8-30-2005 Negativity sells


When the law’s on your side, pound on the law. When the facts are on your side, pound on the facts. When neither is on your side, pound on the table.--Lawyer speak

If you were a reporter for The Times Leader and dumb like a friggin' stump, which, these days, seem to be associated conditions, then the following Dowdified bilge would make perfect sense.

Posted on Tue, Aug. 30, 2005

CASEY JONES

Bush can only wish he had Leighton’s clout

Denise Carey is to Mayor Tom Leighton as Cindy Sheehan is to President George Bush.

Each is camped out with followers.

Each has lined a road with protest signs, and inspired others to join her cause.

And they both keep running their mouths and running their mouths and running their mouths, resulting in a lot of bad press for the powers-that-be.

Their causes are quite different.

Sheehan wants to bring U.S. troops home from the war in Iraq, which Bush opened.

Carey has been carrying the torch for reopening the Heights fire station, which Leighton closed.

But the women share the same sense of determination.

Each has been told “no” about a thousand times, but they keep on pestering, pestering, pestering.

And they pester from a very lofty perch.

Carey and Sheehan have moral authority.

Sheehan lost a son in the war. Bush didn’t.

Carey lost a firehouse in her neighborhood. Leighton didn’t.

That puts the mayor and the president in a predicament.

They would each like to crush their opposition. Bush can’t. But Leighton can.

A strong-armed mayor in a strong mayoral system of government has a lot more power than a president, or maybe just a lot less to lose.

Carey and Sheehan have moral authority.

Sheehan lost a son in the war. Bush didn’t.

Carey lost a firehouse in her neighborhood. Leighton didn’t.

Sorry Spudly, but that "moral authority" gambit amounts to nothing more than the old misdirection play. By claiming to possess the moral authority, you are declaring that your agrument is above reproach and not even argueable. No matter what one's political delusions, no such unbridgeable chasm exists in a free country.

Trust me, neither Sheehan nor Carey can make such a lofty claim. Everyone keeps talking about Sheehan's sacrifice, while the fact is her son re-enlisted in August 2003, five months into Operation Iraqi Freedom. Whatever Cindy says these days, she could not have been in the dark as far as the risks he faced are concerned. If I were to wager a bet, I'd have to bet that she tried to get him to reconsider his plans to re-enlist. In my mind, she lost a son, but he made the ultimate sacrifice. She has no absolute moral authority, or an other absolute some political strategist might dream up. At this point, she's little more than a political f**k doll of the left.

Sheehan lost a son in the war. Bush didn’t.

Casey, Bush doesn't have a son.

Carey lost a firehouse in her neighborhood. Leighton didn’t.

Casey, Leighton didn't have a firehouse in his neighborhood to lose. You can't lose what you didn't have in the first place, but you can be forced to suffer through the claptrap of those who claim to hold the moral authority.

They would each like to crush their opposition. Bush can’t. But Leighton can.

This is a classic example of a reporter shirking the responsibilities that accompany the power of the press. Think of an autistic Cub Scout with a 105 mm high-velocity gun.

By the way, if you'd like to play with a 105 mm high-velocity gun, you'll have to join the military and then beg for the keys to an M1/A1.

Maybe you really can’t fight city hall

Leighton, the city attorneys and a county judge taught Carey a lesson last week.

First, a little background.

Obstinate about the mayor’s obstinateness, Carey started a petition drive, and bit off more than she can chew.

In order to force the city to reopen the fire station she had to force a referendum to change the city charter to give the people the power to enact legislation through referendum.

All she wanted was a firehouse, but in the attempt, she attempted to impose town hall democracy on a strong-armed dictatorship. And the dictator would have none of it.

Leighton put the city attorneys to work and challenged Carey’s petition.

And when Carey was forced to withdraw the documents that many of you signed, the city asked for legal fees of more than $11,000. County Judge Michael Conahan granted the obscene request.

You know, I think the mayor, judge and city attorney could probably write a check for $11,000. But Denise Carey can’t. Not many of us could.

So now a regular person will have to think twice before he or she takes on city hall, considering what happened to Carey.

The system put Carey in her place.

Her city fed her to the sharks with the law degrees.

They made an example of her.

Did you get the message, folks?

City hall and the county courts have spoken. Resistance will not be tolerated. Pay your taxes, peons, and keep your mouths shut.

So now, Carey sits stunned on the sidelines, stuck with a bill, awaiting appeal.

Meanwhile, Leighton is dancing in the end zone.

Have you community activists had enough yet? Anybody else want a piece of the mayor? He’s got plenty more lawyer where that came from.

Fight city hall?

Forget it.

You’d have a better chance fighting the White House.

