Grow Up GOP, We're not that gullible

The primary runoff for Republican nomination in the 8th Congressional District is heating up with just a little over a month before voters head back to the polls to decide who will face off against Larry Kissell in the fall. Most people outside of North Carolina (and probably a lot inside the Old North State as well) have probably never heard of either candidate. I predict that is probably going to change very soon.

With all of the hullabaloo surrounding Joe Sestak maybe or maybe not getting an offer from the White House to drop out of the primary race against Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania, any sort of wrongdoing in elections by either party is going to be scrutinized by voters in ways never before seen. On the heels on the Judiciary Committee seeking to appoint a Special Prosecutor to look into the Sestak matter, we now have a controversy brewing in North Carolina.

Tim D'Annunzio, a millionaire businessman, after receiving the most votes in the May Primary is facing a runoff against the second highest vote getter Harold Johnson, a retired television sportscaster, on June 22. D'Annunzio had widely publicized support from local Tea Party groups and several high powered national figures and groups (Tom Tancredo and the Independence Caucus) before the primary. Harold "The Big Guy" Johnson retired from WSOC-TV awhile back, is known for his call it as he sees it good ol boy attitude and was supported by a former NC Governor (Jim Martin) and a former NC Congressman (Robin Hayes) leading up to the primary. On the surface it appears to be a fair race between two viable candidates.

This past weekend, the Charlotte Observer ran a not-so flattering story on Mr. D'Annunzio. The story painted a picture of a man with a troubled past, a past that included arrests, jail time, drug use and even an AWOL episode from the Army. In fairness, most if not all of the things that were discussed in the Observer article were addressed by D'Annunzio himself on his blog well before the primary. It was quite clear in reading the article that the Observer wished to do harm to Mr. D'Annunzio's candidacy by portraying him as a heroin addict turned religious zealot who has fanatical visions of the Ark of the Covenant. However, what was also blindingly clear was that the NC Republican party wants to destroy not only his candidacy but also the man as well. The NC GOP Chairman Tim Fetzer is quoted in the Observer article with regards to D'Annunzio that he is "unfit for public office at any level" and continued his tirade with "What he could do to the party as our nominee is secondary in my view to what he could do to the country if he got elected. If he got elected, for crying out loud, that would be a disaster."

This begs the question, what did Tim D'Annunzio do to anger the party so much that the party chair is willing to risk his job to go against him? Because instead of angering the base and moving Republicans and Unaffiliated (who are eligible to vote in the runoff election with certain caveats) toward Harold Johnson what Mr Fetzer really did was cause a firestorm over his own actions. It is against the NC GOP Plan of Organization for an Officer or Member of the State Executive Committee to utilize the power of the office to influence the outcome of a Primary. This apparent violation of Article VII, Section G of the Plan of Organization (affectionately referred to as the POO - yes the POO) has now sent the Republican party to fight amongst itself.

What are the officials at the NC GOP afraid of? Are we to believe that they are only looking out for the good of the party? If that was the case, shouldn't they have appealed to the electorate BEFORE the primary? Instead, they've waited until now, why? Personally, it feels as though they feel that smearing D'Annunzio is the only way that they can squash the Tea Party and Libertarian swell building in the 8th district.

My hope is that Mr. Fetzer steps down as soon as possible in order to remove any further talk of impropriety and that the GOP can focus on getting a candidate (whomever the people choose on June 22) that they can ALL unite behind in order to go against a fairly venerable candidate in first-term Incumbent Larry Kissell who voted against healthcare reform and thus does not have quite as big target on his chest as he might have otherwise.

Overall my hope is that the insanity of personal attacks on politicians stop. Stop attacking the man. Attack policies or positions, not the candidate. The Observer article makes light of D'Annunzio's previous statements that his life was changed while sitting in his yard watching a solar eclipse. I don't recall anyone still making a mockery of Abraham Lincoln's capabilities as a President and there are high profile accounts that he had a vision of his own death. An entire way of life for over 2 million people was started when a man named Bill W had a spiritual "experience in the fourth dimension" while detoxing from alcohol in a sanitarium. So I don't know that attacking a person's "Come to Jesus" moment is exactly what a party on either side of the aisle should be doing. I hope that party officials on both sides grow up (and quickly) because we Americans simply just aren't falling for it anymore.

Pay-Per-View Politics

Its not a new concept. Politics is theater and let's face it most politicians have to have at minimum a decent stage presence and a little bit of Toastmasters training but it is becoming more and more evident that it is real Hollywood training that is needed to make it in today's Washington, D.C. Its also not new for politicians to come out of Hollywood. Given the stereotypical view of Los Angeles though, you might think that the typical Hollywood politician is a Democrat, you might be surprised.

