Up In Smoke: Giving a Northeastern Pennsylvania Politician the ‘Seattle Treatment’ on his Marijuana Dishonesty

“I’m not there yet”

That was the response given by Pennsylvania State Representative Aaron Kaufer (R-Kingston) in the Citizens Voice newspaper piece from Oct 11, 2015 entitled “Where do local legislators stand on marijuana?” when reporter Bill Wellock asked him his position on legal recreational marijuana. I’d like to tell you why that caused me to practically spit my locally roasted quad-shot triple-tall organic fair trade soy mocha all over my Chromebook that morning in surprise.

Before I get into the details of that night, first, a little background about me. My name is Casey Evans, and I was born and raised in the Back Mountain area of Luzerne County. I interned with US Congressman Paul Kanjorski, and worked as a staffer out of the Wilkes-Barre branch of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign (though I #FeelTheBern this year). I served on the Luzerne County Democratic Committee as an elected committeeperson, as Chair of the 2nd District from 2010-2013, and as the party’s media contact from 2011-2012. I was also one of the 33 candidates that ran in the Democratic primary for the first Luzerne County Council, and “made history” locally by being - to my knowledge - the first openly gay person to run for office in Luzerne County. I’ve written many a letter to the editor, was a contributor to, and occasionally the subject of, pieces on WYLN-TV, WILK Newsradio, the Times Leader, the Citizens Voice, the Hazleton Standrd-Speaker, PoliticsPA, LuLac Political Letter, and the blog you’re reading right now, Gort42.

I moved out of Northeastern Pennsylvania in 2013, headed for the Pacific Northwest, and settled in rainy Seattle, Washington, where I now call home (Go Seahawks!). I’ve kept up my political activism: I served on the Washington State 37th Legislative District Committee for various progressive candidates and causes, helped out on the political campaign that elected State Senator Pramila Jayapal, marched in the streets with thousands of demonstrators in the movement that won Seattle a $15 minimum wage, and most recently, formally left the Democratic Party and joined Socialist Alternative Seattle - Western Washington’s fastest growing political party - and became an activist for our incumbent City Councilmember, Socialist Kshama Sawant, during her successful re-election campaign in 2015 (57% of the vote!). In addition to my professional job with a local tech centered company, I relish my activist work, and in my free time, I very much like to exercise my rights under Washington State’s I-502: You see, it’s totally legal and socially acceptable for me to walk into a store and buy marijuana, possess marijuana, and enjoy marijuana. You know how in Pennsylvania everyone has “that one friend”? Well, here in Washington, everyone IS that one friend! It’s as commonplace as a glass of wine at dinner.

I mention all of this to demonstrate a few important things: First, I’m no stranger to Luzerne County or to Northeastern Pennsylvania. My roots there run deep. Second: I am also not a stranger to NEPA politics. I know it inside and out. Third: I’m unapologetically left wing and will speak my mind and say precisely what I believe on any given issue with sincerity and without reservation. Fourth: I enjoy the occasional toke of cannabis every now and then and I may in fact be in the process of making a bong with a friend out of a model Starship Enterprise that will light up and make phaser noises when you take a big rip from it. ….And by “may”, I mean I definitely am. But, I digress.

I occasionally like to read NEPA’s news online from Seattle. I find it absolutely fascinating to compare political news and discourse between the two areas:  Northeastern Pennsylvania, the relatively conservative land of kielbasa, church bazaars, and REALLY great pizza where the people like a good, cold beer and where things are slow to change and Seattle, the city of ever-present rain, coffee snobbery, and vegan punk rock bars, where the people are as eco-conscious as can be and where our gay mayor pardoned a tofurkey for Thanksgiving.

It’s fun to compare and contrast the two areas: Both have wonderfully rich heritages and are great places to call home, although politically, they could not be further apart.

Which brings me to the night that this all began, October 11, 2012: strangely, it was precisely three years before Kaufer’s commentary on marijuana hit the Citizens Voice.

It was the night of the debate between Congressional candidates Matt Cartwright (D) and Laureen Cummings (R) at Wilkes University. I attended, along with many others from Luzerne County’s political community. There was not one party or ideology or group that was not represented in that auditorium. After the debate was finished, the author of this blog, Ben Hoon, Alex Milanes (currently of the Luzerne County arena board and Treasurer of the Luzerne County Young Republicans), and I decided to go to the River Grille on River Street in Wilkes-Barre for some pub grub, and some multipartisan political discussions. There was another person who came with us that night, too: a first time candidate, Republican Aaron Kaufer, who was running for State Representative that year against long time incumbent, Democrat Phyllis Mundy.

Just to make sure you know I’m not pulling anyone’s proverbial leg on either coast of North America, I happen to have a photo that was taken by Ben Hoon that night at the River Grille of Milanes, Kaufer, and myself at our table.

Among the topics we discussed that night, from gay rights to property taxes to the presidential horse race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the issue of marijuana legalization came up. I said my piece, believing then as I do today that marijuana should be legal - not just for medicinal purposes, but for responsible adults to simply enjoy as they please.