The way I remember things, it was a strong-armed county judge that put Carey in her place, and not Tom Leighton. What we have here is a reporter convicting by innuendo instead of evidence.

"The system,"...ah, the system. That's code for Leighton and Conahan decided over a game of golf to stick it to the latest in a long line of suicide petitioneers. Casey, like many of those employed at "that other paper," will not stop stoking the fires of discontent. Their circulation is way, way down, so it's controversy, controversy and more controversy, all at Wilkes-Barre's expense. They could bust on Hazleton. They could bust on Pittston. They should bust on Nanticoke. But Wilkes-Barre just happens to be home to the al Katsock Brigades where maniaical insurgents are taping petitions to their chests at an increasingly alarming rate. At this point, it wouldn't shock me if Mark Guydish called Wilkes-Barre a quagmire ala Vietnam and demanded that Mayor Leighton immediately pull our cops out.

The system put Carey in her place.

Her city fed her to the sharks with the law degrees.

They made an example of her.

No evidence. Only innuendo. A clear case of a pedestrian mentality meeting the needs of other pedestrian mentalities.

So, sez me, negativity sells.


The following is from our less than amazing forum page:

Logic? We doan need no steenkin' logic!

JJ volunteers? -- wow, 21:10:32 08/28/05 Sun [1]

I think you should read your own paragraph from your latest posting. Evidently the general public does not have the same opinion of the city administration as you. Also I don't think JJ volunteers his time, he is in the reserves and recieves his city pay when he is gone. You should really be bitching how much time JJ goes to the reserves and the city still covers for him. Think again. By the way how many Search and Rescue mission have come out of Langley lately?

Try this one on for size. If I had a dollar for every time someone said this administration doesn't care a lick about public safety, I'd have enough money to buy all of Detroit and all of it's surrounding suburbs. But while our nation is sending our armed forces into harm's way, who is it that volunteers his time for Search & Rescue mission duties out of Langley Air Force base on occasion? Well, that would be J.J. Murphy. He cares not? Think again.

Allow me to begin by posting my horoscope as it appeared in today's Citizens' Voice:

VIRGO (aug. 23-Sept. 22): Stoop to conquer. Although you can mentally pierce through to the essence of matters, remember to be kind to those who can't.

Play nice??? Ah, okay.

First off, I could really care less what the general public thinks of this administration in direct comparison to my thoughts. Are you fargin' serious? The vaunted general public of which you speak thinks a gallon of gasoline should cost no more than a pack of Juicey Fruit, while demanding that oil rigs, oil refineries, nuclear power plants and windmills be forever banned from our pristine landscapes. That makes perfect sense to the general public, the folks that buy their cars big and bigger. Yet, they decry their percieved "war for oil."

And if the general public thinks Leighton should be whipped bloody, exiled to Noxen and his name forever barred from our collective conscience, then they deserve exactly what they'll get for their short-sightedness. It's as obvious as the chip on your shoulder that Leighton is slowly but surely putting in place a slew of projects that can only help the city. What does the general public focus on? A rotted firehouse built before their granddad's were even thunk of? And don't dupe yourself, come re-election time, that firehouse will be a non-issue with voters throughout the flatlands of the city.

J.J. doesn't volunteer his time? Are you serious? Did those damned neocons draft him? Another Bush lie? Sorry, but the last time I checked, our military, reserve or otherwise, was a volunteer force. From the special forces in the hills of Afghanistan, to the search & rescue crews at air bases, and to the recruiters right here in Wilkes-Barre, they chose to serve their country.

Does he still recieve his city pay when he is gone? You sure got me by the unshaved ones. Fact is, I don't really care. There are salaried positions, and then there are hourly positions. Typically, the higher up the chain of command one goes, the higher his chances of being a salaried employee. If it'd make you feel a lot better, we could send a courier to the al Katsock Brigades and have them launch another suicide petitioneer right quick. Should we dock J.J.'s pay while he's off supporting the folks who put their lives on the line each and every day? That'd make for one helluva ballot question.

I know what he earns. I asked him and he told me. Of course, I had to make like I was absolutely stunned by what he told me. I can't help it, I'm an idiot. If we dock his pay while he's away, it wouldn't amount to much more than peanuts in the grand scheme of things. And it's not a zero-sum game we'd be playing. But if it would make you feel a whole lot better, by all means, go for it. Bring it up. Call a newspaper reporter. Go to a council meeting or something. I'm not bustin' balls. I mean it. If it's a problem, go for it. As for myself, I'm not worried about it. I don't wanna spend any time at any air force base, therefore I don't. But somebody has to do it and he does. And I think that's a noble endeavor not worthy of condemnation back here at home.