Here is a partial list of some of the most well known actors turned Republican politicians: Fred Grandy, Sonny Bono, Jesse Ventura, Clint Eastwood, Fred Thompson, Shirley Temple Black, George Murphy and (although some would dispute his party affiliation) Arnold Schwarzenegger. That can be added to a well known group of conservative leaning stars that include: Adam Sandler, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, Heather Locklear, LeAnn Womack, Kid Rock, Kelsey Grammar, Alice Cooper, James Woods, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Dennis Hopper, Robert Downey Jr and Dwayne "TheRock" Johnson.

Oh sure, there are some actors turned Democratic politicians. They include Al Franken and Ben Jones. Oh, you don't know who Ben Jones is? He's better known as Cooter from the Dukes of Hazzard.

But now in Connecticut, we have what could be the most important and pivotal election (if you follow my complete train of thought) in the country. Linda McMahon is running against Richard Blumenthal for Senate. Yes, that Linda McMahon, the wife of celebrated WWE creator Vince McMahon. Not only is she the wife of the creator of the "sport" but what most people don't know is that until last year she was the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment as well. This is a who woman assisted in taking fake (oh I am sorry, staged) wrestling from the backrooms of VFW halls on Saturday nights and turning it into a international conglomerate with fans paying for pay-per-view events several times per year and a net-worth over $1 Billion.

Mrs. McMahon has pledged not to take any PAC money in her campaign to become Senator from Connecticut and she has also kept her distance from special interest dollars and has limited campaign contributions to $100 and until a week or so ago, not many people gave her much of a chance. Her opponent is the current Attorney General of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, who increased his national exposure (and probably his campaign contributions) by taking on Craigslist and accusing them of condoning prostitution. However, as so many Democrats due, Blumenthal thought that he was above the fray and "misspoke" about his "service" in Vietnam and last week had to conduct a press conference to not say that he was sorry for misleading the Connecticut voters but rather that he was not to be held responsible for things that reporters wrote and did not verify.

I can't see where there is much of a question for Connecticut voters now. On one hand you've got a seasoned politician who decided that it was perfectly okay to let the public think that he had served in country during one of the most polarizing times in history when in reality he served one weekend a month and two weeks a year during the Vietnam era. On the other, you have a woman who asks you to pay $49.95 (oh now I get why she's keeping it under $100) to watch a fake fight between two men in tights.

I can't think of a better person to head to Washington in this day and age. I can see it now.........John Boehner and Eric Cantor in matching red, white, and blue boxing shorts (think Rocky) facing off in a closed cage match against Harry Reid in a rainbow hued singlet and Nancy Pelosi wearing the California flag as a cape and the makeup (oh she's not wearing makeup) of the Joker fighting for the fate of the Republic. Now who do you know that wouldn't step up and fork over $49.95 for a pay-per-view to see that? I dare say, we might even be able to make a dent into the National debt.

So yes, I will take Hollywood politicians like Linda McMahon and Ronald Reagan over Stuart Smalley and Cooter any day!

Does the cleaning fairy recycle?

A couple of weeks ago, I walked out into my driveway after trash pickup to retrieve the bins from the curb only to find that a giant green bin had been left beside my regular trash can. There was a plastic bag attached to the handle explaining that this was my new recycling bin.

I opened the bag and learned a little about the new program. Well woohoo, I thought to myself. Now I'll have more space to recycle and my five year old daughter will stop yelling at me for throwing away all of the things that Dora the Explorer told her can be recycled. And that, in and of itself, is worth the space that this new NINETY-SIX GALLON can is going to take up in my garage, or is it??

Let's see, it IS 96 gallons, that means I have a ton of room compared to the small red bin that we had before that would barely hold a week's worth of newspapers (good thing I stopped getting the Observer awhile ago, I don't have to worry about proper disposal). The new recycling program is going to allow me to recycle more types of things too. Aerosol cans and all plastics can now be recycled - except number 6 plastic and I will admit, and I am sure that I am not the only one, I have never looked at the plastic to see what number it is so I really don't know if that is going to help me or not, but the city government tells me that it is going to. I guess that since the bin is bigger, pizza boxes can now be thrown in too? A quick glance at the materials included with my new green can shows me that that is not the case. Oh, well on days that I don't feel like cooking and I call to order pizza then use the gas to go pick it up after the restaurant uses all of that oven energy (hope they got a good deal on their emissions credits) to bake it, I can just feel more guilty that I have to throw the box away.

No, though, I can't do any of these things now. Apparently, my garage is simply the cheapest storage that the city of Charlotte can find because I am not allowed to use my pretty new green recycling can until JULY. Yes, that's right, I have to just store my green recycling bin until the new program starts. I guess I should feel lucky that at least I read the information and found that out. Many of my neighbors obviously have not because they started rolling that cart out the very next week only to have it left, still full, at the curb for them to roll back in at the end of the day. I guess maybe that they should have made those bags on the handle a little more noticeable, huh? Local newscasts have even starting doing stories on the fact that the new cans can't be used yet - I haven't seen the number of green carts out on Monday diminish yet though.

