I’ve been battling with folks on the left for almost a decade and can look back 25 years when I battled alongside them and reach some sober conclusions.  First, I usually wasn’t sober when I was involved with radical leftist groups.  As no one made me take the drink I can’t dismiss once playing for the other side.  All I can do is now work to make right the wrongs I committed against my God and my country.  The second thing I’ve noticed is the left can’t seem to make logical connections.  Which is why I guess the government schools are constructed in the current tense.  You create more liberals when Johnny can’t read and has only the dole as his only resort.  Last week a writer at The Christian Science Monitor bemoaned the lack of modern critical thinkers.  This infers critical thinking is something you can teach.  It may just be some folks are wired differently and can think on several levels at any given time while others don’t have the talent.  I believe I can make this statement because the left argues wiring is the root of all differences between people we used to consider just making lifestyle choices.  Notice I wrote I believe and not I feel.  The only thing I feel is the sometimes knot in my stomach when I’m asked to cheerlead for a cause that makes me uncomfortable.

A Roman Catholic Bishop I once heard saying a homily claimed the knot was part of God’s wiring and a reminder ethics aren’t situational. 

Over the weekend I had quite a bit of time for reading and came across the words of a columnist at The Washington Post.  Jim Hoagland writes the American people are getting angry.  Very, very angry and the anger he believes may get very, very ugly.  Hoagland, from what I know, has never been a paragon of the political right.  He’s just an observer witnessing what a great many others are seeing.  This morning I received an email from one of my friends serving in Iraq.  He was telling me 50 percent of working Americans are just two paychecks away from disaster.

Yesterday I attended a committee meeting of the Sussex County Community Organized Regiment.  A local man with a house just a few miles from where I live hosted it and he has a family, pets and a very good job.  These aren’t people frothing at the mouth and searching for a revolution.  There were ten people in attendance ranging from 19 years old to retired.  There had been an earlier committee meeting where something called “Victory Garden” was a discussion topic.  It appears these bitter clingers have ten acres of land available for tilling and planting.  Members of the group will grow vegetables and then, say it isn’t so, can them for what could be tougher months later this year and early next.  Any member who works on these plots is entitled to share in the bounty.  The barter economy is back. 

Before the session wrapped up there was light banter about the public reaction to creation of the organization.  Liberal bloggers in Wilmington are railing against the toothless right wing goons inhabiting the forests below the ditch.  You know the story.  The salons of the state’s biggest city can’t conceive of how folks can survive without big government.  Worse yet they can’t understand why you wouldn’t want the nanny state in your lives.  The beautiful crime and drug free streets upstate should be convincing, I guess.  Someone mentioned the follow up posts at the blogs contained liberal fears about the good people of Sussex County.  Some worry they’re at a disadvantage because we can handle guns and they can’t but if the figures are correct most of the “Wards of the State” locked up in prisons originally called New Castle County home.  The wards are often locked away because they committed gun crimes and often against liberals even more fearful of weapons they could use in self-defense against criminals. 

I don’t speak for the members of the Regiment but if things get interesting this summer some hungry lefties may be looking for a bite to eat.  God help them.  He just might if they could come to their senses.

 

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from the talkofdelmarva.com blog -

Exclusive audio of the second round of Delmarva’s Greatest Debater Contest (02-28-09)

Moderated by Dan Gaffney and Roger Marino –

Listen to the above link, or download directly here:

GREAT DEBATE AUDIO ROUND TWO

Beth Cayhall, is competing for a spot to open for Little Big Town (fantastic modern country band). The deadline to vote for her is this Friday, Feb. 27th She is currently at number eight, but needs your votes to help her fly to the top!!! (Vote now - and vote often!!)

For those who don’t know - or haven’t heard her music occasionally on the Dan Gaffney Show - Beth is a country singer, but also a local girl - and daughter to State Representative Gerald Hocker.

http://eventful.com/littlebigtown

The report from the Sussex County Regiment is very good.  A website will soon be in operation.  I wasn’t able to attend Saturday’s meeting as I was here at work but I did have a representative in attendance.  Organizers are suggesting they’ll soon have a more permanent meeting place and schedule.  While I’m not trying to “out” any members I will suggest, and this is only a suggestion, the meeting place become public knowledge.  The ultimate decision will remain with the organization’s membership. 

Organizers are also suggesting a large turnout at the March 9 Sussex County Republican meeting.  Not as to create an adjunct for the G.O.P. but to allow members an opportunity to see how a political party functions. 

Let me expand here.  The Sussex County Regiment will not be working to carry water for any party.  One look at Mitch McConnell should tell you the GOP is bereft of ideas and ideals.  I’ve suggested, and again only suggested, the organization stay clear of Brandywine Hundred country clubbers.  Next year members of the local Republican Party will be all smiles publicly when urging you to vote for Mike Castle.  Many of you know the meaning of the word hypocrisy. 

