What's the Deal with Massachusetts?

Are Bay Staters more forgiving?

Are they shameless?

Do they define decency differently?

Let's look at what the residents of Massachusetts have elected to Congress:

(Former) U.S. Representative Gerry Studds (Democrat)
       Admitted having sex with teenaged male congressional pages and bragged about it at a press conference.*

       He was re-elected six times before retiring.

* On the same day in 1983 as Studds was admitting his affair, Dan Crane (R-IL) admitted an affair with a 17-year-old female page; Crane apologized tearfully to the House; his conservative district voted him out in 1984.

U.S. Representative Barney Frank (Democrat)

  His affair with Steve Gobie, an $80-a-pop call boy,and personal aide to Frank, was revealed in 1989. Gobie was a convicted felon with a prison record and ran a prostitution ring out of Frank's apartment. Gobie accompanied Frank to public functions, even to a White House ceremony.

Guess who's still serving?
    Barney Frank has been in Congress since 1981.
    He is the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee.



U.S. Senator John Kerry (Democrat)

    The 'Winter Soldier' and unpunished traitor who consorted with the enemy and slandered Americans serving their country honorably.

  The faux war hero who threw faux medals away.
  The flip-flopping 'Swiftboated' candidate for president who was voted 'Unfit to Command'.

U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Democrat)

   The Bay State's senior senator and lecher, whose Palm Beach sexcapades are notorious.

  The driver whose cunning inaction caused a woman's death and whose family ties allowed him to get away with it.

  In Oregon and Illinois and Florida, depravity and dishonesty can cost a congressman his seat.

The standards must be lower in Massachusetts.

(Political cartoonist: Mike Shelton)

"Gort! Klaatu Barada Nikto!"

Saturday is usually B-movie day on the Sci-Fi Channel and today's listings are: Tornado!, Tidal Wave-No Escape, Earthquake-Nature Unleashed, Ice, Magma-Volcanic Disaster, Atomic Twister, and Black Hole (not the Disney one) ... aha, today is Natural Disaster Day.

You know, I miss the old 1950's Sci-Fi movies with the lady scientists running around in high heels, tight skirts, and a pearl necklace. And, oh yeah, black-rimmed glasses to make them look serious. Chasing and being chased by creatures that had been transformed by exposure to *gasp* radiation.

The underlying message was that atomic bombs are bad and if we aren't careful the Cold War will turn Hot and radiation will destroy life as we know it and it will be all our fault.

Which brings me to ..."The Day the Earth Stood Still", a 1951 Sci-Fi classic.

Klaatu, the spaceman. Gort, the robot.

It's being remade with Keanu Reeves as Klaatu.
I can deal with an edgy, moody Klaatu.
I look forward to seeing a CGI-created Gort.

But Please, please, please .... do NOT have Klaatu bring a message about: global warming will destroy life as we know it... and it will be all Bush's fault!

Dissing Mike Nifong

Disgraced and Disbarred. 
 
Mike Nifong only has to serve 1 day in jail!
O N E D A Y ??

Because of Nifong, 3 young men, innocent of the crime(s) with which they were charged, might have gotten 20 or 30 years!!

"It was never my intention to mislead this or any other court," Nifong said.

Liar. Nifong deliberately withheld exculpatory evidence because he wanted these young men found guilty. Nifong never even interviewed the 'victim', Crystal Mangum.

Oh, Nifong was running for reelection.

He also lost his law license and his job.

Good. He should never be allowed to practice law ever again. Or teach law. Or enter a courtroom unless he's being charged with something.

Every case that Mike Nifong has ever been involved with should be examined for improprieties.

He should also have to pay every damn cent of legal fees for the Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans families.

Has he ever apologized for any of this fiasco? No.

In fact, he has never come right out and said that what he did was wrong.
 
The best he could do:

"I certainly apologize to the court at this time for anything I might have said that was not correct."

Hardly an apology to Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, David Evans, and their families for the year of hell he put them through.

