I hadn’t noticed the downed trees.  Driving home tonight I passed through a stretch of road historically so thick with trees you would think it’s twilight at noon.  A couple of acres have been cleared.  This county is roughly 85 percent fields and forest and I’m not opposed to the latest development but the change was nonetheless jarring.  A fellow comes to the radio station every Wednesday and does a segment with me about finance, economy and investment.  We’ve become friends and I like a phrase he often uses.  “The only constant in our lives is change”, he tells me.  September the 5th I mark two years on the job here at the Lower Shore.  Two years ago tonight a short Asian man was barking orders at me, instructing me to hand sort third and second class mail before loading an automated machine.  When he wanted to speak with me he would walk up and take my identity badge in his right hand and look at my name and then babble at me in some failed effort to communicate in English.  “Beeeeelllll”, is all I understood. 

While life here is quite different and a boon for my self esteem, not much about day-to-day life has changed around the house or at the grocery store.  I met my buddy Phil Plack at the diner the other morning and we had breakfast in anonymity.  I still cherish being unnoticed in public.  The redhead dropped by on her way to a doctor’s visit and we talked about our hopes for the future.  Too many to mention in my letter and perhaps we didn’t share nearly enough of our fears.  Phil and the woman with the long red hair suggest I start making some demands at work.  Hey, I’m just happy so many people are listening.  Saturday I get to meet many, many of them. 

A few weeks ago some folks affiliated with Delaware Tea Party asked if I could be the master of ceremonies at the first centrally located statewide tea party.  Of course I accepted.  I’m getting four hours in the sun on the Legislative Mall in Dover.  We’ll see some of the national folks from across the big bay joining us and there was a rumor Glenn Beck would drop by, or some fellow on Facebook identifying himself as Glenn Beck.  Tomorrow’s program is a warm-up for September the 12th in Washington.  In between I’m squeezing in a vacation for my daughter.  Last summer I postponed the time with my teenager because I was on a mission to Washington.  One hundred twenty one miles by bicycle to deliver petitions to our elected officials and our state’s member of the House of Representatives brushed it aside.  And he now wonders why he faced an angry “mob” on June Thirtieth.  It was the spark igniting the powder keg.  Georgetown, Delaware may well become the historical “Ground Zero” of a populace taking its government back from an insensitive House of Lords.

Not long ago I didn’t see much hope for my country’s future and it mirrored my time in the wilderness in late 2006 and 2007.  The forest around me appeared an immovable object.  Today I’ve been experiencing inner stirrings I haven’t felt in years.  The feeling you had throughout the 24^th of December, as a kid, as you watched the ticking clock and the anxiety multiplied exponentially.  I see light.

Yesterday an old coworker sent me a note and said there was a time 4 years ago when I warned the country was heading for a crack-up that she thought I was cracking up.  So did my employer, a company now heading for the fire sale.  About the same time I made the on-air prediction I had a lunch meeting with an old friend, Father Chuck Vavonese.  He’s the actual administrator of schools for the Syracuse Roman Catholic Diocese, even if the title belongs to someone else.  We talked about our nation’s cultural and economic rot and he suggested a second civil war was approaching.  It wouldn’t be regional, he explained, instead it would pit neighbor-against-neighbor.  For Father Chuck it was 1850 all over again.  Last week I thought the experience was 1859 and from what I’m observing today we could be at 1861 by summer’s end.  Like the land down the road stripped bare of trees there won’t be any cover for which to hide.  Now we’re riding history’s tide and it promises to sweep away so much and leave us a clean slate. 

Dear Friends:

I’m writing with excitement.  My friend and former talk radio co-host, Jon Alvarez, is running for a vacant seat in New York State’s 23^rd Congressional District.  The seat is being vacated by Representative John McHugh as he has been nominated the new Secretary of the Army.

Jon Alvarez defines “patriot”.  His paternal grandparents came to this country from Spain during the turbulent 1930s.  Jon Alvarez grew up in Canton, Ohio and later attended the University of Texas.  He met his wonderful, lovely and loyal wife, Laura, while in Texas pursuing a career in education.

Eventually settling in Central Upstate New York, Jon Alvarez was deeply moved by the images of September 11, 2001.  As our country’s war effort ramped up, Jon vowed he would join the Army if it would allow another brave young soldier to return home to family.  When the military lifted age restrictions, Jon Alvarez joined weeks shy of his fortieth birthday.  At the age of 42 he was deployed to Iraq.  This after he lobbied for overseas duty despite a hearing loss detected by Army doctors. 

