If you see a problem, member of Congress, regardless of your party, you have an obligation to come to the table. You got an obligation to sit down and come up with a permanent solution. We don't need a band-aid solution for Social Security.--Dubya.

A permanent solution? From the fading national Democrats? Um...let's see...I know...they'll propose that we raise taxes for the umpteenth time.

Now give me a harder one.

Despite the fact that my lower back was fargin' killin' me yesterday, I took the three rodents-otherwise known as the amazing grandchildren-to the 25th annual St. Patty's Day parade in downtown Wilkes-Barre. A little history is in order here.

According to an anonymous source at the Chamber of Commerce, St. Patrick was an Irish weed farmer who vanquished both a legendary dragon, and none other than King Trevor VI of England armed only with a pint of ale. He was also credited with inventing the potato peeler, but that has come under some dispute after all six of his wives were exhumed. An since St. Patrick was the weed farmer by which all other weed farmers were measured, we, Irish or not, wear varying shades of green and drink copious amounts of sudsy to honor him on his special day. On with the remaining gibberish.

Not being Irish myself, I have not attended all 25 of our green day parades. At best, I've been to four or five. Maybe six. But I have attended the last three. Last year's version (after Mayor Leighton switched it from Saturday to Sunday so as to not go head-to-head with Scranton's humongous parade) was a marked improvement over the year before. And the '05 parade was markedly better than than it's '04 predecessor. And while some of us happen to be outraged because Mr. Peanut's office is going bye-bye, you really have to give the guy some credit for turning a normally dull event into an event that was well attended by folks from all over the county.

I'm paraphrasing here, but I remember him saying something about getting people used to visiting downtown Wilkes-Barre again. Yesterday, he gave folks a good reason to be in downtown Wilkes-Barre and they showed up in droves. And there will be even more real good reasons to do so again soon enough. To that end, he done real, real good yesterday. And for that reason alone, I will resist making fun of his goofy cap here today. Now if only he'd get me some Cheap Trick on the Square.

Seriously, as local parades go, this one was well done. If you still reside in Wilkes-Barre and happened to take in this event, you have to be pleased to see Wilkes-Barre putting on a first class event once again. Except for Kevin Lynn of WILK fame, I doubt that anyone would give the city a thumbs down for the 2nd annual, new-and-improved St. Patty's Day parade.

Major kudos need to go out to Mayor Tom II and those that helped to coordinate the proceedings.

Now let's get to the really fun stuff.

The rodents, my son and myself were camped out in front of the Pomeroys building. For those of you too young to remember Pomeroys, that's the pretty building where the Chamber of Commerce folks are secretly devising despicable ways to take our beloved canopy system away from us against our will. If you've got a dozen eggs that have outlived their usefullness, let those folks know how you feel about shopping in the rain and snow.

Anyblooey, we were taking in the show when we heard sirens bearing down on us from West Market Street. And we could also tell that they were coming at us at a fairly high rate of speed. I managed a quick pivot of my fat head and found two police cruisers and our new paddy wagon deployed just to our right. I reached for the scanner and held it to my ear as the passing parade was kind of loud. Into the picture came lots of cops and two jag-offs in cuffs. C'mon now, you'd have to be a complete jag-off to get yourself arrested this early on a day known for excessive drinking.

The two jag-offs were getting to know our new meat wagon up close and personal. A cop was stuffing what I thought were protest banners in the trunk of one of the police cruisers. And the Citizen's Voice's Heidi Ruckno was right there in the middle of this still developing, but entirely ridiculous story. Cool. They could have busted their heads just a tad, but still cool. We turned our collective attention back to the folks sporting the most green.