Much to my surprise, Aaron Kaufer agreed with me. He said that he didn’t use marijuana (and to this day, I take him at his word that he doesn’t), but that his friends throughout college enjoyed it, and that it was through those friendships that he realized marijuana was not the big bad drug that we were all told to “just say no” to. He and I went back and forth through all of the reasons why marijuana was illegal - from lobbying from the private prison industry to Harry Anslinger to William Randolph Hearst and everything in between. He knew every name, every fact I brought up, expanded on it, and I expanded on his, and on and on we went.

Not only was he for marijuana legalization, he was arguably more for it than I was! Aaron called himself a different kind of Republican, and he said that he was happy to buck his party on this issue. He said that if the state could legalize it, tax it, that Pennsylvania wouldn’t be in as much of an economic downswing as it was and that the people would be better off for it.

I completely agreed, and I left the River Grille later that night having made another friend on the Republican side of the aisle. I was still backing Mundy that year (because Phyllis was a pretty awesome progressive legislator for the area), but I told Aaron that if he ever ran again that - party politics be damned - I’d be happy to see him win. He earned my respect that night because of his position on marijuana and his willingness to be an “independent minded Republican” (his words, not mine) that could think for himself, that wouldn’t blindly take orders from his party bosses (I found him to be a kindred spirit in that regard), and a man who - although we did not agree on everything - I still believed would do what he believed to be the right thing for the people.

Mind you, Aaron and I had this conversation at the same dinner table as a blogger (Gort42) and a Republican party official (Alex Milanes).

In 2014, I had already moved to Seattle, but still have literally thousands of people on my Facebook friends list, many from Northeastern Pennsylvania, and many in Aaron Kaufer’s district. Aaron was running, along with Eileen Cipriani, chief of staff for Phyllis Mundy, and John Bolin, a Democratic committeeman, good man, and all around awesome human being, who sadly and tragically passed away after a long and brave battle with cancer before the primary election was held (rest easy, my friend =(... ).

I took to my keyboard and declared to my friends in 120th District that I had fond feelings and high hopes for EVERY candidate in that race: I said that I considered Cipriani, Bolin, and Kaufer to all be friends. I said that each of them cared very deeply for the district and for their communities, and although they may disagree on some ideological issues here and there that I had no doubt in my mind whatsoever that every one of them would make excellent legislators and would serve the people of their district, and the people of Pennsylvania, well and with honor.

After John passed and the race became a two-person contest between Kaufer and Cipriani, I talked both of them up on Facebook and in the comment section of local newspapers. I posted glowing recommendations online for both of them. I believed in both of them. How can you choose one candidate over the other when you genuinely and sincerely believe both of them to be honorable and good people who are stepping up to serve their communities? I remember thinking to myself that if I were a voter in the 120th District that I would have a very, very hard decision on election day that year.

Aaron won his race. I posted a long congratulatory note on his Facebook page. I was very happy for him. Sure, he was a Republican, but I took him at his word that he was a “different kind” of Republican. He was young - younger than me, even - with a fresh mind and a Millennial’s perspective.  I had high hopes for Aaron; after all, I put my name and my reputation out there online and told people I knew in his district that he was alright by me. I told my friends to vote for him. I told my family to vote for him. I even told a person I randomly met here in Seattle who was from West Pittston and just coming back from a cruise to Alaska that she should vote for him, too!

So imagine my surprise when on October 11th, 2015, I happened to log on to the Citizens Voice website and read that the now-elected Representative Kaufer’s stated position on recreational marijuana was this:

“I’m not there yet. I personally think medical cannabis is the right way to go. I think we should watch what Colorado is doing and really find out what’s going on. We have the opportunity to see what’s going on in other states like Colorado and Washington. I don’t think it’s something that we should jump into. I think it’s something where we have time to make a decision.”

“Uh….What?” I asked myself as I read it. To his credit, Kaufer did say that he supported some version of medical marijuana, adding that there were too many people in jail for marijuana possession.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Aaron completely changed his position on legal marijuana. Not only was he FOR legal marijuana when Alex Milanes, Gort, and I sat at that table with him three years prior, he was more for it than I, Casey Evans, self-admitted Socialist, gay rights radical, and one of the loudest left-wing standard bearers that Luzerne County will likely ever see! And I, to spill a not-so-well-kept secret, HAVE USED MARIJUANA SINCE I WAS 18!

Not to mention the fact that if medical marijuana were to be legalized that it would only affect patients afflicted with certain and specific illnesses, and likely, as was outlined in the latest Med-Mar bill in Harrisburg, be a watered down form that one could not get high from; that medical marijuana bill would have had no legal effect on those jailed persons that Aaron decided to throw a bone to in the Citizens Voice piece and would have in no way altered the sentences of people already serving sentences, and would only help the sickest of the sick who - while certainly in need of medicinal cannabis - are currently in hospital beds, not jail cells.

I commented about my understanding of Aaron’s previously held position on marijuana on the Citizens Voice article - interestingly, other posters commented that they had similar discussions with him when he was a candidate. I then posted the article on Aaron’s Facebook page, and confronted him about it directly. Within a half hour, not only was my post deleted from his wall, but Aaron also removed me as his Facebook friend.

After I went out of my way and told people that trusted me and my opinion on local politics even after I’d moved away that he was a different kind of Republican - a Republican that they could put their faith in - that really, really bothered me. It was a hurtful thing to do. All I was seeking was an honest answer from someone who I thought was an honest person, up until that morning.

