Gage‘s extended holiday vacation came to an abrupt end yesterday when he spent his very first day at Blue Grass elementary in Knoxville, Tennessee. His mom said he was kind of nonplussed afterwards, so I guess the change of surroundings hasn’t phased him too much. Due to good behavior, he earned a trip to the “Treasure Chest” and picked a trinket from within. Oh, but he did get in the wrong line at the end of his school day and got lost for a spell. Lost, as in, inside the school, not lost like wandering aimlessly about his new hometown. Thank goodness (God is now banned by law) for that.

I’m starting to get all excited about this Democrat takeover of the House and Senate.

"The days of smoke-filled rooms in the United States Capitol are over," Pelosi said. "Medical science has unquestionably established the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke, including an increased risk of cancer and respiratory diseases. I am a firm believer that Congress should lead by example."

Nancy Pelosi banned smoking. Isn’t that just special. Typical chick. No sooner did she get her hands on the gavel, she felt compelled to emasculate the men. No more good old boys brokering deals in smoke-filled rooms. No more of those rambunctious boys on her watch. This is Barbie Town now.

Now, those rooms can be retrofitted with baby changing stations, adult diapers, Nutri-Grain bars and bottled water. You voted to put a Californian in charge, and you got the best that San Franfreakshow has to offer. No more smoking. Big whoop! That first 100 hours agenda is sure paying big dividends. (?)

And what’s this utter profanity, this filth she offered about “Congress should lead by example?" Since when?

Lead by example? A big part of the dysfunction that is Washington D.C. stems from the fact that our elected leaders on the big national stage are increasingly isolated from the constituents they have been reputed to be serving. I mean to say, how can anyone who cannot operate the hoagie computer at Sheets pretend to have a plan to end the worldwide strife we’ve been getting so used to? Not to pick on Nancy Pelosi alone, but how can she set domestic and foreign policy when the operation of an ATM is probably beyond her capabilities? Has she ever ridden a city bus late at night in an inner-city environment? Has she ever bicycled broken streets in broken neighborhoods? Or, did she do a fly-over?

Simply put, how can you manage a world you’ve never encountered?

Does she honestly believe (as so many seem to) that service sector jobs can replace the wages and benefits that are lost as the manufacturing jobs continue to dwindle? Does she really believe the answer to declining birth rates among the indigenous population should be to allow our borders to be overrun by human baby machines? Does she see increased spending on education as an anecdote to America’s most frightening pandemic--shoddy parenting? And does she honestly believe that “regime change” comes about after years of appeasement?

Does she know how to put a worm on a hook? Has she ever hung out a truck stop big enough to qualify for a zip code of it’s own? Did she ever do a police ride along? Has she ever fired a weapon? Ever seen a dying coal town? Or how ‘bout an isolated town right after it’s largest employer packs up and heads of to (pick a country)? Has she ever been stung by the out-migration of her own offspring? Does she own a police scanner? Has she ever watched a paramedic work feverishly to save the life of someone who just deformed their steering wheel with their face? Has she once watch in stunned amazement as a police officer pulls his gun out of his holster but yards away? Has she ever had to work a roofing job during the summer? Did she ever drive a big rig? Did she ever jump a train just for the fun of the ride? Did she ever live in a town surrounded by woods for miles on end? Think she ever rolled her own cigarettes?

Can she see how foolish she sounds when she says we shouldn’t be meddling in other countries, but meddles with our lives whenever the mood strikes her? She understands what other cultures get all riled up about, but fails to realize what gets average Americans all riled up. Can she conceptualize that some behaviors are deemed to be repulsive by most others? Does she understand that my pockets aren’t bottomless? Does she cook her own suppers? Or does her staff handle all of that mundane stuff? Has it ever occurred to her that she’s preaching to the wrong race of people when she berates white people for being racists? Has she ever lived a block away from one of those urban slums she wants to eradicate? And would she visit there after dark without a Capitol Police escort?

Has she ever sutured her own wound rather than invest 6 hours in an emergency room visit? Has she ever won a school-yard fight, or been in the middle of a bar room brawl? Has she ever been paddled for cussing in front of the girls? Has she ever been beaten up simply because she has white skin in the wrong neighborhood? Was she ever forced to leave her kids with a babysitter she really didn’t trust? Has she ever had her check stolen from her mailbox? Do you think she’s ever had her utilities turned off during the height of the winter? Ever had to depend on others simply to get by? Think she’s once enjoyed herself some surplus govmint cheese? Did she ever have to work a job she absolutely detested? How about flipping burgers? Do you think she’s done a lot of that?

