Is Tom Brokaw On Crack?

I laughed out loud when I read media know-it-all Howie Kurtz's piece in the Daily Waste about the alleged in-fighting at MessNBC over general know-it-all Keith Olberman and his recent "suspension" for making monetary contributions to a handful of Democrat candidates campaigns. Not sure how the fact that he rolled out his check book and strikes a few checks is any different than the in-kind donation to the Democrat party he makes every night in the form of his TV show.

The laughable part comes when Kurtz alleges that "several of NBC’s front-line stars, including Tom Brokaw, have expressed concern to management that Olbermann has badly damaged MSNBC’s reputation for independence." Is Brokaw smoking crack?!! Has he ever bothered to tune in and watch anything on MessNBC? Or is he like most of America and has never watched this bunch of libtards?

"Stay Classy San Diego"

Yuck-master Kurtz cuts loose a belly laugher when he reasons that  "NBC executives say that the cable channel is far better positioned to withstand an Olbermann departure than it might have been a year ago. Rachel Maddow has emerged as a genuine star, Ed Schultz is gaining momentum, Chris Matthews has been energized by the midterm campaign, and Lawrence O’Donnell has successfully launched a new show in the 10 p.m. hour previously reserved for Countdown reruns." Apparently group think extends to the crack pipe over at 30 Rock!



If Maddow got a closer shave...She could be the Karate Kid's Twin Brother!

What could these people possibly be thinking? This entire network is a train wreck. If it weren't for the utter cluelessness of CNN, then it's likely MessNBC would be lining up behind it's parent company General Electric for a taxpayer bailout! I'm constantly left scratching my head wondering how networks that are ratings also rans can justify shelling out big bucks deals like Olberman's $7 Million monstrosity. That deal makes it seem like CBS got a bargain when it comes to the rating-less Katie Couric.

Somebody Is a Liar...The Question Is Who?

At his press availability President Obama denied any wrong doing in the case of the claim made by Congressman Joe Sestak that he was offered a job by the Obama administration to drop out of his primary race with Senator Arlen Specter. Sestak defeated the long-time incumbent in the May 18 primary and will face off with Republican challenger Pat Toomey this November.

The President told the media that his administration will release a statement in the near future that will clear up the matter and insisted that "nothing improper" happened.

There have been calls for investigation of the claim, including a call for Attorney General Eric Holder to empower a special prosecutor to look into the matter.

What this boils down to is somebody is lying! If the president is lying, then it is a serious, criminal offense. If Sestak is lying, then he certainly can't be trusted to represent Pennsylvania's best interests. The President said the statement would come sooner rather than later, given the tenor of the media outcry over the obvious delay in responding to the Gulf oil disaster, it's probably best if he doesn't drag his feet on the issue.

The interesting play will be how Sestak responds to the statement and if he gets out in front of the issue and stands by his earlier comment. either way it's more bad news for Democrats.

My favorite story of the day has to be the hub bub surrounding a gaffe by Today Show news reader Ann Curry when she delivered the commencement address at Wheaton College.

Apparently Ms. Curry sited a string of illustrious alumni of Wheaton Collge, in Illinois which included the Reverend Billy Graham. The problem was Ms. Curry was speaking at Wheaton College in Massachusetts!

I love the fact that the media is siting the gaffe, while missing the story. Sorry for being cynical, but what inspiring message could a network news reader possibly have to deliver to the newly minted grads of Wheaton College? Really? Ann Curry? Wow hope they didn't overpay for that address.

Laughing At the "Experts"

I can’t help but laugh at the so-called “expert” analysis of defeat of Senator Arlen Specter in Tuesday’s Democrat primary. Erie Times News reporter John Guerriero’s piece recounting the Franklin and Marshall College pollster G. Terry Madonna’s month old column headlined, “Admiral Hits An Iceberg” referencing Congressman Joe Sestak, who defeated Specter, and his prior career as a two-star admiral.