Hillary and Funny Money

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign announced that it will give all money donated by Norman Hsu, a major contributor, to charity after it was revealed that Hsu was a fugitive from the law. The Wall Street Journal reports that Hsu, a Hong Kong businessman, is listed as one of the top 20 Democratic fund raisers in the country and is one of Clinton's "HillRaisers" — people who fork over at least $100,000 to Clinton's campaign.

Hsu's name surfaced after a records search revealed that some of the people he asked to contribute to Democratic causes don't appear to be able to afford the donations; Like the Paw family of San Francisco family: Seven adults who live in a small home under the airport flight path, who have average jobs, yet managed $213,000 in donations. Winkle Paw, 35, is employed by one of Hsu's New York companies.

'Hill' is no stranger to funny money.

Another Hillary contributor was Abdul Rehman Jinnah, a Pakistani immigrant wanted by federal authorities on charges he channeled $30,000 in illegal contributions to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign fund. The FBI is looking for Los Angeles businessman Jinnah, who vanished soon after his grand-jury indictment for violating federal election laws last May. Clinton's campaign said Jinnah's allegedly illegal contributions would be donated to charity.

Then there's Johnny Chung. In February, 1995, Chung handed a $50,000 check to Maggie Williams, Hillary Clinton's chief of staff. Chung later noted that the money came directly from the hands of Gen. Ji, then head of the PLA military intelligence department. Ji handed the money to Chung with the words,"We like your president (Clinton). We want him re-elected."

And convicted "Chinagate" figure Moctar Riady, whose family is a direct link to the Chinese army. According to a U.S. Senate report, Moctar and his billion dollar company the Lippo Group, had direct tied to Chinese military intelligence. The relationship between the Clintons and the Riadys goes all the way back to Arkansas when Moctar bought out the Little Rock Worthen Bank. James Riady pled guilty to passing illegal money through Hillary and Bill in the form of illegal donations. Moctar's personal gardener once handed Bill Clinton a $450,000 check with the words "James Riady sent me."

And.... Galagate!
Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign committee likely violated the law when it underreported $1 million-plus in campaign contributions from Hollywood mogul Peter Paul, according to a four-year investigation by the Federal Election Commission.

A videotape shows Hillary Clinton speaking in 2000 with Peter Paul, a Hollywood mogul, and comic book icon Stan Lee about a massive fundraising event for her 2000 Senate race. Paul spent about $2 million of his own money to produce the event. The legal contribution limit to a candidate then was $2,000.

Don't bother asking 'Hill' about any of this; the smartest woman on earth won't remember any of it.

(Political Cartoonist: Scott Stantis,The Birmingham News)

D is for Disenfranchisement ...

... And Democratic Donkey Dung

The Democratic National Committee has decreed that Florida Democrats will not have a vote in selecting a Democratic presidential nominee unless the state of Florida toes the DNC's line and changes the date of the state primary.

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted that Florida’s plan is non-compliant with party rules, and gave the state 30 days to fix it. Otherwise, the state will lose 100 percent of its delegates.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson said that the issue would be "whether or not a political party's rules can supersede someone's right to vote and to have that vote count."

Members of Florida's congressional delegation sent a letter to DNC Chair Howard "Yeaaaa" Dean and threatened legal action if their voters were "disenfranchised."

The DNC rules committee was unmoved by the "disenfranchisement" argument. They also want to send a message to Michigan which is on the verge of passing a law moving that state's primary to January 15th, further complicating the primary calendar.

Disenfranchised.
That's a fancy word for saying 'your vote doesn't count'.

So much for democracy.

(Political cartoon by Scott Stantis)

A Perfect Storm

August 29, 2007

Two years ago today Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

Not just New Orleans, although Mayor Ray Nagin and the residents of the Big Easy would have us believe that.

Here's what I remember from watching the news two years ago:

There was adequate warning that a hurricane was coming.

There was a mandatory evacuation order.

