Karl Rove is coming to town

WILKES-BARRE -Terry Casey, chairman of the Luzerne county Republican Party, said an announcement will be made soon that Karl Rove will speak at the group’s dinner in late March at Genetti’s, Wilkes-Barre.

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The county's GOP financial picture must be improving if they can afford to bring in a heavy hitter like Rove to share his wisdom. I'm sure he is not doing this for free.

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I think it is interesting that he has been blathering all over the FOX News airwaves but is still fighting subpoenas to appear before the House of Representatives to answer questions in his role in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 for political reasons. He also needs to explain his involvement in blowing the cover of CIA agent Valerie Plame and many other things.

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It will be interesting to hear what advice he gives our local elephants on how to create a "permanent Republican majority." His formula of division and hate really worked out well for them on the national level.

Elephants on the move

County GOP’s new leader has big plans

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The new executive director of the Luzerne County Republican Party, Renita Fennick, thinks "people around here are mostly conservative, even if they have a D after their name. They just might not know it.” We just have to be educated. To set us straight our local R's will be bringing Karl Rove to town.

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The fact that the county Republican party can afford a full time executive director, a permanent HQ on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre and pay Karl Rove to appear at a rubber chicken dinner shows that they have some money to spend. It looks like the big money back mountain boys that drop big bucks into national Republican campaigns but in the past have contributed to local Democrats have seen the error of their ways and are financing the local GOP. But I haven't checked the finance reports lately so they could be playing both sides of the fence like Multi-Party Bob Mericle.

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Now that the Republican nomination is actually worth something because of the scandals in the courthouse the top dogs are planning to endorse candidates in the primary just like the Democrats. The endorsement process is necessary because of the high number of Republicans who have expressed interest in seeking the party’s nomination for county row offices, Chairman Terry Casey said.“Every day I hear of someone else who picked up petitions or who inquired about running,” Casey said. “If we have multiple candidates for the county row offices, which we expect, we will endorse. It’s a very exciting time for us.” I think that is a bad move. The local GOP has been divided into factions for a long time and an open primary with the agreement of all the candidates to unite behind the winners would be a better approach.

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Congrats to Chairman Terry Casey on his election as the chairman of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry. He will be working closely with former Democratic Luzerne County Commissioner (Bond Brother) Todd Vonderheid.

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On Thursday the party will be hosting a dog and pony show at the Republican HQ, 25 Public Square in Wilkes-Barre with Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta as the headliner. Registered Republicans running for county-level office who are seeking the party endorsement will be allotted time to address the group.

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Maybe we can make this into a blogger meetup and go to Big Ugly's afterward.

Marino almost got fired before he quit

Reading the press reports today it has become clear that not only is Tom Marino a liar but his superiors in the Department of Justice thought he was incompetent.


Marino's effectiveness questioned

A senior Justice Department official recommended firing Marino in September 2006, saying he "perceived that Marino was not leading his office," according to the report, which has taken on fresh relevance as the Republican challenges Democratic incumbent Chris Carney in the 10th Congressional District.

D. Kyle Sampson, the chief of staff to then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, subsequently placed Marino's name on a list of U.S. Attorneys he said the department, "should consider pushing out," based on "problems" he learned about in summer 2006, according to the report.

You can read the report at this link.

The only thing that saved his tail was the Justice Department didn't want to piss off Senator Arlen Specter.

REPORT: Political ties kept Marino from termination


A report timeline shows that Marino was recommended for termination weeks after he provided a personal reference on a gambling license application for a convicted felon who was under investigation by Marino’s office.

Marino and one other attorney were removed from the list “not because anyone disagreed with the removal recommendation...because both were believed to have the political support of their home-state Senators and the judgment was made not to risk a fight with the Senators over the proposed removals,” according to the report.


This seems to be different than the dismissal of other US Attorney's at the time who were booted for political reasons by Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and Karl Rove. Why Karl Rove was making personnel decisions at DOJ is a subject that has been covered by many other bloggers at the time. Instead of getting rid of him because he wouldn't toe the party line like they did to the others they just thought he was a putz.

Tom Marino continues to be Chris Carney's biggest asset in this election and the Carney camp let him have it in a press release:


CLARKS SUMMIT -- This morning, news broke in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice and the Scranton Times-Tribune about a Department of Justice report that provides searing evidence that Tom Marino was unfit to serve as U.S. attorney and was recommended for firing before his abrupt 2007 resignation. The report shows that Marino was singled out for firing just weeks after he had provided a personal reference for a convicted felon who was under investigation by Marino's office.