Jon Alvarez is scheduled stateside in just a few short weeks.  His initial plans were to return home and tend to his farm in Oswego County, New York and to welcome his daughter as a business partner in real estate sales.  Then the special election came across the radar.

The district is massive, stretching across the vast expanses of the Tug Hill Plateau, Adirondack Forest and portions of the Mohawk Valley and areas south of Lake Ontario.  People living in the district define “hard work and personal responsibility” every bit as much as Jon Alvarez defines dedication to his country.  It’s a natural match.

This nation was once a land of heroes.  It was a land explored by heroes.  It remains a land constructed by heroes.  Contrary to popular belief there are still many great men and women, filled with grit, ready to remind us we’ve so much more ahead. 

Jon Alvarez hasn’t endorsed my message and I’m in no official capacity with his campaign.  We do, however, share a belief the nation is absolutely going down the wrong road.  Jon Alvarez will be representing my fellow countrymen some 400 miles away from where I live but in a sense he’ll be representing an ideal, one which embers still burn in so many hearts.  If you believe you can assist Jon Alvarez in his quest, you may contact me at billc@wgmd.com.  I’ll do my part by pointing you in the right direction. 

Some genius has posted a comment somewhere on the internet that contains my name.  I received a Google Alert late this Saturday afternoon.  The writer suggests if a minority police officer arrested Sgt. Crowley of Cambridge and me for doing something criminal we wouldn’t like it either.  It’s a reference to a story some of you may have missed about Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  A story I’ve offered some earlier radio commentary.

My reply to the other opinion writer would look something like this:

Do you suggest anyone getting arrested for doing something criminal is pleased? 

The internet has a democratizing effect and a lot of people are using it stupidly.  If I’m to put myself in the shoes of someone breaking the law do I get a series of choices?  Killer, arsonist, New York State legislators?  Or is my critic suggesting in order avoiding hurting people’s feelings we should shout a hello and allow rapists, thieves and murderers to pass? 

Professor Gates certainly isn’t accused of any such heinous behavior but he did verbally abuse an officer of the law.  An officer of the law, we should note, performing his duty at the time of the verbal assault.  Are any of you aware of any city, town or village in America where this is legal and considered acceptable social behavior? 

The conclusion my critic appears to have reached is that it’s acceptable for any non-Caucasian minority to engage in rude conduct as a form of reparation for past wrongs, perceived current wrongs and any potential wrongs which may occur in the future.  And a very orderly culture we’ll create when we establish rules allowing some folks wider latitude in life than others.  Oh, sorry, we’ve already done that; it’s called Affirmative Action. 

Under these newly enshrined guidelines the arrest of any member of a self-defined minority community shall result in a series of options.  We can start by allowing the arrestee to refuse.  Extreme?  Perhaps we can allow every member of a self-defined minority a series of get out of jail free cards.  These can be used up to a standard limit of three and if the persecuted wakes one day finding himself/herself out of cards a court of arbitration will be convened.  If the court rules in favor of the police a proportional number of white men will also be ordered to jail, which can be accomplished simply by pulling Social Security numbers from a jar.  Even to better represent white men in prison and balance historical wrongs we can order a secondary round of white men to the big house. 

You could argue it isn’t obvious these targeted white men have committed any crimes but there is the written law and then there is the law waiting between the lines for interpretation.  In keeping with fairness this demands a seat for a Latina on the Supreme Court of the United States.  Understand a woman is a far better “decider” when it comes to dispensing justice.  A wise Latina, self-admittedly through her own life’s experiences, is an even better interpreter.

I reside in Delaware and all of what I suggest is standard thinking among local academics, many of whom propose just being born white is an expression of aggression and oppression.  Grant it, my white parents were quite oppressive.  They wouldn’t let us outside to roam the streets at night and frowned on poor grades, skipping school and doing drugs.  It’s exactly the type of parenting leading to more aggression and oppression and as it’s a learned behavior when we’re young it’s unlikely we’ll ever be fully rehabilitated. 

So I await the knock on the door at 3:00 A.M.  I know it’s coming the day the local crack addict finds his deck empty and arbitration provides my comeuppance. 