The only method available for contacting the Sussex County Regiment remains email:  sccor2009@yahoo.com.  

Meanwhile, last week the President of The Patriot League of Central New York appeared on my program explaining how you can create these organizations and make them grow and have a lasting impact.  Check out his website:  www.plcny.com.  

 

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(from jared@wgmd.com)

Here is the audio from the Delmarva Job Search, Round 2. I hope that we can help a few people out. I already had word that one person has been hired because of today’s show. Thank you to all who contributed.

Here’s what you’ll hear in today’s audio (in no particular order)

Looking for work:

Joanne - Unemployed Seamstress, Secretary and Paralegal - 302-393-9484
Irene - Cleaner - 302-381-7244
John - Paralegal/Office Work (contact me for contact info)
Tom - Cleaning/Maintenance (contact me for contact info)
Heather - Waitress/Office/School (contact me for contact info)
Barbara - Caregiver 302-947-2926
Bobby - Construction/Masonry 302-947-2139

Independent Contractors:

Barb - Muralist/Artist on Call 302-249-9888
Martin - Bass Player looking for band 302-448-9951
Chirs - Muralist 302-381-4108

Looking for employees

Little One’s Lutheran School (Teachers/Aids) 302-226-7860
Hotel in Reho (seasonal summer work) Call Charlie 302-381-0006

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. 

Judy Mangini joined us on-air on Friday, December 05, 2008.  Judy hosts a “Cookie Exchange” every year.  Participants bake cookies, which are then shipped to our troops overseas.  She suggests others can do the same.  The care packages are sent to the following address:

Trina Gardner

at:  Cartina Hill

KBR

APO AE 09391

Judy offers that if you can bake the cookies she can also ship them.  Cookies can be dropped off at the WGMD studios during daytime business hours and Judy will pick them up before the end of the business day on Friday, December 12, 2008.  Wrap them well!  She has also recorded a Christmas CD and for a small donation you can pick up a copy at our studios.  Money raised from donations for CDs will be used to provide a Christmas for a needy Delmarva family.  Every year Judy and her husband anonymously provide for one family.  The CD is a delight.  Judy has a fine voice, recently winning a talent contest at Long Neck. 

Since arriving on Delmarva almost 15 months ago I’ve often been reminded of regional differences. For instance where I come from we speak English and you only think you do. Back in the highlands people live in homes and here people live in humes. You drive cars and we drive kurrs. You drink wawder and we drink wodder.

Some drunken wife beaters refer to me as a New Yorker and this is technically correct. I was born in the southwestern part of the state, which is the northern spine of the Appalachian range. The Alleghenies, if you will. New York City was an 8 hour drive. Cleveland, Toronto and Pittsburgh were just 3 hours at a steady clip. The closest city of any consequence was Buffalo, an hour or so to the north. Why of any consequence when it’s known for just three things? Snow, disappointing sports franchises and chicken wings. Snow can’t be exported unless on the back of an Alberta Clipper. The Bills can be exported to Toronto but we aren’t sure it’s going to be successful transplant surgery. The history of chicken wings is unique. Birthed at The Anchor Bar in 1964 this snack has conquered much of the world. With the exception, it appears, of Delmarva. You lack for any consistent efforts at pizza but we’ll leave that for another day.

This is just as much a restaurant review as it’s a chicken wing review.

Let me say that the folks at Uncle Willie’s make great fried chicken. I didn’t expect this as I thought of it only as a place for gassing up and buying a newspaper. The staff at Uncle Willie’s uses the same method for wings, however. It’s fried chicken in the shape of a chicken wing. If you want them hot you get a packet of deli hot sauce to tear open and barely cover your wings. Nothing special about prepackaged hot sauce and while I’m saying this I should note traditional chicken wings aren’t breaded. If I want breaded chicken I’ll buy Banquet at Food Lion and heat it in my oven at hume.

A good chicken wing isn’t breaded and while it requires more than a thumbnail measurement of hot sauce the wings shouldn’t be swimming in sauce soup. Sauce soup is my experience at Grotto. On Sundays Grotto offers a wing special during football games. Last year it was 5 dollars per order. While you can’t beat the price and the atmosphere of the joint is friendly let me argue good wings aren’t pulled from chicks. Good wings come from grown animals and while eating require the use of both hands. An order of wings is also one dozen and not ten or less. It isn’t a special if the wings are downsized. It’s also not a special if I can’t order it at a table while watching the Bills. Philadelphia fans have their own special foods. For Buffalo fans there are just two choices, wings or beef-on-weck. Recently I discovered you can’t order the wing special unless you’re at the bar. The restaurant has a dozen or so TVs but at the bar you get Eagles, Redskins or Ravens. At least those are the limits at the Long Neck location. So the offer should read wings on special only if you like Philly, Washington or Baltimore.