The Democrat Governor said the state of Louisiana was prepared.

The Democrat Mayor of New Orleans said the city was prepared.

 
New Orleans was the only city affected by the hurricane.

Mississippi is reported to have a tree blown down.

New Orleans has no white people.

The hurricane destroyed only black families' property.

If you're a New Orleans police officer, leave your post and loot the Wal-Mart.

When you are hungry after a hurricane, steal a big screen TV.

Only black family members got separated in the rescue efforts.

Ignore warnings to evacuate and somebody else will risk their life to come get you.

Don't thank those that came to help rescue you, shoot at them instead.

Trash the place that is your refuge.

Bitch because the government hasn't given you a debit card yet. And it isn't enough anyway.

Everything was Bush's fault even though the idiot Governor and idiot Mayor told everyone that they were prepared.

Don't help yourself when somebody else will do it for you.

Do help yourself to whatever you can get, lawfully or otherwise.


People think we should be ashamed.

I am ashamed ... of the police officers who left their posts and did not return,  of the police officers who were pushing shopping carts alongside the other looters, of the people who took their $2000 debit cards and bought $800 handbags, of the stupidity and greed and finger-pointing, and most of all, I'm ashamed of all those who are unwilling to do something for themselves, to get over it and get on with it.

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Rep. Tom Tancredo (R/CO), citing administration figures, said that $114 billion has been spent on the effort to rebuild a large stretch of the Gulf Coast after the Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005.

"It is time the taxpayer gravy train left the New Orleans station. The amount of money that has been wasted on these so-called ‘recovery’ efforts has been mind-boggling. Enough is enough.
“At some point, state and local officials and individuals have got to step up to the plate and take some initiative. The mentality that people can wait around indefinitely for the federal taxpayer to solve all their worldly problems has got to come to an end.”

The lawmaker criticized in particular the amount that has been wasted through fraud and abuse, estimated at $1 billion.
“This whole fiasco has been a perfect storm of corruption and incompetence at all levels.”

My tax money should not pay to rebuild a house, a sports stadium or a floating casino.

My tax money shouldn't go to rebuild a city that is below sea level. 

 

If you want to live below sea level, join the Navy.

Pork Barrel Politics

Are you outraged by the appalling Congressional spending of your tax dollars?

No? Then you probably don't know what Congress is really doing with our money.


Last month, the House and the Senate passed emergency supplemental appropriations bills to continue funding military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing an excellent opportunity for some Congressmen to 'earmark' funds for their favorite pet projects with no regard to fiscal responsibility or national priorities like our troops.

Last month's troop funding bills were especially outrageous and included all of the following items, completely unrelated to our war efforts:

$74 million for peanut storage costs
$50 million for asbestos mitigation at the U.S. Capitol Plant
$60.4 million for salmon fisheries in the Klamath River region in California and Oregon
$100 million for citrus assistance
$16 million for security upgrades to House of Representatives office buildings
$3.5 million for guided tours of the US Capitol
$20 million for cricket eradication
$40 million for Christmas, ornamental, nursery and potted tree assistance
$25 million for spinach growers
$95 million for dairy farmers
$13 million for Ewe land replacement and retention
$6.4 million for the House of Representatives' salaries and expense accounts

In fiscal year 2006, Congress stuffed 9,963 projects into the appropriations bills, and wasted $29 billion of our tax dollars.

$13.5 million for the International Fund for Ireland, which helped finance the World Toilet Summit
$6,435,000 for wood utilization research
$1,000,000 for the Water-free Urinal Conservation Initiative
$500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in Sparta, N.C
$1,300,000 for berry research in Alaska
$4,200,000 for shrimp aquaculture research
$1,000,000 for methane desalination systems in Hawaii
$8,270,000 for breath alcohol testing equipment
$2,300,000 for the International Fertilizer Development Center

Did any of these have an impact on the quality of your life?

(Political Cartoonist: Eric Allie)