Aaron did reach out to me via Facebook messenger afterward. Here is the transcript of that conversation:

12 October 2015

Aaron Kaufer: Casey, I wanted to give you a bit of perspective of where I'm coming from. Since we talked a few years ago, states have fully legalized (beyond just medical). States like Colorado and Washington serve as case studies to see the results of tax revenue and case study for others to watch. We should look to see what others are doing first such as how they distribute and the measures they take to prevent underage consumption before we jump on in. Now that there are others to study, we should take the opportunity to do it right

Casey Evans: Aaron, that isn't the issue. The issue is you had one position before, and you have a different position now. You say in the paper you "aren't there yet", yet you were very much " there" when I and others spoke with you. You can't spin with me, man. You know that. This isn't my first time at the rodeo.

Casey Evans: (Posts photograph taken at River Grille)

Casey Evans: A blogger, a republican county board member, and a former democratic district chair were all there and would all seem to agree…

(More than thirty minutes pass, Aaron had ‘read’ my last message and remained online and was listed as active on Facebook messenger throughout this time)

Aaron Kaufer: The legislature is in a debate on whether to even do medical, and I'm not even sure if the votes are there for medical. That's the battle we are having now, and I don't think it's productive right now to be talking about straight legal in Pennsylvania when we are trying to build support for medical. People who are supporters are watching to see the results from other states. I still believe there are more problems from prohibition than regulation, but I don't know if there is enough support for medical which I believe is the first step in combination with decriminalization as the necessary first step in Pennsylvania.

At that point, I felt like bashing my head against a wall. It was as though I was talking to his press secretary. And for all I know, I may have been. I didn’t reply.

I’ll be generous and hypothetically assume for a moment that his last Facebook message to me was what he “actually’ believed and that he was just trying to get the marijuana ball rolling whilst simultaneously navigating the murky, partisan waters of Harrisburg, trying to balance district demographics and political calculations all at the same time… Even in that scenario, there was no reason for him to be dishonest with his constituents about where he stood. He could have easily logged onto the website of the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board or read the text of I-502, and discover for himself the very reasonable restrictions that it places on growers, retailers, and customers. A quick online inquiry at WA.gov would have told him how much tax revenue was generated this year, where that tax revenue goes, and a two minute Google search would have turned up the age and sale requirements for Washingtonians looking to purchase marijuana. It has been three years since I-502 was approved by Washington voters, so Aaron’s had ample time to “wait and see” how “things worked out”. Spoiler alert: Things worked out really, really well.  

If that scenario were true, after having misled the public in the Citizens Voice article, Aaron’s faulty reasoning that legalization was just too difficult to attempt (or be honest about) only says that he hadn’t the political spine to fight for it. You know, it wasn’t that many years ago that the establishment Democrats told us here in Seattle that electing a Socialist and passing a $15 minimum wage were too difficult to accomplish… and it turns out that when you have principled leaders with some moxie step up and take risks that have an organized grassroots movement behind them, there is nothing that can’t accomplished. Since polls say that a growing majority of Pennsylvanians support legalization for personal and recreational use, Aaron literally has no excuse for not even being brave enough to try.

On the other hand, even if his responses were to be taken as gospel, he said in our Facebook conversation that he “didn’t think it was productive” to be talking about straight up legalization in Pennsylvania. But even that ran counter to what he told the people of his district through the Citizens Voice article. So which was it? Was he for legalization as he said when he was a candidate, to a multipartisan table of witnesses? Was he “not there yet” like he told the papers, and by extension, the people of his district? Or was he really, truly secretly “there” and only said he wasn’t because he didn’t want to upset the GOP’s apple cart full of talking points and he just didn’t think it would ever have a chance at passing? And in the case of the last, isn’t that the very definition of lying for political expediency?

Right now, in Pennsylvania, there are people sitting in jail cells for simple marijuana possession. Some young, some older. None are medical patients that would have been eligible for medical marijuana, and even if they were, they’d still be in jail cells, because unless I read it wrong, the bill from the last legislative session contained no retroactive provisions that would have allowed them to modify or have their sentences changed via judicial review. Their families miss them every single day. When they eventually get out, they’ll go on a strict probation program and pay thousands of dollars in fines. They’ll be considered criminals, and legally listed that way for life, now finding themselves having to check the box on their employment applications that, yes, they were convicted of a crime. In addition to being stigmatized socially, they’ll also find themselves ineligible for federal grants and loans to pursue higher education or start a small business. They could have their children taken away from them, if they haven’t already.

All of that for a plant. All because they enjoy something that I enjoy today, that I can buy in a store, that I can possess, that I can laugh and joke about. Many are in prison right now and many more are suffering a lifetime of legal and financial consequences for something that, if they had done the same here in Seattle, would have resulted in a pleasant afternoon of fun, not entry into the criminal justice system.

I was lucky when I lived in Pennsylvania. I enjoyed marijuana there illegally. But there are thousands of people that weren’t so lucky as I was. I was never caught. They were, and it isn’t right. Pennsylvania law be damned: using and enjoying cannabis does NOT make anyone a criminal. Those people that are in prison or suffering legal or financial consequences for simple possession are innocent by every definition of the word.

