Sunday, August 02, 2009

Luzerne County GOP picnic

I made it to the Luzerne County Republican Party Family picnic yesterday along with at least 200 other people at the beautiful Hartis Horse Farm in Dallas. The host was recent Controller candidate Bob Sypniewski who spent the day directing traffic. I was wasn't able to stay long and bit my tongue when some of the people started Obama bashing and repeating misinformation about health care reform. Yes, it was bleeding afterward but since this was a social occasion I decided not to get into any arguments with people that can't be persuaded anyway. Speaking of the unpersuadable, I ran into Dave Madeira as I was leaving and he was arriving.


The only picture I snagged was of our next Court of Common Pleas Judge Bill Amesbury and sitting Judge Tom Burke then my camera battery died and I didn't take a spare. Bill won both nominations so he is probably a lock but he stressed to me and anyone else that asked that he is not taking anything for granted and will continue to campaign hard. Republican Judge nominee Dick Hughes was working the crowd and I may just bullet vote for him. Blog buddy ZEN was there with his family and his son confirmed that he has filled his head with untruths about me:) Executive Directer Renita Fennick was the social butterfly of the event and made sure she greeted everyone including your humble narrator- "Oh, it's you."

My counseling efforts worked out between Jonathon and Controller nominee Walter Griffith. They kissed and made up. Carolee Medico was there and is probably headed back to the Courthouse for a repeat performance as Prothonotary.


I had a nice chat with SPCA Director and former WBRE weather guy Vince Sweeney and his wife Carol, at first I thought she was his daughter. Just kidding pal, you're a lucky man. Vince and I have the same talent for breaking machines like weed eaters, lawn mowers and appliances. He told me that if you want a cat the SPCA is handing them out for free which got my wheels turning. I'm sure Quincy would love another playmate but Ptolemy would freak and Mrs. G would also be a hard sell. I'm not sure but I think I'm on the hook for the next fundraiser for the SPCA at Francis Slocum Park in October. I already drop off my albumin cans there but not out of purely altruistic motives. Let them take them to Bilecki's junk yard.


My old friend Carl Romanelli is not optimistic about the health care legislation that will come out of Washington. He prefers a single payer system as do I. He told me that the best thing about being an Independent/Green is that you can go to any party's event and not get anybody mad at you. I suggested that instead of running for statewide offices that they will never win the minor party's like the Greens and Libertarians should put some effort into winning city council, state rep and school board seats and build as a bench for the big races down the line.

Because I was pressed for time I didn't get a chance to say hello to everyone. Some of the people I missed were Wilkes-Barre Area School board candidate Harry Haas , Hanover politico and head of the Malt Beverage Assoc. Dave Shipula, Mr. Flack, Alice Coffman and I'm sure I'm leaving out many others.

A real treat was meeting my Facebook friends David and Kathy .


I also met Superior Court nominees Sallie Mundy and Temp Smith who will be covered in a future post.
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Moses was there greeting everyone and spent the afternoon trying to convince them that they didn't really need all that food on the plate.





Did I drop enough names ?

23 comments:

Dana said...

What, you weren't at the (rained out) Pennsylvania 500?

Big Dan said...

Were they discussing how Obama isn't an American citizen and how health care in America is "just fine"? Also, did they serve "Freedom Fries" at the picnic?

Big Dan said...

...or discuss how Terry Shiavo shouldn't have had the plug pulled out from her life support?

Big Dan said...

Maybe they discussed C Street aka The Family aka the Christian Mafia?

Anonymous said...

We dicussed how many local Democrats are going to jail.

Anonymous said...

Big Dan you need to lighten up, or at least make all your points in one post

I know Dave he and his wife are really good people, who got involved with the GOP during the 2004 campaign. I worked on it and as much as i regret getting W reelected(if He lost the GOP would have still be in control of both houses and John McCain would have beat John Kerry in 2008) I met a lot of nice people who just started to get involved in politics and learned the importance of local elections.

Zen said...

Gort, was nice to see you there. I left not long after you but I really didn't hear anybody talking about healthcare or even Obama for that matter. It seemed like everybody was there just for some great food and an even better time.
I really can't wait until next year's pitnit.
By the way, give me a call and I'll update you on Steele's visit.

Mean Old Man said...

For a split second when I saw the picture of our Sainted Sen. Santorum shaking hands with that Bolshevik, I thought that Rick actually showed up at this event. If that were the case I would have certainly put my chicken coupe wiring project behind to go to this hootenany! If you're reading this Senator, please, please run in 2012. We need great Americans like you back in the Senate, especially since our President has destroyed our economic structure!!!