A Perfect Storm Is Brewing

by Pam Geller

I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied history all my life. I
think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or
a credit crisis. Yes, these exist but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a
sharper focus.
Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and
how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has
been evolving for about 10-15 years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.
We demanded and then codifi ed into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people whom we knew could
never pay back? Why? We learned recently that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has
“loaned” two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or
disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700B we all argued about so strenuously
just this past September.
Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I
thought this was a government of “We the People,” who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.
We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why?
We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we
are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate.
Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?
We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition
that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing
possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that
radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into
a banana republic. To what purpose?
Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system
is on the verge of collapse, Social Security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education
system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about.) The list is staggering in its length,
breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 x 10. And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending
people of the same religion who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.
And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a
town as big as Wasilla, Alaska. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fi elds of employment,
and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary. (Surely you have heard him
speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our
borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah
Palin’s pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important.)
Mr. Obama’s winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change…radical change. Why?
I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people
together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical
lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed
coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.
And that is only the beginning.
I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the
savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing.
What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom
they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises. Economic times were tough,
people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were
afraid to speak out for fear that his “brown shirts” would bully them into submission.
And then he was duly elected to offi ce, with a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression]. Slowly but
surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy.
The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think. How did he get the people
on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex.
He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising
to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world.
He did it with a compliant media - Did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and…change. And the
people surely got what they voted for. (Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.) Read your history books. Many people
objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out
the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed
into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though.
Don’t forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals,
laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years - a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency
- it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors
against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them.
As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective
pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from
across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong, close my eyes, have another latte and ignore what is transpiring
around me.
Some people scoff at me; others laugh or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to
look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe - and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. But, I do not think
I am.

About the author …
Pamela “Atlas” Geller began her publishing career at The New York Daily News and subsequently took over operation of
The New York Observer as Associate Publisher. She left The Observer after the birth of her fourth child, but remained involved
in various projects including American Associates, Ben Gurion University and being Senior Vice-President Strategic
Planning and Performance Evaluation at The Brandeis School .
After 9/11, Atlas had the veil of oblivion violently lifted from her consciousness and immersed herself in the education and
understanding of geopolitics, Islam, terror, foreign affairs and imminent threats the mainstream media and the government
wouldn’t cover or discuss.
Please use the power of the Internet to get this message out. Talk it up at the grassroots level.

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.

A fellow at a local newspaper wrote a story headlined “Irate conservatives get together…”  It’s a piece about the tea parties.  I wrote Dan Shortridge an email:

Dear Dan, I understand you aren’t exactly New York Times caliber talent but I see you’re trying to ape that paper’s spin.  How do you know all of the folks at the tea party are conservatives?  I personally know two Democrats who attended.  How about libertarians or don’t you know the difference? 

Liberal media bias isn’t a myth.  You’re exhibit A locally.

Bill Colley

You can also send Dan an email and express your thoughts:  dshortridge@delawareonline.com

This is a note originally posted at Facebook describing some recent political events in Delaware:

Thurman Adams and Joe Biden weren’t likely political soul mates. Adams was a gentlemanly old style Southern Democrat. A social conservative vexing the liberals in the northern reaches of Delaware, the powerful State Senator died last week. Biden offered a eulogy at Saturday’s funeral. I didn’t go. It isn’t personal. The redhead’s grass hadn’t been mowed in almost two weeks because of our unexpected monsoon season and I only met Adams on one occasion. No disrespect intended and I offered my respects to the man’s family during my radio show.

An acquaintance did attend and Tuesday telephoned me with news of what he labels a gaffe. Biden was reminiscing during his eulogy. The American born Biden explained it wasn’t easy as an Irish-Catholic to get elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware in 1972. Biden often works to portray Delaware as Philadelphia, Mississippi in 1964 and ignores the fact political power is actually concentrated in New Castle County, Delaware, which is a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Biden then looked at the Adams family and said it’s like running for office as a “black convert Jew”.

My acquaintance was seated with friends. He is roughly the color of President Obama. He voted for the Obama-Biden ticket. He wasn’t pleased by what he views as a condescending, stupid and racist remark. Recently elected to his local school board, my acquaintance is growing very disillusioned with the rampant socialization of his country.

