The Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber vote

11-11-2004 The Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber vote

Find whatever strength you have to terrorize your enemy.--Yasser Arafat, in a speech to Palestinians May 16, 2004

I decided to surf the cable news shows last night and I found myself bombarded with wall-to-wall Yasser Arafat bullspit. "His was a remarkable life," one talking head read into a camera with a totally straight face. Yep, it sure was. The father of modern terrororism was not alone a cold-blooded murderer. He was a corrupt oligarch, and was exposed as a complete phoney after turning his back on the Clinton brokered deal that offered him 95% of his demands and a Palestinian state to boot. In the mind of a ruthless terror thug, only 100% of their demands are acceptable or it's Jihad all over again. Appease, or die. And yet, the left-leaners of the world awarded him a Nobel Peace prize for nothing more than coordinating terrorist attacks for 5 long decades.

Bury the f**ker already so I can watch the video advertising box again.

I snagged this...from the Nancy & Kevin page of the WILK web site. It was "penned" by Nancy Kman.

NANCY'S NOTEBOOK

It's not gonna happen

I guess it was a foolish thought. I truly believed that with the election over, perhaps this country could pull together for the good of us all. It is not to be. Pulling together doesn't mean agreeing with each other, but it does mean to take a step back and look at issues, rather than divide and conquer those who don't agree with you. On the show this morning, we talked about a few issues of real importance. One is the AP Poll which shows that most Americans want the President to handle Iraq and Terrorism first, with taxes getting only 2 percent interest. It's fair game to ask why we haven't heard anything about a National Intelligence Director, but we're hearing the President talk about tax cuts and simplifying the tax system. 2/3rds of people (both Republicans and Democrats) say they think it's more important to get the deficit under control rather than cut taxes. It's fair game to ask you about that. The AP also investigated and discovered that the fines for American companies doing business with terrorist sponsoring states has actually gone down three-fold since 9-11. Isn't there something wrong with that...isn't that something we, as Americans, should be talking about? Well very few callers actually discussed these issues, instead it was 'I don't believe the report' or it's "Clinton's fault that the first World Trade Center attack happened". Another caller blamed the 'liberal judges' who handed down the fines. Not so. The Treasury Office is in charge of the fines not 'liberal judges'. But to many people, it doesn't matter. Their President can do no wrong, and they simply refuse to discuss any criticism. We, as a nation, are hurt when we refuse to open our eyes when we open our mouths.

********

Their President can do no wrong, and they simply refuse to discuss any criticism. We, as a nation, are hurt when we refuse to open our eyes when we open our mouths.

She's absolutely right, but I'll share something with you. For me, personally, I'm suffering from Bush-bashing fatigue at this point in time. I'm f**king sick of it.

We're treated to baseless charge after baseless charge. The guy has been libeled, he's been crucified, he's been slandered, he's been ridiculed, he's been savaged, and the scurrilous personal attacks have been relentless for close to two years now. And I'm sick of it.

And I'm not going to engage anyone seeking debate when they start off by calling him AWOL, a liar, 'for the rich only' or whatever other lunatic fringe theory happens to be the latest rage. At this point, if someone wanted to debate something worthwhile, right at the start I'm already just about predisposed to counter with a heartfelt, "Oh, f**k you already!" Really. It's gotten sickening. It's over the top already. If what you seek is rational debate of serious issues, tone down the reckless rhetoric once and for all.

Not that I'm expecting a return to some form of decency. Mikey Moore is currently planning another video hit piece on Bush. Some idiots are trying to make the case that Bush stole this election. Since the election, the red staters have been branded as being ignorant, racist, homophobic and religious nincompoops by the very same folks crying for a return of some much needed civility. But...despite all of the hurtful insults sent our way...we must now reach out to the elitist bomb throwers? You're kidding, right? And we've still got Kevin himself calling Bush supporters knuckle draggers, droolers and whatever else is required to demonstrate his moral and intellectual superiority. Nancy, if ya'll want more than left-leaners calling your show to debate the issues, muzzle the vitriol and at least try to understand my current mindset.