Big Dan said...

Anonymous: the GOP should start by throwing out all the FAKE conservatives. If you are a REAL conservative, then you know what I mean.

The GOP has been taken over by FAKE conservatives. I can write a book of information proving this.

Big Dan said...

I'd vote Republican, if they really were conservatives. Look at the spending Bush did. Look at the wars. I know you are talking about the local level, but that's where it starts. And talk about "big government", look what the Republicans did from 2000-2008. Dept of Homeland Security, the biggest taxpayer boondoggle, just to name one. The wars are costing $2.9 billion a week, and more soldiers are committing suicide than at any other time in history.

Pope George Ringo said...

It's a pretty fair bet to say that all conservatives are fake. They preach against wasting tax dollars on pork but are the first to suck up those dollars (ask Ted Stevens); they preach picking one up by his own bootstraps, but are the first to ask for federal aid when their state (mostly Southern) is hit by a tornado or a hurricane. The African American conservatives preach to abolish affirmative action when they themselves benefited from it (ask Clarence Thomas). In short, conservativism is a myth; it never truly worked and pretty much favored the wealthy over the backs of the poor.

Vince Sweeney said...

Hey, Gort, thanks! The hot dogs were good, the draught birch beer was great(no drinking, I was driving), and the company was great. A pleasure to meet you.

Thanks for all the fishes...

Big Dan said...

View Obama's birth certificate at FactCheck.org

Wingnuts Receive Marching Orders On How to Disrupt Upcoming Town Halls With Phony Outrage. Corporate media stands ready to help as usual...

The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress:

Leaked memo of strategy of FAKE grassroots movement

Zen said...

Big Dan, first let me say that I believe Obama is a natural born citizen. Second, do you know the difference between a birth certificate and a certificate of live birth? Here's a hint, only one of them can be used for such little things as a driver's license, a passport, joining the military, etc. Why he doesn't release his actual birth certificate confuses me except when I think back and realize that the old ones from the 60's have the babies religion on them. Maybe he just doesn't want people to see what his parents listed it as. Kind of silly if you ask me. The other thing he has never rleased is his college transcripts, but that's another story.

Big Dan said...

ABC News: the 2000 Bush/Gore election recount "riots" were neither spontaneous nor local. It was an organized Republican Party protest, run by 75 party supporters out of a motor home headquarters in Miami.

Identified GOP astroturf operatives

Ten Horrible Examples Of Astroturfing

Big Dan said...

Zen: why are you even asking that Obama should produce his birth certificate? First of all, you think he's a citizen. Second, you're giving legitimacy to the whackos. What if they next accuse him of being a vampire? Should he go around disproving this to the whackos?

Big Dan said...

Remember the accusations against Sarah Palin, that the child wasn't hers and it was her daughters and she faked it, and they asked her to produce all the hospital certificates? Were you campaigning for her to release all those records?

Big Dan said...

...and John McCain didn't release full disclosure of all his medical history.

We can go on and on and on...

I don't mean to be argumentative or pro-Obama (which I'm not), but people "see what they want to see", people choose what they want to talk about, people believe what they want to believe.

If Obama himself walked up to a birther WITH his actual birth certificate, they still wouldn't believe it.

And when this dies down, the birther thing, there will be another thing, what will it be next?

Instead of talking about important issues, we're talking about birthers thinking Obama is not an American citizen.

If you want to cut down Obama, let's start with that he has engaged in an undeclared war in Pakistan. There's a hundred things I could cut down Obama for so far...that are legitimate.

Big Dan said...

We can then move on to the topic of how Obama/Geithner continued the taxpayer bailout of the banksters and billionaires started by Bush/Paulson. Paulson and Geithner, the last two treasury secretaries, happen to be former Goldman-Sachs execs and they are directly now making millions and millions of profits due to this. And we have TV covering the birthers.

Anonymous said...

Obama must love the bait and switch stuff. Keep everyone focused on a non issue while implementing socialism in our gov't. And the idiot republicans our complicit in the distraction.

Unknown said...

Gort,

I wish you could have taken the time Saturday because I was very persuadable. I got my mind right today.

Kathy Dobash said...

Gort:

It was a lovely day! I like your comments about the event.
I hope we can meet and chat again! I was busy with photos,art and the children!

I am happy to have you as a facebook
friend! Look for my posts on NEWSTALK PA!

Kathy Dobash
http://www.myspace.com/kathydobash
http://www.fotolog.com/beautyflowerpoem

Gort said...

The pleasure was mine Kathy. Please come to our get together this Friday and drag Gina with you.