You know, I may have learned about this earlier but I had a rare three day weekend from work. None of which was spent on rest and relaxation. Yard work Saturday and a shopping trip Sunday and Monday I went to New Castle County, where I was a guest of a local Republican club being built on new internet technology. I came home late, went to bed after 12:30 A.M. Tuesday and by 10:00 A.M. was showered, shaved and dressed to meet an old Castle. Cap and Tax Castle, Republican Representative Mike Castle is one of the 8 members of his party jumping ship last week on a plan to put the final coffin nail into my country’s economy.

He was holding a town meeting and I carried two signs with me. “China thanks Mike Castle” read one and the other “Malevolent Mike”. He saw only the first and asked if I was representing China. Then he dashed into the meeting to see more than 200 people waiting for him. About 6 were there asking him to support socialized medicine. The rest to suggest he retire. Mr. Castle may run next year in a special election to fill the last four years of Mr. Biden’s U.S. Senate term.

I’ve now heard GOP reaction to Mr. Castle’s vote on both ends of my state. He may no longer have much support. His most recent vote isn’t an aberration.

Castle still has a few friends. There are people who moved here from Annapolis and Washington to open pottery shops, however. Firing pottery requires a great deal of generated energy. Here’s a suggestion, put down the clay, pick up a sign and join me in the effort to retire the guy.

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O.J. Simpson was “acquitted”. The word “acquitted” doesn’t mean “not guilty”. There is a legal difference. Michael Jackson, a writer tells me, was “acquitted” twice. Then he went on TV and chatted about sleeping in the same beds with little boys. This is a man who wasn’t unfamiliar with social mores. He understood clearly how his behavior would be viewed. His callousness is evidenced in the video of the man hanging one of his infant children over a balcony in Berlin. Had he been a poor man, Jackson would’ve been imprisoned and segregated for his own protection from other inmates. Last night a Washington Post columnist wrote Jackson benefited from the dawn of the music video and the tight production of Quincy Jones. When the video fad waned so did Jackson’s career.

Now, earlier I stated Ed McMahon was a role model. He left a budding broadcast career to return to the Marine Corp and dodged flack over North career on 85 distinct occasions. Ed McMahon was a great man. His TV obituaries reduced him to some sad clown guffawing at Johnny Carson’s jokes. For the record, Carson flew no missions over North Korea.

I’m also hearing comparisons between Jackson and Elvis Presley. The latter walked away from his career when it was at its peak and gave his country two years in the Army. Then he returned and had two distinct and successful careers before dying.

In an earlier note I mentioned I live a short drive from Dover Air Force Base. It houses a mortuary where fallen heroes come home for the last time. It was recently in the news as mainstream news media demanded they be given access to some very private family (relatives and military family) moments. Partial access was granted; the media showed up for a couple of days and then vanished. Most of the young men and women come home from their final battles and their names are rarely remembered beyond some urban neighborhood or small Nebraska town. Some came from hardscrabble backgrounds even more trying than anything the wealthy Mister Jackson endured. Yet they didn’t complain, they instead put on uniforms and sought more hardship. Past generations of Americans were almost wholly that way, taking depression in stride and then still offering to do a duty for their country.

There are no apologies I’ll make about my feelings for Michael Jackson. He was a media creation. The current media frenzy tells us a great deal about where we’re headed culturally and why there is so little hope for the future. Jackson could dance, sing and fellow a choreographer’s directions. Apparently far better than most people but what does he leave us culturally? The circus has left town and perhaps we need to take stock of what it really means to be an idol. A hero, for a much better description, and next week a large plane will land at Dover. Then how will you define greatness?

I’ve read comments at Facebook from cousins and old friends calling me a monster for suggesting Jackson was anything less than a demigod. He was just a man given great gifts, which then were squandered for some inexplicable reason. He’ll deal now with God as the rest of us will. Alone, carrying nothing from the temporal world.

Yesterday I posted some remarks emailed me by a Lewes electrical contractor.  I was carbon copied on a letter he mailed to State Representative Joe Booth and State Senators Gary Simpson and Colin Bonini.  I clearly stated it was a letter from a listener.  Late in the day I received a Google Alert tipping me to a blog called Delaware Way.  The writer of said rubbish was crediting the businessman’s words to me and offering some barbed criticism in some desperate hope of gaining a few political points.  Twice Tuesday I emailed the writer and pointed to her error.  I’ve received no replies.  I can only assume it’s a typical tactic of the left, to make false claims and faulty attributions.  We can conclude there isn’t any credibility at Delaware Way.