Besides, if China decided to funnel mass quantities of shoulder-fired Stinger knock-offs to the terrorists currently holding Iraq back and our fighter/attack aircraft and helos starting dropping like flies, you might see some of these stateside mission support groups shipping off to the war zones. You never know, even the likes of J.J. might be only one phone call away from a very forward deployment. I mean, historically speaking, battlefields have proven to be very fluid environments.

And if memory serves, our former mayor denied our veterans employed by the city some monetary goodies that they were completely entitled to. With one stroke of a pen, they could have cashed in. He refused to make that one stroke. But didn't our current mayor pass some sort of legislation that would ensure that any of our employees serving their country could collect whatever it is they are entitled to?

By the way how many Search and Rescue mission have come out of Langley lately?

You got me. Why don't you ask him, or do an internet search? I'd bet the answer would surprise you. Not only do these search and rescue folks have to be on the ready line for their own guys heading into the wild blue yonder, they also have commercial and private aircraft to deal with on occasion.

Don't be gettin' you're flaperons all twisted into a knot over nuthin'.


I've made absolutely no bones about the fact that I unequivically trust and support the Wilkes-Barre Police Department. And I've delved into what they do for a paycheck on many occasions. I do not pretend to know what it's like to carry a gun and a badge, but I know that I've been provided with in-depth insights from the folks who go out on patrol that your run-of-the-mill citizen is never going to be privy to. I'm not bragging or anything, I'm just stating facts. While very many of us sit around bitching about cops, while never understanding what they do and what they go through; I bothered to try to find out what's it's like to some degree. Yes, I have more scanners than kids. And, yes, I was given permission to ride along with not only two Wilkes-Barre police officers, but two Plains Township police officers as well. For that, I am eternally grateful. It's one thing to sit around and grumble about things you simply can not understand, but it's a whole other thing to be given that rarest of chances to educate yourself.

I've recieved plenty of e-mail from the mental midgets who neither understand, nor appreciate what it's like to be a peace officer. And I was as ignorant as I could be to those of us who demand safe neighborhoods, while castigating the folks that try to maintain the peace. Some have even made fun of me for sending a few pizzas down to police headquarters on a few occasions. I told the lot of them to stop concerning themselves with how I fritter away the hefty monies I manage to earn. You just keep on hatin' em' and I'll just keep on supportin' em'. No big thang.

Most recently, our police department has been a completely apolitical bunch while dealing with the once intolerable lows, and now the promise of an administration to give them what they need to get the job done. There was that recent letter published wherein some police union brass took issue with some comments from the fire department's union, but that was the exception rather than the rule with our cops. Whether it be mayors, negative press, frustrating working conditions, or internet provocateurs; these folks tend to keep their lips zipped real tight like. And with what has transpired in this city over the course of the past decade, I'm thinking that that is quite the accomplishment.

But with that said, I'm wondering if the folks toting the 'spensive guns would care to weigh in at the following internet outpost.

And I cut, copy and paste quote:

THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO THE DO-NOTHING, DOUGHNUT MUNCHING, RATHER-BE-SOMEWHERE-ELSE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF WILKES-BARRE, PA !!!

Doughnuts R Us

Well, that's my BOLO alert.

I'm going 10-7.


From the e-mail inbox MENTAL HOSPITAL PHONE MENU

"Hello and thank you for calling Dorthea Dix Mental Hospital. Please select from the following options menu:

If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.

If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.

If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6.

If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line so we can trace your call.

If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be forwarded to the Mothership.

If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.

If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press, nothing will make you happy anyway.

If you are dyslexic, press 9696969696969696.

If you are bipolar, please leave a message after the beep or before the beep or after the beep. Please wait for the beep.

If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.

If you have low self-esteem, please hang up. Our operators are too busy to talk with you.

If you are menopausal, put the gun down, hang up, turn on the fan, lie down and cry. You won't be crazy forever.

If you are blonde, don't press any buttons, you'll just mess it up

From Boortz.com

YESTERDAY'S NOTES REGARDING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

Yesterday's Nuze contained information about evidence of weapons of mass destruction uncovered in Iraq. We received many emails asking for the sources of this information. So .. here you go. Just click on these links and become a better-informed American!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-07-07-iraq-uranium_x.htm http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/8/28/110744.shtml http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14295

Please make particular note of the article from the July 7, 2004 edition of USA Today. Here you will read that the United Nations was having a bit of a fit because the United States secretly shipped 4000 pounds of low-enriched uranium and about 1,000 highly radioactive items from Iraq to the US a month earlier. The transfer of this material was made to keep it out of the hands of terrorists.

This is in response to what I heard on The Sue Henry Show much, much earlier today:

The drug industry is the model of racial cooperation by which all other models should be measured: Brown people grow drugs, black people sell them, and white people buy them.

Heyna?

Bye