The following is a statement in response to the news from Josh Drobnyk, campaign spokesman for Congressman Chris Carney (Pa-10):


"The facts speak for themselves. The report from the Justice Department makes it clear that Tom Marino lacks the essential qualities that people on all sides of the political spectrum deserve in an elected official: leadership, integrity and competence. This Department of Justice report states in no uncertain terms that Marino failed to lead his office. He has lied about the controversial reference he provided for a convicted felon who was under investigation by his office. And it is now clear that he lied about his record at as U.S. attorney. The question that he must answer is what else is Tom Marino hiding? It is time for him to truthfully account for his record and stop deliberately misleading the public."


Marino's mouthpiece did his best to minimize the damage.


A spokesman for Marino's Congressional campaign, Jason Fitzgerald, dismissed the revelations in the Justice Department report as another distraction in a race that has centered more on missteps and personal defects than social issues and policy positions.

"We're really not going to play in the mud on this stuff," Fitzgerald said Wednesday. "Those claims are totally without merit. Tom Marino was a distinguished prosecutor."

He also added that Nancy Pelosi is a liberal.

After talking with Chris Hackett and Dan Meuser last Friday I keep thinking what if those guys had held off running until this year.


Marino timeline

2002: Tom Marino is sworn in as U.S. Attorney for Middle District of Pennsylvania, which includes Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Harrisburg.

2004: Federal authorities launch an investigation into allegations Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples used a middleman to make campaign contributions to Gov. Ed Rendell.

December 2005: Marino serves as a personal reference for DeNaples' application for a license to operate the Mount Airy Casino in Monroe County.

January 2006: A Justice Department official includes Marino on a list of "problem" prosecutors and tells a colleague she is "not sure about" him.

September 2006: Marino makes private decision to resign, does not set specific date.

September 13, 2006: D. Kyle Sampson, the chief of staff to then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, places Marino's name on a list of U.S. Attorneys the department "should consider pushing out."

November 2006: Sampson places Marino's name on another list of targeted prosecutors.

January 2007: Marino discloses relationship with DeNaples to the Justice Department and is ordered to withdraw from the investigation into DeNaples.

Sept. 21, 2007: Marino announces resignation, which takes effect Oct. 12, 2007.

January 2008: Marino starts working for DeNaples, earning $249,999-per-year as the full-time counsel for his non-casino interests.

This is Karl Rove's worst nightmare

Pictures are not working on Blogger right now.

A great article in Time this week:

This is Karl Rove's worst nightmare: a large crowd has gathered in a restaurant in the small town of Montrose, Pa., on a sunny Sunday afternoon in February to listen to the Democratic candidate running in the 10th Congressional District, a rural conservative bastion considered "safe" for Republicans. The candidate, Chris Carney, is soft-spoken and well informed. The audience is enthusiastic and predominantly Democratic, but peppered with Republicans who seem every bit as angry about the Bush Administration as do the Democrats. One man, dressed in a jacket and tie, stands up and confesses he's a lifelong Republican who can't vote for Bush because of his "fiscal irresponsibility." Another Republican, a prohibitively large corrections officer named Gary Morgan, tells me he's disgusted by the way Bush has prosecuted the war in Iraq and by his party's "culture of corruption." He's impressed by Carney, a Navy Reserve intelligence officer who is also a college professor. "It's nice to be able to vote for somebody with honor and integrity, and a veteran."

Carl Romanelli

Wilkes-Barre's own Carl Romanelli is keeping his chin up.


Romanelli hopeful run not over yet

BY ELIZABETH SKRAPITS
STAFF WRITER

"Rick is one of my longtime conservative friends," said Carl Romanelli Jr., the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, indicating his dining companion Rick Berry. "I wasn't created by Karl Rove last month. Honest." Romanelli laughs and launches into a description of a Saturday Night Live sketch he'd like to do, with actors portraying Rove as Dr. Frankenstein and himself as the monster. Berry shakes his head and smiles.

Commonwealth Court Judge James R. Kelley ruled Monday that Romanelli was 8,931 signatures shy of the 67,070 he needed to get his name on the ballot. Romanelli is appealing the ruling that ejected him from the race, hoping to get a response before Oct. 4, the "drop-dead date" for counties with electronic machines to ready their ballots....

Romanelli got home and started making phone calls, eventually finding three volunteers to raise money for his campaign. All three were Republicans. "Because of that, I knew the 'spoiler' issue would come up," Romanelli said....