Did I mention that Bush eats small children?

I don't see... what the big freaking deal is. A well-paid county big whig apparently needs the extra money and works the polls on election day. After a liquid lunch, he decides he wants to beat up on a guy barely half his size with television cameras catching the embarrassing and needlesss brouhaha for all to see. What's the big deal? This is Luzerne County. In all honesty, is anyone actually surprised? And despite being cited by the police, does anyone expect anything to happen to the out-of-control poll-working bully?

Sh*t! You gotta shoplift anywhere from ten to twenty times to find yourself getting reprimanded in this county.

Is it a violation of the county's election laws to provide breath mints to the county employees working at the polls?

I was just wondering.

I see the new...but unelected leader of the free world is at it again. From Tuesday' Voice:

Amend city charter to eliminate health care for council members

11/09/2004

The budget for council's health costs is $29,000.

Editor: I am responding to a letter to the editor by Wilkes-Barre councilwoman Kathy Kane that was recently published in your newspaper. I believe that Mrs. Kane made several misleading statements.

First I would like to respond to here statement about the health care benefits of council members. The seven-member council has an annual budget for health care benefits of $29,000, which includes a buy-out for those who don't participate in the program. Mrs. Vitanovitch is the only member of council who is honest enough to refuse to take the extra money from the taxpayers. Mr. McGinley and Kathy Kane and Mr. Thomas are getting health insurance from their employers outside the city and take an additional check from the taxpayers in lieu of health care benefits. As a retired police chief, Mr. Barrett is already receiving health insurance from the city for free and therefore, by law, cannot take the extra check. Mr. Latinski and Mr. McCarthy continue to use taxpayer money to pay for their health care benefits, at the cost of $1,100 per member per month.

I think if this city council would like to do something positive for the taxpayers, they need to amend the city charter to abolish this greed by its own members.

Secondly, council members still get a car allowance; the difference is, they have renamed it in the budget to hide it from the taxpayers as a "travel expense." They get a budget amount of $7,500 per year, and they use every penny of it.

Thirdly, the districting of the city is something the taxpayers voted for, and the taxpayers need to be respected for knowing what is best for them and should never be belittled for making the choices that are unpopular with those we hire to represent us.

I will just say that if exposing the truth about our elected officials makes me a negative and disgruntled taxpayer, then it truly is a sad day in the City of Wilkes Barre. I feel it's about time the taxpayers of this city were exposed to the truth for a change, and not a watered-down version of the facts.

Walter Griffith Jr.
Wilkes-Barre

Oh, no. There's nothing negative there that I can detect. That's a very positive return to the days of choas and tumult. Very nice.

Mrs. Vitanovitch?

Hmmm. City Council. Why, they mislead you. They are not honest enough. They take additional checks. For free, no less. They continue to use taxpayer money. They should do something positive for the taxpayers. They should abolish this greed. They hide things from the taxpayers. The truth should be exposed. Is that about it?

This one is rich:

Knowing what is best for them? Redistricting? Listen to me tell it, champ. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but that remains to be seen. Heyna? We shall see, but don't count something that hasn't been instituted yet as a smashing success. McCain/Feingold comes to mind. Nobody is sure what is gonna happen when we vote by districts other than the fact that we should be about to gloat about sticking it to those ultra-greedy bastards on council. By the way, if the stars suddenly collide, that would be you, right?

More useless bilge from the "positive" one.

And then there's this from today' Voice:

Former W-B police chief doesn't accept city's health insurance

11/11/2004

Editor:

I am writing in response to a letter to the editor by Mr. Walter Griffith that was printed in The Citizens' Voice on Nov. 9. In that letter, Mr. Griffith spoke about several misleading statements allegedly made by Council Chairperson Kathy Kane. I will tell you that the only person making misleading statements is Mr. Griffith himself.