That of course is not all. I now find out that we aren't going to have recycling picked up every week like always but rather every other week. Okay, yeah I can see where that would make sense maybe. Save gas by using the trucks less, the bins are bigger so I guess the thinking is that they will take longer to be filled. But if you want me to recycle more items, wouldn't that mean that I need to use more space and if that space is filled in the first week and I have to throw the rest of the newly recyclable materials away because there is no room in my green can, what has it accomplished? Not to mention the idea that if people can't read (or watch TV) in order to find out that the cans shouldn't be used yet, can the city realistically expect these same people to remember which week to roll the can to the street?

I went to the website for the new recycling initiative and found out some more interesting facts. Over 200,000 new rolling carts are being distributed throughout the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. This new program is expected to save $12 Million over the next 5 years. A recent news report stated that the new green carts cost about $40 each which means that the city spent at least $8 Million in order to save $12 Million over 5 years - I wonder how much we could have saved if we just kept using the system that we had, think its over $4 million? And how many of the 400 people who are about to be laid off from the Mecklenburg County government could have had their jobs saved?

And as in any good infomercial, WAIT there's more......this new ugly green 96-gallon rolling green carts that is being stored in my garage comes equipped with, wait for it.........ITS VERY OWN RFID CHIP!! Yes, that's right. The city government is now going to be able to track my recycling habits. The folks in the solid waste department's public relations office say that the RFID chips are no different than the ID numbers on the trash cans now and that they are "only going to track the recycling habits of neighborhoods in order to target our marketing efforts".

Did I mention, the cleaning fairy is due at my house tonight, I wonder if she'll be on time and if she sorts recyclables? I sure hope so because I'd rather incur the lecture of a five-year old girl rather than further this insanity.

Stop the insanity!

Around this time of year, I normally develop what I affectionately call my "playoff aneurysm"; pain that invades my head when the Red Wings have issues in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Pain that is usually alleviated when either they win the Cup or a few months later when they start playing hockey again. I think that the current political climate has morphed my playoff aneurysm into a permanent fixture and I think that yesterday it started to burst.

One of the headlines yesterday was enough to send me into apoplectic shock. The words screaming from the screen "California Students Sent Home for Wearing U.S. Flags on Cinco de Mayo" made me seethe with anger before I even read the entire story. I was upset a few weeks back when a student in Florida was threatened with suspension for wearing a breast cancer support bracelet but this situation just leaves me incensed.

Five students at Live Oak High School in Morgan, CA were told to either reverse their shirts bearing the American Flag or be sent home. WHAT?! School officials said that shirts, the American Flag shirts, were deemed as incendiary on Cinco de Mayo. The American Flag is incendiary? The Principal of Live Oak High School has sunken to an all new level of insanity. He apparently feels that the American Flag had the possibility to trigger violence between those celebrating and those not.

So let me get this straight: students, who are in large part either immigrants themselves or children of immigrants, might be offended by other students wearing an American Flag. That doesn't even make sense. First things first either they or their parents made a conscious decision to come to this county (either legally or not) and have additionally made the decision to take advantage of the public school system. So having said that, they should never view the American Flag as something to be opposed to rather than to admire and respect after all you chose to be here.

Secondly, Cinco de Mayo isn't even a Mexican National holiday. It is a regional celebration in Puebla, Mexico and is widely ignored in the rest of the country. Here in the United States, Cinco de Mayo is an advertising tool for beer companies and restaurants that serve margaritas. So in reality, the revelers on Cinco de Mayo in California have CAPITALISM to thank for the celebration being as well known as it is.

I wonder if the principal (at Live Oak) removed the American Flag that flies outside his school on Wednesday or if he instructed his teachers to remove the Flag from public view inside the school's classrooms. And if he didn't (and I have seen no evidence as such) then how are the students inciting violence or supporting something that the schol itself has already endorsed? Was there even a policy regarding the wearing of patriotic symbols on May 5 or any other day? I think not, lest we would have heard about it by now. And if there was no policy, were these five students supposed to psychic?

Nick Boden, the principal at Live Oak, has opened himself up to not only controversy but to a dangerous precedent. If we can't wear American Flags on days that we as AMERICANS choose to celebrate the heritages of other countries, should we all be required to participate in the holiday as an exercise in global citizenship and lessons in diversity. And if our participation is mandatory, do we then have the guarantee that no one will be harassed or viewed as being racist? In October, should we all dress like Snooky and "The Situation" to celebrate Columbus Day? Or will the same people who want to sue MTv for perpetuating a stereotype come out of the woodwork? In March should we all dress as leprechauns and drink lots of Guiness and get into fights to celebrate St Patrick's Day? And in February (as a friend asked me today) are we to refrain from wearing white shirts or should we all just go in black face? My point exactly!! These ideas are just as ridiculous as the idea that an American should ever be told that he can't wear the flag on ANY or EVERY day of the year.