"It would be one thing if there was an organic effort by Green Party supporters... but it was a firm paid for by Rick Santorum's supporters," Casey campaign spokesman Larry Smar said.

Spoiler is one way of putting it. The perception is that Carl sold his soul for a ballot spot and that doesn't help his credibilty. The good thing about this saga is that people realize that the signature requirements for third party candidates are so unfair that maybe they will be changed. Not that I'm optimistic that the legislature will alter the rules. I personnaly like having the option to vote for a Green, Libertairian or Constitution Party candidate. Russ Diamond got over 30,000 signatures and it wasn't enough. That's just wrong. Even everybody's favorite political expert, Dr. G. Terry Madonna, agrees:

"That's just a flat-out unfair number," Madonna said. "The legislature needs to reduce it... so third-party candidates can get on the ballot."

Are Madonna and Tom Baldino the only "experts" on PA politics?

Some advice for Don Sherwood

The General sent a letter to our local Congressman. Many thanks to all who pointed this out.

Strangling big government like it's a sassy mistress

Rep. Don SherwoodU.S. House of Representatives

Dear Rep. Sherwood,

I understand that you're having a little trouble raising money from individual donors. My guess is that they may be afraid that you might break into their homes and strangle them. We need to turn that around.

One of the things I've learned from watching Karl Rove's campaigns is that you have to turn your weaknesses into strengths while doing the opposite to your opponent. An example of this kind of transformation occurred in 2004, when Mr. Rove remade Our Leader, an AWOL draft avoider, into a war hero and his opponent, a decorated Vietnam veteran, into a coward.

You need to do the same kind of thing by turning your penchant for strangling into a selling point. Perhaps you could run ads with tag lines like "Don Sherwood will strangle big government like it's a sassy mistress' or "Don Sherwood believes in family values, so much so that he's willing to strangle his mistress in their defense."

If that doesn't work, you might consider playing on a redemption theme with something like, "Don Sherwood: he hasn't strangled anyone in over sixteen months," or "Don Sherwood: he doesn't strangle people anymore." It's a powerful theme. Our Leader continues to use it effectively with his many "I no longer drink; I just fall down a lot" statements. Please give it a try. I'm sure you'll see some movement in your fundraising.

Heterosexually yours,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot

Turning the tables on Bonusgate

This is amusing.


Corbett campaign lit displayed on AG booth at county fair

Campaign materials for Republican Tom Corbett’s gubernatorial campaign were displayed at a booth set up by the attorney general’s government office at a recent county fair in Troy, pa2010.com has learned.

A photo provided by a Democratic operative not affiliated with Corbett’s opponent shows campaign buttons and literature on a table, and an official banner for the Office of the Attorney General hangs off the table. Though the photo lacks context, pa2010.com has confirmed that it was taken during the Bradford County Fair in Troy. At that fair, the attorney general’s office had set up a consumer protection booth.

The explanation from the AG's spokesman strains credulity. Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said the materials were placed on the table before staff from the office arrived. Well, who set up the table?

Corbett has been prosecuting Democratic politicians and staffers for doing campaign work on official time but has ignored the Republicans in Harrisburg that have been doing the same thing. He has used his office and taxpayer money to pursue a FRIVOLOUS lawsuit to block Health Care Reform that everyone knows is politically motivated and doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell of succeeding.

Keystone Progress filed a Right to Know request but has been stonewalled.

Keystone Progress recently uncovered emails that revealed Corbett’s office has been working with a Republican campaign organization to plan to overturn the recently enacted federal health care reform law. KP uncovered the relationship in a series of emails released by the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice under a similar request by One Wisconsin Now.

Of course the requested information was denied and KP is going to court.

...the Right to Know Officer (Robert A. Mulle) and the Right to Know Appeals Officer are under obligation to turn this information over to the appropriate legal authorities since every correspondent in this request is a political organization or operative and would have no legitimate reason for being in correspondence with the AG or OAG staff using the time and resources of the Commonwealth.

