as follows:

10,000 small size regular sensitivity condoms.

136,000 regular fit multicolored condoms.

47,000 regular fit “multi-flavored” condoms.  (Yes, the government wants flavored condoms!)

106,000 regular fit studded or ribbed condoms.  (For “her” pleasure we presume?)

46,000 regular fit “sensitive/ultra-thin”.

11,000 large condoms, regular sensitivity (Note: 1,000 more large than small.  “It’s Good Being First” tm.)

16,000 Large “black or natural color” sensitive/ultra thin.  (large, black, sensitive?)

31,000 female condoms

24,000 male polyurethane condoms (For those with latex allergies I presume)

10,000 dental dams ( Insert your own joke here about what branch of state government might need these)

 

437,000 condoms paid for by you and handed out for free all over schools and state offices in the next year.  Don’t we go beyond so called “safe sex” when we are getting into “flavored” “ribbed” and “sensitive”? 

 

If you were an inexperienced airline traveler, would you get on a plane if you new that at least 1 out of 10 flights crashed?  If you were an experienced air traveler would you fly today knowing that 1 in 100 flights today will crash?  These stats reflect the failure rate of condoms when used properly to prevent STD’s.  When used incorrectly we assume the planes crash more frequently.