In his letter, Mr. Griffith spoke about some members of council receiving various health care benefits. I can only speak for myself on this matter, but the information that Mr. Griffith presented is far from being accurate. Mr. Griffith stated that as a retired police chief, I am already receiving health care benefits from the city for free and cannot legally take the "extra check." Nothing could be further from the truth.

As a former police officer and chief of police with over 27 years of service, it is true that I am entitled to personal health care benefits. What Mr. Griffith apparently doesn't know is that I do not accept any council-related fringe benefits, including health care waivers. In addition, I also waived my police-related health care benefits and also do not contribute to the non-uniform pension fund, despite being eligible to do so. This was a promise that I made to the residents prior to being elected to office, and one that I will keep as long as I am in office.

I sincerely wish that Mr. Griffith would join with everyone, including all the elected officials, city employees, civic groups and all the other residents who are working hard every day to create a bright future for our city. We can accomplish great things and continue moving our city forward when we all work together.

Bill Barrett
Wilkes-Barre City Council member

I hear that! We can accomplish great things if we all work together, but that's assuming that we all want the same things. Mr. Barrett and I want the same things. But Mr. Griffith simply wants Mr. Barrett's job and he'll continue to slime away until he gets it. Mr. Griffith has stayed on message once again.

Our city council is comprised of misleading and greedy people that hide the truth from the taxpayers.

That's one hell of a positive message.

Oh, yeah. It's Vita-super-nova, dummy.

Plus...I recorded Walter's phone call to the Sue Henry Show on WILK yesterday. You never know when my trusty microrecorder might come into play. On a brief aside, I once had an angry boob get in my face about this web thingy and after learning that his threats to my well being had just been recorded, he ran away never to be heard from again. Eat me! Sorry.

Anyway, Walter was on some extended rant about how our elections here in this county are so utterly corrupt the state needs to investigate the situation. Whatever. Being delusional is not a crime as of yet. He even made the claim, "I was the only one who was able to bring that to light in this county."

Uh, okayyyyyy. Why argue with him? Humor him. Pat him on the head. Maybe he'll go away.

He also leveled the charge that our "city and county politicians are double-dipping, triple-dipping, even quadruple-dipping."

Really???

Care to expound on that serious charge as it pertains directly to our elected folks here in the city? Who exactly is double, triple and quadruple-dipping in this city? Got a few names and some proof for us dummies out here? Vitanovich, maybe? McCarfney? McGanley? Cane? Lateraltinski? Bare-it, perhaps? Thomasski? Prove it, bomb thrower. And try to at least spell their names correctly when you're very publicly accusing people of being corrupt.

You know, like the time you accused our council babes of violating campaign finance laws only to learn that you didn't know what the f**k you were talking about and were forced to issue a public apology. Remember that one? DUH!!!

How about when you demanded an itemized list of expenses from the mayor's inauguration ball and in effect suggesting that city funds were spent on one ripper of a party? Whatever became of that? That's what I thought. DUH!!!

Or the time you floated petitions. When the folks at voter services got their hands on them, they were probably left to assume that they were carried by activist toddlers. Crayons don't cut it and neither do erasers or white-out. But you didn't know that. DUH!!!

And now it's double, triple and quadruple-dipping by city officials. I already know where this latest and scurrilous accusation will end up. In the circular Rubbermaid DUH! file, that's where. DUH!!!

And this vociferous guy wants to be put in charge? Based on what he's accomplished so far (nothing), I wouldn't trust him with the keys to a federally funded dunghill. Funny, the Regional Equipment Center suddenly popped into my head.

There's nothing negative about enciting further negativity from the dimwitted and perpetually disgruntled among us. Nah, nah, that's a positive thing. With positivity such as this, SAYSO's future is bright.

Keep on truckin', Walt. The way you're going, you're sure to capture the great majority of the Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber vote.

Later