The list of contacts that KP is requesting:

Republican State Leadership Committee
Republican Attorneys General Association
Republican Party of Pennsylvania
Republican National Committee
American Justice Partnership
Caleb Consulting
Tom Corbett for Governor
Tim Barnes, Chairman, Republican State Leadership Committee
Scott Ward, President, Republican State Leadership Committee
Ben Cannatti, Political Director, Republican State Leadership Committee
Erin Berry, Associate General Counsel, Republican State Leadership Committee
Casey Phillips, Regional Political Director, Republican State Leadership Committee
Michael Luethy, Regional Political Director, Republican State Leadership Committee
Adam Temple, Press Secretary, Republican State Leadership Committee
Robert Sechrist, Director of New Media, Republican State Leadership Committee

Michael Steele, Chairman, Republican National Committee

Karl Rove

Chirag Shah, Campaign Manager for JB Van Hollen WI Attorney General

Rob Gleason, Chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania

Joyce Haas, Vice-Chair of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania

Christine J. Toretti, Republican National Committeewoman

Robert Asher, Republican National Committeeman

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Youth in Politics dinner

A big congratulations to Bob Zaruta and Jen Rinehimer along with the rest of the Young Republicans of Luzerne County for putting together such a successful event. Getting such a big crowd for a YR gathering  in a historically Democratic County is a credit to their hard work.

Many moons ago I was an officer in the Young Democrats of Luzerne County and I'm a big supporter of both the YR's and YD's. They are our future leaders. Everybody involved in political campaigns think they are the grand strategist like David Axlerod or Karl Rove but first you have to understand the nuts and bolts of a campaign like making the phone calls and knocking on doors. Young Dems and Reps are the training ground.

Now for commentary on the event with a minimum of snark.


Bob Zaruta took on the "myth" that young people are all Obama liberals. The old joke is there is no such thing as a young Republican because they are all born middle aged.

Luz County YR Prez Bob Zaruta

The best part of the night was th PJ Stebbins award. PJ was a regular commenter on Gort42 and many other places even announcing his run for State Rep on this site. PJ was the hard working foot soldier for many campaigns that all political types can learn from. Aaron Kaufer  received the plaque from Suzie Stebbins.

Aaron Kaufer and Suzie Stebbins

The Young Republican of the year baton was passed from Tarah Toohil to Stefanie Salavantis. I asked Toohil some questions and it was interesting what she didn't say or deny. Read between the lines. More on that later. A reporter asked me a few days ago for the name of her campaign manager and didn't know. She told me tonight she doesn't have one. Bad move.

Feel free to add this pic to your binder of women.

Tarah Toolhill and Stefanie Salaventis

I can't make the LWV forum with Aaron Kaufer and Phyllis Mundy at Wyoming Sem on Tuesday because Mrs G. would rather to see the Aussie Pink Floyd Show at the Kirby that night. I recruited John Lombardo to be the Special Gort42 correspondent that night. He has been a regular contributor to PittstonPolitics.com and has made his English teachers proud. He is a an articulate young man.

John Lombardo and Sara Czernaikowski

More pics on my Facebook page

Joe Peters said something about being on TV.

Gort42 and Joe Peters

There is a Republican Presidential debate tonight

And it's on Fox News. There are so many I can't keep track.

My favorite GOP candidate for President reminded me of it a few hours ago.

He is getting vary familiar with me calling me "mate, " we are not in Briton. It's kind of a gay thing to do in America.

Running Mate,

I just arrived in Florida for tonight's debate, and I hope you are planning on tuning into Fox News Channel at 8PM ET to watch the debate.

In today's Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove wrote that I have been one of "the most consistently impressive debater[s]," and that I have "had strong, even Reaganesque, moments on foreign policy."

I intend again to focus tonight's debate on what I've done in the foreign policy arena, how I reformed welfare and how I will work to turn the economy around. I also won't be afraid to take on my Republican opponents when they support misguided policies or runaway from our shared conservative values.

I hope you'll tune in and see what others are concluding all across the country – that I am the only passionate conservative in this race.

Thanks, and I'll email you after the debate to let you know how things went.

Rick

Sent from my wireless device


I await his email.

Joe Biden visit Friday

If you want to see our always colorful Vice President who is never at a loss for words on Friday at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Airport you will need a ticket. They can be obtained at the Arlen Specter Scranton office today and tomorrow located at 520 Spruce St, 2nd floor in Biden's hometown of Scranton between 10AM and 5PM. The rally will be in one of the hangers just follow the signs and look for lots of law enforcement types. Doors open at 12:30PM and the program is scheduled to start at 2PM but they always run late. This is a BFD.

Update from Herself: For folks from Luzerne County and other areas who can't make it to Scranton there will be a ticket pickup for Friday's event in Wilkes-Barre as well:

DAY/DATE: THURSDAY APRIL 22nd
TIME: 12pm to 6pm
PLACE: BARNES & NOBLE ON PUBLIC SQUARE in WILKES-BARRE-- 7 S. Main St.