Congress should lead by example? Really, that’s almost amusing coming from those who need 8 separate forks to get through a dinner served to them by servants. That’s a riot coming from those that charter jets so as to avoid those they purport to speak for. That’s a hoot from one who looks at the polling data to figure out what she really thinks about a given issue. And that’s insulting coming from those who work to further entrench themselves once they become impressed with their oh so powerful selves. The limousine crowd wouldn’t know a good example of their own country if it jumped right up and bit their secret concubines on the buns. And yet, to Nancy, adept leadership is emasculating the men???

How can you manage a country you don’t even know? And if you don’t even know your own country, how can you dare to tell the other countries what’s what?

Lead by example? Congress???

Yeah, that’ll fu>king happen when Iraq finally freezes over.

So, Phil Latinksi is opting out of the public arena.

From the Times Leader:

Mayor Tom Leighton said he became a councilman with Latinski in 1991 and has taken plenty of advice from the former teacher. “We’ve had a great run together, 16 years,” the mayor said. “We might not have always agreed, but we maintained our friendship and I certainly will miss you and your support.”

From the Citizens’ Voice:

"After having been elected for four terms and presently serving my 16th consecutive term on Wilkes-Barre City Council, I have decided it is time to step aside and not run for re-election," Latinski said.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! That ain’t freakin’ right!

The conventional wisdom is…

Let’s try that last one again. The frothing at the mouth activists have told us repeatedly that city council folk are all liars and cheaters and people like Saddam. But, above all else, they continually hammer home the point that council folk care about one thing and one thing only: their city-provided pension. And that pension is provided after 5 terms in office, not 4. It’s 20 years of service, not 16. And if that pension is all that motivates the “bastards at city hall” as we’ve been told all along, why is Phil Latisnki walking away when the brass ring is finally within his reach?

Would any of you all-knowing activist moonbats care to explain? Care to retract any of your inflammatory statements? Maybe some of those incendiary accusations you were tossing in every direction?

Apologize, perhaps?

I understand that frivolous lawsuits, ill-prepared petitions and all sorts of other misguided electioneering shenanigans can cost the city money. But with that said, I’m all good with this news.

“Oh, my God, that is wonderful news. I’m shaking,” Carey said when informed about the order. “This has been a long time coming. ‘Relief’ is the huge word here.”

Here’s the scoop. First of all, $11,056 is a lot of money for an average working family to have to shell out. I know what went on and I’ve heard all of the associated scuttlebutt. I’ve heard the arguments for, and the arguments against both sides. And never once did I agree with Denise Carey’s position, but I was perturbed when all of the usual activist rats deserted the ship once it started to list very heavily.

To be perfectly blunt, when this firehouse battle first began, every activist worth his weight in phlegm glommed onto the issue for the purposes of getting their names in the newspapers and building some name recognition with the electorate. It was a veritable Who’s Who of those given to bouts of self-importance and making grand pronouncements whenever the newspapers will have them. They made as much noise as humanly possible. They leveled accusations at anyone they saw fit to. And as soon as the judge leveled the financial boom, they slithered away never to be heard from again on this tired issue.

I simply saw it as a travesty that the usual rabble rousers would all run away from the fight they chose to join and leave one person on the hook for reparations after the battle was ultimately lost. I guess what this suggests is that you should choose your moonbat activist friends very, very wisely. Or abandon them and their needless ilk altogether.

She still intends to press a suit against city officials, alleging they were retaliating against her for her public criticism of their move to close the Heights fire station. Carey is alleging defamation and a violation of her First Amendment right to free speech.

Regrettably, as we can see from that snippet, the rancor shall continue indefinitely.

I am not one known for spouting off legalese, but how can someone who became an instant celebrity almost overnight claim they were denied their right to free speech? Got me. Sounds kind of frivolous to me. Whatever.

Yet another shining example of ill-thought out and ill-prepared referendums gone horribly wrong. Will the activists ever learn that if they want to run the world they first need to get themselves elected? I dunno. What I do know is that this was a mostly needless chapter added to our city’s recent history.

Despite the closing of the ancient firehouse on the hill, the fire engines still respond to emergencies in under five minutes. The response times in this city are still well below the national averages. The Heights is still there. The fire department has recently taken receipt of three new engines and two new ambulances, as well as a brand new firehouse.

The activists/candidates were ill-advised, ill-prepared and ill-equipped from the get-go. And, in the end, they screwed over one of their own.

Remember that when they come a begging for your vote.

Later