Who is the one person in this situation who isn’t exactly innocent, however? Representative Kaufer. He felt that political expediency was more important than telling the truth. He felt that adherence to the Republican party line was more important than staying true to what he allegedly believed. If he didn’t support marijuana legalization and then said that he did, then he’s a liar and a flip flopper. If he did support marijuana legalization and then later said he didn’t, then he’s a liar, a flip flopper, and worst of all, a coward; more interested in holding on to his precious seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives than he is in standing up for what he believes, telling the truth, and taking a stand for those innocent Pennsylvanians who are paying their dues for something that - I’m sorry, I don’t care what Pennsylvania law says - is absolutely NOT a crime.

Before I wrote this piece, some people shrugged at me. They said that I shouldn’t be surprised that a politician would say one thing and then do another. True, that’s how politics often works in Pennsylvania. In fact, many if not most places in the United States. Well, Washington State must have spoiled me, because our politics are relatively cleaner, definitely more civil, and far more transparent than Luzerne County’s.. Especially compared to Pennsylvania, Western Washington, and Seattle in particular, have a reputation for a pretty honest and straightforward approach to politics..

If Mr. Kaufer were a Washington State Representative, the local news media would have raked him across the coals for an infraction like this before lunch. The Stranger, Seattle Weekly, even the Seattle Times would have had a field day with it. He’d be joked about on the latest episode of Up Late Northwest. Kshama Sawant would have an army of red-shirted protesters chanting outside his office by evening. I could even see several of our local marijuana shops use him in their advertising (I can see it now. “Two for one mystery strains, this week only! It’s the Kaufer Special: You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get!”). By the next day, Kaufer would be turning in his resignation and apologizing to his constituents for his error in judgement.

Yes, I am judging a NEPA politician by Seattle’s standards, and if your media outlets aren’t interested in doing so, then perhaps it’s time that the Wyoming Valley took after the Evergreen State for a change.

Last week, I stopped by Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop on 23rd and Union, in the Central District here in Seattle. It is the busiest marijuana store in Washington State. I picked up a postcard from the counter, and filled it out. I addressed it to Aaron’s office. Here’s what I wrote:

“Dear Rep. Kaufer! =) Do you remember when you said you were for marijuana legalization before the election? I do!! So here’s a card from the best pot shop in Seattle to remind you of your previously held position on marijuana. I *was* going to buy some pot cookies or weed gummy bears from CannaBee Candy Co. and send them to your office, but I realized that would be a waste of good weed… So I ate them myself! :-) Take care, and if you ever come out to Seattle, I’d love to give you a tour! I’ll have a pot of the best coffee and a bong loaded with the best weed in Washington State waiting for you! Sincerely, Casey Evans”

I hope that the Citizens Voice, the Times Leader, WILK, and all of the other media outlets in NEPA catch on to this piece and dig into this issue further because the people of the 120th District deserve to know where Aaron ACTUALLY stands on this very important issue; especially the families, friends, and loved ones of those who are sitting in jail cells, on probation, and suffering long term legal consequences for literally doing nothing wrong.

I’ll be interested in hearing if, when, or how Aaron decides to respond to this. My mother lives in his district now, and later this year, I’m sure she’ll be asking me who I would recommend she consider for her vote for State Representative.

What should I tell her, Aaron?

Casey Evans

Seattle, Washington

Tis the Season

SANTA WASN’T WHITE BECAUSE HE NEVER EXISTED!!!!!!

 

A Yuletide Message by Mean Old Man

 

Once again we are upon that holiest of seasons, the observance of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But what with all the damn commercials and sales pitches for everything from cell phones to Ford F150’s you wouldn’t know!!!  And to top it all off, all of the spoiled, bratty kids squawking about wanting this and that and-----Hell---everything!!!!   No one even talks about Jesus anymore or all of his good works.  Except for this week when some bleach blonde on Fox news stated that our savior was white.  Now, I wasn’t around then, but all I know is every single picture of Jesus Christ that I have seen has him white, so I have to accept it.  End of Story!!!!!!!  But there is another thing that the dumb bimbo brought up that I need to get off of my mind.

 

Santa Claus, the biggest detractor to Jesus that ever existed and more likely an early invention of the Communist party…..perhaps Karl Marx’s grandfather came up with the idea.  Anyways, once ol’ Santa got into the mix that’s what everybody seemed to start talking about.  Hell, even I believed in this silly fat Soviet invention at one time as a child, until ol’ Pops put an end to it.  I remember it so well…..

 

One Christmas around the time I as 7 years old, I was obsessed with getting a new baseball glove as a gift.  So, I went upstairs to the bedroom that I shared with my two loser brothers, Mike and Bye (who were older than me, by the way).  I sat down at the small desk that Pops made for Mike and began to write a letter to ol’ St. Nick.  I don’t think I got to my second sentence when the door slams open and there standing, big as life was Pops.

“Hey dimwit!” He screamed louder than a banshee.  “I get home from the breaker and I find that the furnace is almost empty.  What the hell are you up to?!?!?!”  I told him that I was writing to Santa to ask for a baseball glove.  Pops face turned redder than Gloria Steinman at a pro-life rally and he nearly went nuts.

“I’m gonna let you in a little secret moron, there’s no such thing as Santa Claus and even if there was he wouldn’t give a lazy dope like you a damned thing!!!!!!!!!!!”  Pops then proceeded to ball me out for not shoveling the coal into our furnace.  He then grabbed me by my shirt collar and lifted me up from the chair while slapping me around like a rag doll.  Then he proceeded to fling me down the stairwell into our parlor.  Once there he rushed down the steps and made a quick 180 to the ice box to fetch a bottle of Steg.  While slugging it down he grabbed me once again with his other arm and flung me down the cellar steps.