Specter's Democratic primary opponent was in Wilkes-Barre yesterday saying small businesses should have greater access to federal contracts decrying the influence of big business in the US Senate. Joe Sestak slammed Specter

CV: "I believe that the Democratic establishment in Washington, D.C., supported by the Democratic establishment in Harrisburg, got off track when it felt it had to make a political deal with Arlen Specter so he could try to keep his job because he couldn't win in the Republican primary," Sestak said.

Sestak finally dipped into his $5 Million warchest to go up on the the air with this bio ad




Specter had 2 positive ads running over the weekend but now is up with a spot that starts off calling Sestak Captain Queeg. If I didn't know better I would think that Capitol Ideas helped write the script. What about the strawberry's? Then he accuses him of being AWOL from Congress. Specter has switched to the Dems but this ad is out of the Karl Rove playbook. Attack your opponent's strength. Just like Bush tore down John Kerry's military service Specter is trying to do the same to Sestak.

Big day for the local GOP

RNC Chairman Michael Steele cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the new Luzerne County Republican HQ in the Midtown Plaza in Wilkes-Barre yesterday.

Coulter Jones in the Citizen Voice had this observation:

Media and the public were not allowed to attend the event, which was held before a three-hour "open house" for the public...Steele, who took over as chairman in January, attended a luncheon prior to his speech with several people who have made large donations to the Republican National Committee.

National GOP chief opens county HQ from the TL


The office is capable of handling a 24-line phone bank, providing campaign space for local, county, state and federal candidates to speak to the public and distributing countless fliers.
The headquarters also includes office space for Luzerne County Republican Party Executive Director Renita Fennick and Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Director Jon Hopcraft of the state Republican Party.
Registered Republicans can became Club GOP members if they donate $50 or more annually to help keep the offices open.


The Luzerne County Republican Party sent me a press release which I would publish but it was a PDF instead of a Word Document and it would take me about 16 steps to put it on the blog.

They also had Karl Rove speak to the faithful a few months ago.

Update: The Luzerne County GOP press release

WILKES-BARRE -- Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele gave a pep talk to party faithful at Wednesday’s grand opening of the Luzerne County Republican Party headquarters on South Main Street.
Steele cut a red, white and blue ribbon and spoke to members of Club GOP, a newly formed grassroots organization designed to support the county GOP.
“This place is more than just four walls, fluorescent lights and a flag,” Steele said. “It’s where the Republican Party of Luzerne County will grow.”The local GOP’s permanent headquarters will house the offices of Executive Director Renita Fennick, and Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Director Jon Hopcraft of the state GOP. It will provide a meeting and campaign area for local, county, state and federal candidates and will feature a 24-line phone bank to assist with campaign efforts.
Steele urged party workers to come out and support the party and the candidates in the Nov. 3 election and said the timing was good for the GOP.
“Don’t believe it when they say the Republican Party is the party of no,” Steele said. “Our record is good. The opportunity is right.”
Steele, who was elected chairman of the national GOP in January, mingled with members of the ClubGOP during a private reception.

First dustup in the 11th CD race

Ace political reporter Borys caught this in Corey O'Brien's announcement that he is running for the Pennsylvania 11th Congressional seat against Paul Kanjorski that was included in his prepared text.

"The old-style politics of greed and personal profit have no place in our government, and we must fight to replace them with new-style leadership. In our region, we deserve to receive our fair share of federal tax dollars. And we deserve a congressman who will put that money in your pockets, not his own pockets."...To those who think all politicians are corrupt, I say let’s change that.


Kanjo campaign spokesman Ed Mitchell, accused Mr. O'Brien of making a "wild statement" that was "almost libelous."

So it looks like the Cornerstone controversy that was investigated up and down and in and out by the Navy and the Karl Rove Justice Department but no charges were ever filed will be front and center of the O'Brien campaign. When I interviewed Corey last April he declined to take a shot at Kanjo's ethics but times change.

You mentioned Congressman Kanjorski and what’s going on in Luzerne County in the same breath, do you think he has any ethical problems?


I’m not going to talk about other potential candidates in 2010. I can just tell you that my record on ethics reform, openness and transparency are very, very clear. I have a strong record with respect to that. Other people can judge his record of ethical considerations and that kind of stuff. I think that there is a clear distinction there between myself and him with respect to that. But that’s for somebody else to talk about. If I get into this race I’m going to be running a campaign based on what I’ve been able to get done and what I want to do going forward and other people can make those comparisons. Some people may say our records differ with respect to openness and transparency.