From the Citizen's Voice:

Protest draws police attention By Heidi E. Ruckno, Staff Writer 03/14/2005 Wilkes-Barre police arrested two Scranton men on Public Square Sunday during the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Kurt Shotko, 37, of North Irving Avenue, and Victor Bobrzyk, 67, of Greenbrush Street, will be summoned to appear in court on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, police said. The men were taken into custody at 2:10 p.m. For the first hour of the parade, they carried large signs protesting President George W. Bush. Police said the signs were obstructing the views of other parade-goers, but Shotko claimed he and Bobrzyk were protesting behind the crowd. Shotko said he and Bobrzyk were told to move when they walked in front of the bandshell. Standing inside it were Mayor Tom Leighton, members of Wilkes-Barre City Council and several other elected officials, including Gov. Ed Rendell and Congressman Paul Kanjorski. While in front of the bandshell, Shotko and Bobrzyk were repeatedly asked to move, but according to police, they refused. Police said the men became disorderly after several requests to stop blocking the parade route. Kingston resident Jen Hantzel, a friend of Shotko's, witnessed the arrest. She said Bobrzyk resisted arrest, but Shotko did not. After he was arrested, Shotko asked Hantzel to take his sign, but she said the police told her not to because it could be considered a weapon. "I don't agree with everything he says, but he has a right to say that," said Hantzel, who was not protesting with Shotko and Bobrzyk.

From the Times Leader:

Two protesters are arrested By KASIA KOPEC kkopec@leader.net WILKES-BARRE - WILKES-BARRE – Two Scranton men were arrested Sunday afternoon while staging a political protest at the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. Police said Kurt Shotko, 37, and Victor Bobrzyk, 67, carried signs that obstructed the view of other paradegoers. The men were asked to move to the rear of the crowd, but refused and became unruly, according to a police press release. Despite warnings, the men continued to disobey police orders and were arrested, police said. They face charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Shotko, who was arrested last June on similar charges after a protest at an Army recruiting center in Hazleton, denies he and Bobrzyk were blocking the view of others in the crowd and claims they talked with another officer earlier in the day who asked them only to keep moving. “We didn’t have any problems until an hour and a half after we got there, when someone who seemed to be with the parade committee told us we couldn’t go further because we were getting near the review stand,” said Shotko. “When we kept going, he got on his cell phone and within 30 seconds all these police -- they were dressed like riot police -- came running in.” Shotko, a former Green Party candidate who ran for Congress in 2002, said he and Bobrzyk staged a similar protest at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Scranton on Saturday and had no problems. The men carried signs reading “Global capitalism creates slavery/Love of money is the root of all evil” and “Face of fascism/Stop the Bush crime family.” “I think it’s just a case of police ignorance, but I’ll tell you it will be a costly mistake for them, because I’m going to sue,” said Shotko, who added he has the incident on video tape.

And then this from WILK's web site:

W-B ST. PATTY'S DAY PARADE A SUCCESS Governor Ed Rendell was in Wilkes-Barre and Kurt Shotko was arrested. It was nothing new for either man. Rendell came to town to be part of the "wearin' 'o' the green" festivities. Former Green Party candidate/local protester/WILK frequent caller Shotko came to tote a political protest sign. He and another man were arrested after allegedly refusing to follow police orders after being accused of obstucting the view of the parade with the signs. Mayor Tom Leighton called the parade a huge success.

No fooling? The legendary (in his deluded "critically thinking" mind) WILK regular, "Kurt from Scranton."

Lemme see here. He got arrested for much the same shenanigans in Hazleton, but beat the rap when the arresting officer failed to show up at his hearing. He pulls this sort of Green Party (Legalize All Drugs Now!) nonsense in Scranton (his home base) on a near daily basis, but nothing is ever done about it. But...but...when he tried the same sorry sh*t here in good ole Wilkes-Barre, he found himself crying "riot police" faster than anti-American, ex-communists find environmental causes to fight for.

Out-funking-standing!!! When they least expect it, our cops are gonna get hit with four free pizzas. Well, not hit. You know what I mean, right?

Riot police? Oh, those would be the horse cops turned motorcycle cops for the big, big parade. Yup. They do double duty of sorts when crowd control is clearly called for in the city. And crowd control seems to be sorely lacking as it pertains to the useless, disaffected folks that mistakenly think we need to hear their sorry anti-whatever sh*t whenever they decide that we need to hear it. WRONG!!! Not in Wilkes-Barre, you f**king unemployed speds.