“I had better see enough coal in the furnace to keep the King of Siam warm, or your spending the night making an igloo out in the yard!!!”

While shoveling that night, I could feel the blood seeping from my forehead and the pain in my lower back each time I bent to pick up a load of coal.  It was painful, horrifying and degrading….and I loved it!!!  Because Pops taught me an important lesson that day, to face reality and not count on any handouts.  Good ol Pops, there’ll never be another like him.  I miss him a lot.

So, all you liberal, commie idiots out there screaming about some bimbo saying Santa is White, forget it.  There is no Santa and there never was.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a  Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, that Christmas I didn’t get my baseball glove.  Instead I got a new shirt because Pops had ripped my old one when he hoisted me up like an ornament.  It was one of the best gifts I ever got!!!!!

So all you goofballs have a Merry Christmas….and make sure you got your cards out early to the Kremlin and Peking.  As for me, I’ll be sitting at home, enjoying a Lucky and hoisting a Steg while listening to Nat King Cole singing the Christmas Song.

Merry Christmas!!!!!  I hate you all!!!!!!!

 

All Hallows Eve

MY PORCH LIGHT WILL BE OUT TONIGHT, SO STAY AWAY TRICK OR TREATERS!!!!
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A Halloween Message by Mean Old Man
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Once again, we are upon that stupid holiday (?) called Halloween.  Damn!!!!!!  Each year all the handout seekers come to my door asking for free candy or money.  And the twerp heads can’t even have the common decency to say ‘thank you” when they get it!!!!  Against the wishes of my missus, I will not be taking any of these future welfare recipients into my living room this time.  I remember one year some punk who looked about 25 years old coming inside.  He looked as if he’d had twelve Stegs and some of that funny tobacco for dessert.  The thing that really got to me was his looking around my place----particularly at the picture of Ronald Reagan with the gold-trimmed frame over my fireplace.  I made a point to let this vagrant know that if I ever saw him within a mile of my homestead again he would have the opportunity to meet my two cousins, Smith and Wesson.  Needless to say the loser never showed again.
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In my day we celebrated Halloween too.  But there was an age limit.   Once I turned 9 my old man put an end to it.  “Dimwit, it’s time for you to go out and find a part time job!  Not dress up like a little panty waste!!!”  I remember him saying, right after he belted me after finding me dressed in my homemade Superman outfit.  And when Pops found out that I used Mom’s red dress to make a cape, he flung me down the stairs and kicked my sorry butt into the coal chute for the night.  I remember laying on top of the coal with the cold October air seeping through the corners of the basement window.  My legs and back were in dire pain and my head too.  It was brutal, inhumane and degrading punishment for a 9 year old----and I loved it!!!  Because it taught me a lesson that childhood has its expiration date and adulthood starts!!!  Good ol’ Pops, when they made him they broke the mold.  I miss him a lot.
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It ain’t that way today. Kids of all ages go out begging.  No doubt, a product of the welfare state.  And what about the real joy of Halloween-----horror?????  In my time we had real monsters played by real men.  Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi.  Bela was the best vampire ever.  Not like these prissy vampires today in those Twilight films.  My dumbbell granddaughter, Molly is in love with some nerd who portrays a vampire in that movie.  She has a poster on her bedroom wall of him, hoping he will stop by in the middle of the night to take her away and marry her.  What a load of balderdash!!!!  I’ve seen this nitwit in the silly movie and I have news for little Molly.  This jerk may stop by someone’s bedroom to take them away in the middle of the night, but most likely it won’t be a girl named Molly but a guy named Roy!!!!!!!!!!!!
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So, all you commies enjoy your Halloween.  Maybe if you trek down to DC and stop at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. you’ll pick up a free, pie in the sky health insurance policy to put in your trick or treat bag.  As for me, I’ll be in my living room, drinking a few Stegs, smoking a Lucky while listening to the soothing sounds of Sammy Davis, Jr. singing “Me and My Shadow” on the ol’ victorola.  Happy Halloween and remember, I ain’t takin’ any!!!!!!!!!
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I hate you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Third District Dem Picnic

I wasn't able to attend the 3DP on Sunday but a friend was kind enough to send along a report yesterday.

Hello Gort,

New Third District Democratic Chairman, Phil Struzzerri, welcomed a large and loud crowd of about 240 people at their  picnic yesterday at the Pittston American Legion picnic grounds. The food was very well received by the crowd.

All of the usual suspects were there from the area and the county except for Linda Houck, County Council candidate. Representative Mike Carroll was the MC and Sen. John Yudichak gave a spirited keynote speech urging Democratic unity in the upcoming election, and criticizing the irrational Republicans in both Washington and Harrisburg. 

Alexandra Kokura was the star of the event. She was the first to arrive and the last to leave.

No Valenti.

(rumor also heard... there is now a split between Katsock and Grinaway!)

Play by play from the State Democratic Committee meeting.

PoliticsPA has rundown of what Governor candidates are doing to woo the faithful at this weekends get together.