Why anybody still believes Gee, “I Never Get anything Right” Terry Madonna is beyond me! This guy hasn’t called a race correctly in years! But, he’s not alone when it comes to getting it wrong on the Specter loss. Most of the gurus think that Sestak did a great job of drawing a connection to former President George W. Bush, and that was what un-did the senior senator’s re-election bid.

The fact of the matter is that Specter’s defeat had nothing to do with Bush and everything to do with his support for the failed policies of the Obama administration and the seemingly endless self-interest of the Senator!

It was Specter’s own words, where he uttered the line, “changing parties will allow me to be re-elected” sounding more than a tad like WC Field, that was his un-doing. Those words proved that the Senator’s best interests were his own and not the voters here in Pennsylvania.

GAF Raw Deal...For Taxpayers.

For years, the complaint of Erie politicians has been that 40% of the properties within the city limits are un-taxed , non-profit entities, that cuts into the revenue to the city’s coffers. While the administration of Mayor Joe Sinnott has worked diligently to launch payment in-lieu of taxes, of PILOT agreements with some of the non-profits, as with prior city leaders, the results have been less than stellar.


So as I read the details of the agreement that city fathers and the Erie County Convention Center Authority put together regarding the vacant, but on the tax rolls, former GAF Plant on Erie’s bay front, I have little doubt that the location will end up as part of a LERTA or other tax exempt program when an eventual developer is found to take on the property, thereby reducing the tax base yet again.

The “deal” calls for the Convention Center Authority to get $3 million in taxpayer dollars from the State and pay off GAF, who would cover the cost of the demolition of the plant. An un-named developer would be responsible for the environmental cleanup of the site and environmental liability insurance on the property.

I’m more than a little skeptical that some investor would agree to eat the sizable cost to clean up the former shingle factory site and the price tag for future developers to be protected against environmental damage claims without some back end break to cover the costs.

The deal just sounds too good to be true. Keep in mind this whole thing was put together by the Convention Center Authority, Executive Director Casey Wells and authority board member Roger Richards, a pair of masterful salesmen who sold taxpayers the bill of goods about the rosy future of the Bayfront Convention Center and it’s neighboring hotel. As predicted, both facilities, while very nice, have not really done much in the way of new business.

While the Authority leadership may try to claim a level of success, the reality is that the facility has yet to bring in much in the way of new business. Instead the Bayfront Convention Center has plundered it’s business from other, local, often privately owned and operated facilities. For a huge expenditure of over 100 million taxpayer dollars, the results are dismal!

So what do we do now? Why of course we throw more money into the bay front, with no real, concrete plans in place. It’s seems long past due that the taxpayers of the Erie Community stand up and demand accountability from its leadership. Therein is the problem. City, county and state leaders know they can pass the buck on accountability, because the shuffle these deals off to the un-accountable authorities. This way they have the plausible deniability and cover that they need when it comes to the people left footing the bill, you the taxpayer.

RED FLAG ALERT- It's no real surprise that the Erie Times News editorial board thinks this raw deal is a good deal! Keep in mind, they thought the Convention Center was a winning idea too!

Election Day - Na Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Arlen Goodbye!

It is primary election day 2010. Sorry I missed all of the usual stellar political insights about the polling station baked goods selection and guesstimates of turnout based on “what number voter were you” questions.


I literally can’t remember an election day where I was uncertain about who I was voting for just hours before I head to the polls. I’ve always been a pragmatic voter. I know that I will never find the perfect candidate, one who agrees with my stance on every issue, as the communications skills and the finances to win, in November.

In the Third district congressional race the Republican nomination for me boils down to a couple of businessmen Mike Kelly and Paul Huber, and factory worker/Tea Party kind of guy Ed Franz. Based on the number of yard signs, Dr. Martha Moore should be the hands down winner, but as we all know signs don’t vote and if you look closely, while there are a lot of her signs out there, most are on vacant land or street corners, not in supporters front yards.