And now today, protests and violence are expected to be targeted at these students for standing up for their rights. Americans told not to wear the Flag and then targeted for violence for doing so. If this was happening to any other group of people the ACLU and the left would be screaming that we are violating civil rights - much like the protests against the Arizona immigration law. Seriously what are we becoming and who is going to stand up for us and STOP THE INSANITY!

Daisy is Calling

When Janet Napolitano took office as the Secretary of Homeland Security she was at the forefront of transforming the language used to describe the War on Terror and Terrorists. Someone (and I can't say that it was in deed Secretary Napolitano although I wouldn't find it difficult to believe) uttered the phrases "overseas contingency operation" and "man-caused disasters" and thought that they might be a good idea.

Since January 2009, our country has been attacked no less than three times. Once by Major Hassan at Ft. Hood, once by Abdulmutallab on Christmas Day, and now again in the middle of Times Square. Now maybe I am missing something but I think that it the span of time between September 12, 2001 and January 2009 we were attacked a whopping total of ONE time - Richard Reid's shoe bombing attempt. That's once in seven years but now we've been attacked three times in just over a year. Apparently the new language that was implemented has not affected the men seeking to cause the disasters quite as much as the Secretary and the Administration thought that it would.

Instead of staying the course with a hard line approach to those who wish to do harm to our way of life we in turn make sure that the rest of the world isn't mad at us because we spoke badly about the terrorists. It seems as if everything the Administration does requires the blessings of the world community or else we aren't being responsible global citizens. Apparently making sure that the criminals, who harbor those who want to kill us, feel warm and fuzzy is more important than making sure that they don't actually get to us and kill our children.

Hassan killed 12 and wounded 31 at Fort Hood in November and Abdulmutallab attempted to murder 289 people on Christmas Day. The car bomb in Times Square had the potential to kill a great number of people although I do wonder if that was a calling card and not the real attack, time will tell on that theory. By relaxing our language, it appears that the Administration has also experienced the "unintended consequence" of also relaxing our vigilant stance against such attacks. At least the folks in New York City haven't relaxed - without them and the "if you see something, tell someone" post-9/11 attitude this past weekend's attempt very well could have been a tragedy.

Secretary Napolitano was forced in an interview with Chris Wallace to actually acknowledge that the Times Square attempted car bomb was in fact Terrorism. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs almost choked on his tongue as he had to answer yes to a direct question as to whether or not the White House viewed the attempt as an attempted act of terror. Maybe its time that we ramp up out rhetoric again so that maybe the TERRORISTS will know that we are onto them and are coming after them

Maybe we should actually follow the clues that are in the wide open as in the Hassan case. We need to race forward in the intelligence community and do whatever is necessary to find people who are planning to hurt us instead of simply hoping that the terrorists continue to be as hapless as the Christmas Day and Times Square idiots. If these two individuals had been a little more on top of their game, we would be having an entirely different conversation.

I am tired of the "unintended consequences" from policies and proposed legislation that focus on problems and issues from the wrong (or even any) angle. Health care "reform" was rammed down the throats of the American public who was overwhelmingly against it. Tea Party members were lambasted as an angry mob spreading lies not the least of which was that health care was going to cost taxpayers loads of money only to be proven right less than a month after the bill's passage. Cap and Trade is a joke but will now be looked at by some and touted by the left as a viable option given the recent oil spill in the Gulf. Stop playing on the fears of the American public to further an agenda to relegate us to a compliant Global Citizen. Rather, utilize the fear of the American people (a la New Yorkers who have no problem saying that they see an SUV on fire) to move forward and continue to make the United States of America the strongest and most feared country in the world.

Yes, I did say most feared. I do not want to be nice, I don't want the terrorists to think that we're sitting ducks. Act first. Close the border. Enforce immigration law. Drill for American oil. Utilize natural gas. Fix the economy. Work with people who actually have experience in the fields in which they advise. Treat homegrown terror groups with swift and steadfast justice that does not include side deals. Stop allowing world leaders who denigrate our way of life to enter our country and spew their venom when all the while they are harboring the very terrorists who we are supposedly hunting. Somehow I think that if underling operatives in these rogue nations and organizations had real fear of us it would be much harder to convince them to attack us. Stop issuing sanctions and start dropping calling cards - Daisy....Daisy Cutter.

Author's Note: This post has been edited from its original publication to include Richard Reid's attempted shoe bombing of a plane which was inadvertently omitted. I do not however link the anthrax mailings, the DC Sniper or various other examples sent to me in response to this post as terrorism as they were crime sprees aimed at specific targets not at the American way of life. Remember its called "In My Humble OPINIONS"!