Global capitalism cretes slavery/Love of money is the root of all evil" and "Face of facism/Stop the Bush crime family at a St. Patty's Day parade attended by as many children as adults? Am I wrong to call these two fools clueless or useless? If the legendary Kurt himself could actually secure some gainful employment, even a part-time drive-thru gig, he wouldn't have so much time to fritter away on his endless conspiracy theories and his clueless socialist utopia adventures.

You wanna protest in front of someone's grandchildren? Keep it in Scranton goofball, because if the Wilkes-Barre cops don't bust you, somebody else down here just might.

I didn't take my grandkids to town to see Kurt's traveling freak show.

And still...they maintain that pot has no long-lasting effects.

Go figure.

And speaking of WILK radio, how is it that one of their talk show hosts, Kevin Lynn, who rode in a convertible at the montrous Scranton St. Patty's Day parade, should be allowed to refer to the parade goers as "dribbling losers" and people "that had no teeth" on the airwaves of NEPA without getting himself drummed out of the broadcasting corps for the tenth time? Can you imagine?

That provides yet another disturbing insight into the mind of the man that stands for absolutely nothing, yet tells us what we should stand for. If you disagree with him, to here him tell it, you're either a dribbling loser, you have no teeth, you drag your knuckles, you're a religious zealot, or a Rush Limbaugh clone. But shouldn't there be lines drawn wherein a local radio celebrity should be restrained from calling the local folks that attend local parades "dribbling losers" over the airwaves? Is the management of WILK totally asleep at the switch? Or do they happen to agree with the guy that admits to eating over the sink?

I love talk radio. And I've heard tons of reckless and mean-spirited bombs thrown over the airwaves over the years. But I fail to see how a local talk show host calling the local folks "dribbling losers" can be tolerated by a company hoping to draw listeners and build goodwill within the community.

Maybe Nancy Kman thinks Kevin's sorry-assed act is somehow cute, but for the life of me-I cannot see how. Whatever. We'll all just have to dribble on and be insulted at every turn.

There's always Sue Henry's show at 9:06 am.

I would like an explanation of Kevin's comments that the former Fell Tavern site is now home to nothing but piles of empty beer bottles and grafitti. Either he simply smears Wilkes-Barre's reputation every chance he gets, or he just makes this bilge up on the fly. Take a slow ride past the Fell Tavern site and see if you can figure out just what the f**k he's dribbling on and on about? Beer bottles? Grafitti? I'd bet he hasn't laid eyes on that lot in years. But he sure tears Wilkes-Barre down despite his lack of firsthand knowledge. Or facts.

And this morning, he even went as far to say that the only reason Kurt Shotko probably got noticed at our parade was because there were no parade goers-only Kurt. He said "they were probably only two-deep" on our sidewalks. Again, he wasn't here and doesn't know what the f**k he's dribbling on about. But that never, ever stops him from denigrating Wilkes-Barre's image on the radio every chance he gets. Trust me, Kevin Lynn is no friend of Wilkes-Barre's. In fact, he does every thing he can to make sure Wilkes-Barre has no friends.

If he ends riding in another one of our parades next year, as he did last year, I'm buying the eggs. Remember that I said that. Write it down.

Kevin Lynn should not be welcome in Wilkes-Barre. Nor should his putrid radio show.

Maybe Nancy Kman thinks Kevin's sorry-assed act is somehow cute, but for the life of me-I cannot see how. Whatever. We'll all just have to dribble on and be insulted at every turn.

After our parade, we took a walk over to the Labor & Industry site to take a few pics of the girders on flatbeds and the crane poised and ready to help guide them into place. I told my son it wouldn't be long before they started going up.

And when I drove by today, most of those girders were already in place. Jeez! At this rate, we'll have those state employees moving into the place by next Thursday.

Me tired. Very, very long day today.

Have a good one.

I'm buying the eggs.

Later