 David Diano  tells you what really is going on:


At the dessert event, candidates for the 13th and for Lt Gov were trying to give speeches, but the acoustics were terrible and everyone was milling around and talking. It was a waste of time for the candidates, as no one but their own staffers paid the slightest attention. They did better just working the room one on one.

I finally got to meet Tom Wolf. Seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t even bother with the Schwartz staffers who were wearing candidate t-shirts over regular shirts, while mostly everyone else was dressed for success, and just had a few buttons or stickers. Except for the head fundraiser, the staff just seems like amateur hour and like they showed up at the wrong event by accident.

McGinty seems very nice. If she is able to raise enough money, I think she will do well in first-person commercials explaining why she is running. When Kane ran, she explained herself and did well. Murphy had surrogates (the usual suspects) in his commercials. We know how that turned out. McGinty has a similar quality to Kane in the direct way she speaks.

I didn’t even waste my time with Pawlowski and his tiny entourage. No one I talked to could figure out why he was wasting his time running. The two leading theories were
1) that the illusion of a Gov run would give him leverage in backroom deals in Allentown
2) that this was a way to filter money to his cronies by having them pretend they were running a Gov campaign.

If anyone has a better theory, I’d like to hear it, because we are all pretty stumped about what he is really up to. Of course, it’s possible he’s actually dumb enough to think he has a chance, but I doubt it because he does have opposable thumbs and can walk upright. So, it must be something else.
I saw Rob McCord. He was laughing and enjoying himself. I’m guessing the Teamsters endorsement was part of it. People were commenting how Rob timed it just right for his announcement. I think those “McCord for Gov” stickers had been gathering dust for months. 

Rob is pretty popular with Delco and Montco crowd, so he was in his element.
Oh, yeah, and it seems like a lot of people are following Politics PA, because they recognized my name from here. 

Guns make us all safer or shoot a beer out

TO HELL WITH GUN CONTROL!!!!!

A Message of Tolerance by Mean Old Man

 Well, it seems to happen every couple of years and here we go again. Once again, the puny commie liberals are trying to take away my constitutional right to bear arms. Why should I be surprised?? Damn!!!!! After the school shooting a few months ago all of the hippie, flower power, Chairman Mao worshipping heathens came out of their closets (following their success on the gay marriage issue) and figured they could really soak their agenda on good God-Fearing, patriotic Americans like me. No doubt, the shooting up there in Connecticut was a tragedy, but does anyone think like me, that maybe if some of the teachers were packing (and maybe some of the older students, too) there would have been a different result??? That clown who did the evil deed would have been pushing up daisies before he got a single shot into anyone! But, of course, it’s all the fault of the proud gun owners of America. There’s nothing more fun than growing up toting a gun. 


My old man gave me my first gun when I was 6……a fine .22 caliber mini rifle. Gee, it was fun taking that out and picking off woodchucks and rabbits that were getting into Mom’s garden. And, I learned gun responsibility too. 

One time I shot a little off target when trying to down a squirrel and the bullet went straight into the living room window, barely missing Pops (who was having his traditional bottle [s] of Ballantine). The bullet directly blew apart Pops brew as the bottle shattered all over the wall as well as the beer. I can still recall the beating Pops gave me, not particularly, because I nearly killed him, but because I wasted a good bottle of beer on a count of my carelessness. Sometimes I can still feel the shiners he gave me on both eyes on that afternoon. But after that, I always aimed with good focus and never forgot the wonderful lesson Pops taught me. For the rest of my life, I could never hoist a bottle of Ballantine beer out of guilt. My preference is a cold Stegmaier. Good ol’ Pops…..he was one in a million. What a great guy…..I miss him a lot

. But now we are raising kids to be such wussies that we won’t even allow them to enjoy a toy gun. I mean, what is wrong with a two, or a three year old toting a plastic tommy gun???? Not only is it good masculine fun, but great preparation for when you get older (around 6 or 8) and can handle the real deal. 

Of course, my dumb grandson’s idea of a good toy is some dumb puppet or sissy doll. I don’t get it. And we wonder why this nation’s goin’ down the tubes!!!!! So, all you commies who want to ban firearms just remember there’s a thing called the fifth amendment to the constitution, or the first or third (I’m not sure which one but it’s there!!) that protects the rights of real Americans like me and my buddies Creep, Gummo and Skeets. 

After all, we fought the big war for you all to be free to act like pansies. Take that!!!! As for me, tonight I’ll spend some time at the Legion with those heroes, then I’ll come back to my home, sit back and pop open a Gold Medal Steg, puff on a few Lucky’s and watch the great Richard Boone, a real actor (to hell with Ben Affleck) in Have Gun Will Travel. Now there’s a show!!!! 

I hate you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

O Tannenbaum

CHRISTMAS IS JUST NOT FUN ANYMORE!!!!!!

A Holiday Message from Mean Old Man

  Well, here we go again with the stupid holiday of Christmas.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knockin’ the birth of good ol’ Jesus, but the things that I have to go through this time each year.  Damn!!!!!!!!