Corey O'Brien for Congress

This story in CQ Politics has been all the buzz the last few days. Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O'Brien has filed the required paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for the Pennsylvania 11th Congressional Disctrict seat held by Congressman Paul Kanjorski "out of an abundance of caution at this point, just to ensure that we're following all the appropriate procedures with respect to looking very closely at getting into the race."

The guys at CQ keep an even closer eye on FEC reports than AAJ.


He also put this up on his Facebook page,
I wanted to let you know that I have formed a federal campaign committee to run for the United States Congress. As I continue to evaluate the race, I thought that it would be prudent to form a committee to ensure that I comply with all appropriate federal rules

The FEC disclosure lists Michael Dougherty as the campaign Treasurer. He has a big hill to climb financially as Kanjo's 2nd quarter FEC report shows that he has $614K cash on hand and raised close to $400K in the 2nd quarter. 3/4th's of that came from various Political Action Committees, McGruff has a list of all the PAC's that have contributed to Kanjo just this year. The next FEC filing deadline is October 15th so we will get an inkling if O'Brien can raise the money necessary to take on our long time Congressman.

I talked to Corey yesterday and he had this to say:

I'm very seriously looking at the race and have been humbled by the response of people urging me to run. I think we have to seriously look at both fiscal and ethics reform. It's time to look after the needs of Main Street instead of the needs of Wall Street.

He said he will make a definite decision before the end of the year.

I also asked longtime Kanjorski spokesman Ed Mitchell for his reaction:

The Congressman is not focusing on politics. He's continuing his efforts to reduce unemployment, bring the economy back, re-regulate the financial industry and reform health insurance for all. There'll be enough time for politics next year.

When I first reported that Corey was considering a race against Kanjo in April many people alluded to a deal between them that I can't confirm and seriously doubt. I interviewed O'Brien shortly after that and he sure sounded like a candidate and still does.

For all his human failings, that we all have, Kanjorski, has been a good Congressman. It's tough to follow an act like Dan Flood. I know many of you will bring up the Conerstone thing that was investigated up and down and in and out (probably including cavity searches) by the Navy and the Karl Rove Justice Department but no charges were ever filed. Everytime I drive down River St. in Wilkes-Barre and look at the dikes that protect us I think of him. All the former coal wasteland in Hanover and Naticoke that now have ballfields and houses you can thank Congressman Kanjorski for getting the money to reclaim the land.

Face it, we expect our Representatives to bring home the bacon and he has excelled at it. Just ask any local Fire Department that needed a new pumper truck that costs a couple of hundred grand that they couldn't raise so Kanjo found the money someplace and got them equipment that they needed.

The Scranton Times has the rundown of the race.

Corey O'Brien may not be an official candidate but he sent out this photo to all the local media outlets and they are using it.

Cut and run

Why say it yourself when someone says what you think. From The All Spin Zone:

Republicans Attack General Casey

Several Senate leaders appeared on the Sunday talking head shows yesterday denouncing General George W. Casey, who had revealed a plan to draw down troops from Iraq by two thirds by late 2007. Similar to Democratic Senate proposals which were attacked by Administration and Republican Senators, Casey's plan was immediately labeled "cut and run" and he was denounced as a traitor. Anonymous Administration sources are saying Karl Rove is promoting a constitutional Amendment protecting marriage from anyone named Casey. Focus on the Family is claiming that General Casey is promoting the gay lifestyle, just like the NEA, though they haven't bothered to find proof in either case. Peter King has called for hearings accusing Casey of treason. I think Crooks and Liars has it, but I might be wrong, that Rush Limbaugh was calling General Casey a "feminazi crack whore," just days after interviewing Casey and telling him how lucky it was for Casey's career was that the Iraq War came along when it did.

The week after the Senate debates an Iraq withdraw the Commanding General of the operation unviels a plan to do just that. This is not a war anymore it's an occupation. It's time to find a way out of this mess.

Adding the Spin Dentist and the rest from All Spin zone to the blogroll.

We have something in common

This is on Political Wire:

Cindy Adams claims President Bush, "spending inordinate time working on handling his multiple problems of Iraq, Supreme Court, Karl Rove, gas prices, sliding polls, economy, has begun rehearsing answers to questions that might come up at a press conference.

More importantly, he's even watching reruns of West Wing."

This is good news, I think he can learn from President Bartlett. He should probably be watching this season. The White House is dealing with a national security leak. Sound familiar?