All of the candidates are playing the bloated government and job creation cards. That will play just fine in the primary voters, but the November, general election will be a real battle. Democrat Representative Kathy Dahlkemper has proven to be a reliable rubber stamp for Obama/Pelosi, look no further than her idiotic justification for voting for Obama-Care based on a meaningless Executive Order banning public funding for abortions. They won’t let that vote go away easily, so look for lots of national money to be thrown at this race.

No Republican has run what I would call a strong campaign, so I’m left undecided at this point.

The one bright spot that may come out of today’s vote is the long overdue, final, demise turncoat Senator Arlen Specter. Specter is EVERYTHING that is bad about politics! He has made a long career based upon “getting the job done in DC” meaning he is a master manipulator at bringing home taxpayer dollars to Pennsylvania. Some may think that is the right thing to do, but if you look at the way this guy has larded pork onto Senate appropriations bills, more often than not the bill had nothing whatsoever to do with Specter’s piggy package.

Challenger, Congressman Joe Sestak has run a pitiful campaign, but scored late with TV spot that points out Specter’s desire to save one job and one job only, his own! The latest Real Clear Politics aggregate poll has Sestak up by 3.2%. If Sestak wins it sets up an interesting fall race with Pat Toomey, the likely Republican challenger, who just missed taking out Specter in the last Republican primary 6 years ago.

While the Obama team has supported the newly minted Democrat, Specter, it will make for high entertainment to see them roll that support to Sestak in the general election and to see if Sestak has the testicular fortitude to be his own man, despite the attempted buy off job offer from team Obama to drop out of the race. I think it highly unlikely that Sestak will turn his back on Obama, no matter how unpopular the President is come November, it’s just not in the Democrat make up, where party is the only thing. Toomey and his team are sharp enough to beat Sestak senseless with his own flip flop.

I used to encourage people to get out and vote, but I’ve seen too many examples of stupid votes, like the one that set Dahlkemper to Congress, to run the risk of enough people going to the polls to keep a clown like Arlen Specter around and give the clueless Philly voters a chance to save him again.

Elena Kagan and the L - Word

It’s been absolutely amazing to watch and listen to the lazy media tap dance around the “L- Word” when it comes to President Obama’s latest Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.


The White House went out of its way to deny Kagan was “the first openly gay” Supreme Court nominee, after a CBS blogger, “with ties to the Bush administration,” surfaced an online entry.

Shortly after the nomination was announced Michael Smerconish, the often painfully, moderate morning host on WPHT (Philadelphia) kept referring to “rumors” about the personal life of Ms. Kagan while interview legal eagle Allen Dershowitz. Claiming not to understand the question or not having heard the “rumors” Dershowitz repeated “I don’t know what you’re getting at,” while Smerconish hemmed and hawed, refusing to utter the "L-Word."

Thankfully, Dershowitz pushed the host to get to the point and Smerconish finally! asked if it should matter if Kagan was a Lesbian, as it’s been reported/rumored in some corners. Dershowitz, whose famed poker games apparently once included Kagan as a regular, said he’d never seen any evidence of it and no it shouldn’t matter.

I couldn’t agree more! Who cares, who Ms. Kagan chooses to bed down with?! The truly frightening "L- Word" when it comes to Kagan it LIBERAL! Despite all of the talking point “concerns” being touted by Liberals in the lazy media about whether or not Kagan is “liberal enough” the fact of the matter is based on the minimal paper trail this first time judge nominee brings to the table indicates some troubling thoughts on Kagan’s take on constitutional issues like the Second Amendment.

Kagan’s writing for the Chicago Law Review; also portray some troubling thoughts on the First Amendment, free speech protections. Kagan wrote that speech that promotes "racial or gender inequality" could be "disappeared." The protection of disagreeable speech is a hallmark of the first Amendment, just because we find something troubling or distasteful does not give us the right to ban it. The troubling part of this thought process is who would be charged with determining what speech gets, to use Kagan’s line, ‘disappeared.”

The striking similarities in their paths to power between Obama and Kagan are striking. It’s almost as if Obama has nominated a female version of himself to the bench, which should frighten us all!