  Of course, it’s just not one day either; I have to put up with my stupid family not just on Christmas Day but also on Christmas Eve----two days of Hell!!!  I would rather be back in the heat of the Battle of the Bulge than to go through these next two days (and that wasn’t no picnic!).  Of course on that night my dimwit hippie sons and their useless wives will flop themselves in my living room along with their demented kids.  Which only means that instead of a relaxing evening watching Wheel of Fortune and Murder She Wrote with the great Angela Lansbury (now that’s a “lady”!) I’ll probably be forced to look at some stupid rapper Christmas special because my grandkids are in charge of their parents.  Damn!!!!!  Not to mention to add more misery my stupid brother in law John will be arriving with his “friend”, Hal.  These two funny boys should just go and get married already since President Obama said it’s OK!!!!!!!!

  In my day, Christmas was different.  Don’t get me wrong, we celebrated Christmas Eve and the blessed day also, but everything was more polite and not too extravagant.  Christmas Eve usually involved Mom lugging us all to Mass.  For some reason Pops always seemed to have a bad cold that night but had his trusty bottle of Seagram’s to medicate himself.  But before we did that ol’ Pops and me would go out into the woods and cut down a tree for the house.  I remember one Christmas when Pops was just a bit way too medicated to go “tree hunting” as he called it,  the responsibility was in my 10 year old hands.  I remember it was a windy night combined with heavy snow/sleet.  I could still feel the sleet stinging my face like needles and pins as I trekked up the hill to find a good tree.  It was so bad that I just took the hatchet to the first tree I found and dragged it home.  When I got into the house, Pops blew his top screaming that the tree I chose wasn’t good enough for a bordello let alone a good Christian home.  He dragged me and the tree out to the front porch and flung me to the icy/cold sidewalk screaming that I had better get my tail back to the woods and find a decent tree.  After about an hour and a half I finally found a tree I figured Pops would like but it didn’t matter anyhow because when I got back to the house he was sleeping off his medication.  Nevertheless, Mom, me and my dumb brother Skip decorated the tree and a nice Christmas Eve was had by all.  I’ll say one thing about ol’ Pops, he certainly made Christmas interesting—you never knew what you were gonna get.  He could be either Santa or Scrooge both with a little Joe Louis thrown in for good measure---he was one of a kind and a real man.  I miss him a lot.

Kid just don’t respect adults anymore.  And God help you if you don’t give them the load of expensive presents!!  All we ever got on Christmas morning was a tangerine and some socks---and it was great!!!!! Try giving that to a runt today!!!!!!!   Damn, I hate it all!!!!  So all you dimwit Commies have a nice Christmas holiday.  Maybe you can send Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro each a nice get well Christmas Card.  As for me, I will be in my trusty attic smoking a Lucky (the cigarette that went to war), swigging a Steg and listening to the soothing sounds of Jerry Vale singing, “Home for the Holidays”.  Hell, maybe I’ll even invite my pals Creep, Gummo and Skeets over.  Merry Christmas.  I hate you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frankenstorm on the way

Some people are not worried

WHY IS EVERYONE SO SCARED OF A DUMB HURRICANE????

A Meteorological Message from Mean Old Man

I’m fit to be tied like a cow to the slaughter over the way the stupid liberal weather forecasters are trying to scare everybody over the coming hurricane!!!  And even worse, the dumbbells all fall for it!!!!!!!  I guess now my weekend trip to Wal-Mart and the grocery store will be ruined because all the namby pamby commie heathens will be out hoarding flashlights, candles, and every other damned thing under the sun.  Then I’ll have to wait in line for an hour or a half hour at best just to check out my few things!!!!   And don’t tell me to go to the ten items or less line because the stupid morons always line up in that aisle with thirty!!! DAMN!!!!!!

Back in my day we had hurricanes too, but we didn’t get all upset about them!!!!  Hell,  we  wouldn’t even know if one was arriving, let alone a snowstorm because we didn’t have 24/7 weather on the radio (no TV back then---thank the Lord).  You woke the hell up, got out of bed and looked out the window.  That was the weather forecast!!!!  If it was raining you wore your rubbers, if it was  snowing  you put on  your trusty stocking cap and if it was sunny you enjoyed it!   It was never sunny, at least as far as I can remember.

I remember my old man during a hurricane back in the good ol’ 30’s.  He sent me out to Joe the Butcher’s corner pickup to buy a sixer of Ballantine.  Good ol’ Ballantine, I don’t think they make that anymore.  Anyways, I was a little runt and made it a point to be seen and not heard as Pops wanted it.  I remember he told Mom to go to the ice box and get him a bottle after returning from a rough day at the breaker.  She told him that it was all gone since he had brought the boys home the night before for an surprise evening of poker.  Well, good ol’ Pops flipped telling Mom that as lady of the house it was her place to see that all his needs were met since he spent all day doing actual work.  I still can recall the whistling wind outside the house and the shaking of the windows and rafters.  The lights were flickering off and on but Pops needs came first. 

“Hey, dunce (Pops always had a nickname for each of us kids) take this fifty cent piece and get yourself down to Joe’s for a six pack, and I want it yesterday!”  He then proceeded to put the half buck coin in the palm of my hand and cracked me across the face with the palm of his hand.  Because he knew the importance of discipline, something the spoiled brats of today don’t get.  So, I put on my coat and hat and tread down the road to Joe’s.  I can still recall the stinging rain hitting my face and taste the small bit of blood that had seeped into my mouth from my whacking a few minutes before.  A huge gust of wind hit me and pretty much lifted me from the ground and down onto my kister.  It was then that I realized that the fifty cent piece flew out of my hand and damned if I could find it.  I looked all over but what with the darkness the rain and the heavy wind, I couldn’t see it.  It was then that I did a reverse trek on home and knew what was waiting for me.  When I opened the door Pops heard my voice from inside the kitchen.  “Wow, the twerp really was fast tonight!!  Maybe we should have a darn hurricane every day!!!”