Good wings are meaty. When you bite into them the meat is white. Pink meat is meat somebody hasn’t fully cooked. Good chicken wings are crispy and the sauce is thick but adheres to the skin of the chicken. Wings may be barbecued but this is just an option for children. Many years ago I went into a restaurant and ordered some wings while watching a baseball game. I asked for them hot. The owner came out and explained he had his own recipe for garlic wings. Henry Ford once said you could get a Model T in any color as long as it was black. Buick countered with blue and green and yellow and Henry learned quickly about customer service. I ate the garlic wings. Then the owner wanted to know what I thought about his artistic creation. “If you’re planning on reinventing the wheel best to keep it round”, I replied. He wasn’t happy. He wasn’t alone.

A fellow telephoned my show a couple of weeks ago and told me I could watch the Bills at a bar at Peddler’s Village. So on Sunday I dropped in. The specials include chili and some tiny cheeseburgers. An order of wings will set you back 9 bucks. I counted 7 in my bowl. Then I had to ask for blue cheese. You don’t have blue cheese and you don’t have a chicken wing eating experience. The wings came plain but I was given a bottle of sauce I could sprinkle across them. Aw, Shucks, J.D., I’m not coming back.

Lately you’ve seen these chain restaurants opening in various neighborhoods and claiming to specialize in wings. The wings are meaty, well-cooked and the sauce clings to the skin. A few years ago I read where some restaurant chain bought wings at The Anchor Bar and spirited the order off to a lab for analysis, then copied the sauce. The Chinese do this with manufacturing technology. Some folks call it patent infringement. Others simply call it theft. I don’t like thieves.

Old Dom’ at The Anchor Bar intended wings to be finger food. Like popcorn or peanuts or even as I once found at a bar in Auburn, New York, smelt. In the beginning of the wing era there was no extra charge. The wings brought in the working men who then bought drinks. Some folks in these parts don’t have a clue.

From listener and safety advocate Chuck Jackson:

 After reading your front page lead story that carried the banner headline, “Motorcycle Fatalities Soar,” I would like to offer a few observations, based on my experiences as a former EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) in Baltimore County (MD), and senior staff member at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. The story of eight motorcycle deaths in less than a month here in Delaware, along with data showing an alarming increase in motorcycle fatalities nationwide, makes a compelling case for anyone who has anything to do with public safety in this state to step up and support changes in Delaware’s motorcycle helmet laws.

 

I find it unconscionable that in a state known for its tough stance on highway safety, motorcyclists are required to “display” helmets, not “wear” them. In other words, a helmet must be on the bike and not the biker. It’s like having a child safety seat law that requires a child safety seat to be “displayed” in the vehicle with the child sitting next to it, not in it. Critics will argue that mandating laws for children is necessary because they are minors, and lack the maturity to think responsibly for themselves. However, when it comes to adults, they are old enough and more mature to make their own decisions. That is, until they are critically injured or killed in a crash they might have survived without permanent damage, if they had been protected.

 

In Maryland, helmets are required, and their use has been credited with saving countless lives. The motorcycles might be engineered for speed, but the human body, and more importantly, the head, isn’t. As an EMT, and Director of Public Affairs at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, I saw the head trauma, first hand, among critically injured patients who, some said, were not lucky enough to die. “Unlucky,” in the sense that their recovery would take months and sometimes years in rehab, and often with debilitating brain damage and other neurological head and neck injuries that disabled them or left them dysfunctional for the rest of their lives. I recall one admission of a young man who was flown in by Maryland State Police med-evac helicopter with his helmet next to him on the backboard. The helmet, removed by paramedics, was cracked by the impact of his head on a guardrail along the highway that, police said, occurred at a speed above 50 miles per hour. He was badly bruised, his bones broken, but he escaped serious head, neck and spinal cord injuries because of the helmet.

 

It is time for the citizens (taxpayers) of this great state to express their support for strengthening our helmet laws by requiring their use. This effort will face some tough opposition from the so-called “freedom riders” who insist that this is a “constitutional” issue and not one of safety. The response to that must come from the area’s fire and EMS (Emergency Medical Services) personnel who are called to rescue these victims every week. It must also come from the entire medical community, including ER doctors, trauma nurses, the rehab clinics, and other health care professionals who are often called to the bedside of critically injured motorcyclists who were riding without helmets.

 

If there is going to be meaningful, life-saving changes in our helmet laws, this effort must also have the support among our elected leaders who will be held accountable for the unnecessary and expensive carnage that will continue to occur if they do nothing to enhance safety for motorcyclists and others who share the highways with them. As a former public information officer with Maryland State Police, I feel confident that Delaware State Police would support it and aggressively enforce it, once enacted. Have you ever seen a trooper assigned to the motor (cycle) unit riding without one?

 

Chuck Jackson, Executive Director

Citizen Advocates For Safe & Efficient Travel

P.O. Box 292

Nassau, DE 19969

www.caset.org

Yes, it’s Joe!

Any thoughts?