 

Of course, then Pops walks into the kitchen and sees none of his beloved Ballantine.  “Where the hell’s my beer, runt!!??  What did you spend that half buck on candy again???!!!?”  I then began to tell him of the heavy wind that threw me and how I lost the coin but I didn’t get a chance to even finish my words.  He proceeded to place a shiner the size of a silver dollar on my left eye and then place a similar one on my right eye for good measure (to be fair, the one on my right eye was probably the size of a quarter).  Calling me every vile name in the book he kicked my down the basement steps and threw me in the coal chute where I was told I was to spend the night.  Lying amongst a pile of Anthracite feeling the wind seeping through the basement windows onto my body I felt like hell.  MY eyes were now beginning to swell to a point where I could barely see; my throat became dry from breathing in the ash and lack of water; my back and legs were throbbing as a result of multiple kicks on my trip to the chute.  It was agonizing, degrading, frightening……almost inhumane……and I loved it!!!!!!!!  Because I learned a very simple lesson that night.  When your old man gives you money to buy beer, put the damn money in your pocket and not in your stupid hand especially if there’s a hurricane going on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Every time hurricane season arrives I think of good ol’ Pops.  He was one of a kind….when they made him they broke the mold.  I miss him a lot.

So, when all you prissy liberals start crying and shaking about the upcoming hurricane remember that you ain’t got it so bad.  I’m sure you’ll be in the corner shaking in your thousand dollar designer shoes---not Praying because most of you are so full of ego that you don’t even acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ.

As for me, I’ll be sitting in my trusty recliner, lighting a lucky, swilling a Steg (Gold Medal) and listening to the late great Lena Horne singing Stormy Weather on the ol’ Victrola.

That’s how I deal with a hurricane…….

I hate you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply to: Reply to Corcoran, Kevin

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120th HD debate

State Representative Phyllis Mundy (D) and challenger Aaron Kaufer (R) faced off in a lively debate Tuesday night that I wasn't able to attend.

Gort42 special correspondent and PittstonPolitics.com contributor John Lombardo covered the event:

Tuesday’s political debate between Aaron Kaufer and Phyllis Mundy came with a good crowd at Wyoming Seminary in Kingston. The topics of the debate ranged from property taxes to natural gas drilling. All of these were extremely important to the 120^th Dristrict…but the most important question was only asked at the end by candidate Kaufer. “Why did we have no discussion about jobs?” he said during his closing statement.

            During the debate, there were no questions asked(or read by the moderator) asking what we are to do about the high unemployment. Now, I don’t live in the 120^th District, but I do work there for the West Pittston Ambulance every weekend. Whenever we go out on calls I see a lot of houses with “For Sale” signs(not just in the flood zone), and I wonder why it is so bad that people have to leave, and our representatives aren’t paying attention to it.

            One of the problems is the high property taxes. Families were promised relief when the casino was built, but most saw none. Rep. Mundy said that she fought to get property tax relief, and said that she would sign a bill eliminating them if it was brought to her on the house floor. Aaron Kaufer fired back saying that it was bad practice to just wait for a bill to be brought to her. He said that she should’ve been reaching across the aisle to help get that bill written and brought to a vote. I can’t help but agree!

            Other questions asked during the debate involved gun control(why?), the Voter ID law, and the UGI Compressor Station is West Wyoming. Strangely enough, Phyllis and Aaron were both in a general agreement on these issues(except for gun control). One of the first things I ever learned about debating is to never EVER say “I agree” with your opponent no matter what. Always find something to pick apart no matter how small or insignificant it is.

            One of the other topics of agreement was the Natural gas drilling in NEPA. We are the only state without a severance tax on gas drilling, and both candidates support one. But I think Rep. Mundy must have bumped into President Obama on the way to this debate and stolen some of his cue cards, because I heard “fair share” about ten times.

            Even though I’m not a resident of the 120^th District, I will definitely be paying attention to the race because it has some big effects on everyone living in Northeast Pennsylvania. Best of luck and thanks to both of the candidates for coming to my political forum at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.

Matt Hughes write up in the Times Leader has the play by play on the  issues  that documents their agreement on some issue. Bill Wellock covered it for the Citizens Voice.

The debate can be viewed on the Video Innovations website:  

Video streaming by Ustream

I just viewed the video and few things stood out. Aaron Kaufer had  command of the issues and admitted that he didn't know enough about some obscure bill to comment on it. Phyllis Mundy kept attacking Governor Tom Corbet and the Republican State Senate and tied them to Grover Norquist. Kaufer kept saying he would work for Bipartisan solutions. On the severance tax and environmental safeguards Mundy asked  "Is he going to be the only one over there who votes to do those things?" Kaufer landed a punch on pensions after Mundy said she voted against  increases but took it anyway. Mundy didn't commit any unforced errors but Kaufer had a few questionable statements. On the assault weapons ban Kaufer said the Holocaust would not have happened if Jews had guns. He really screwed up saying  "We don't need old politicians." The audience booed. At the end he said his background was in US/Chinese economics. ???