Odds and ends no. 11

There’s a few items floating around that have piqued my interest the last couple days while I devoted myself to studying what our elected officials in Annapolis were plotting to do with our state law book and tax money, or simply working at my job. But none were really worth more than a paragraph or two so I’ll just call this another edition of “odds and ends.”

I added one item to the bottom so if you read this earlier you may want to reread it.

Delegate McKee resigns

This one was kind of a shocker, but sad nonetheless. It’s sad because the actions of one man besmirch the reputation of his peers in the General Assembly and give the Maryland Republican Party yet another headache it can ill afford.

For those who aren’t aware, Delegate Robert McKee of Washington County (District 2A) resigned suddenly after it was alleged following an FBI search of his home that he had child pornography in print and on his personal computer there. Of course, any Republican who resigns in disgrace is national news and this is no exception. It will now fall to my counterparts on the Washington County Republican Central Committee to recommend a replacement for McKee, who was first elected in 1994. Hopefully his successor will be a little better about not violating the public trust.

Is Ron Paul a little bitter? Or paranoid?

Because I maintain my place on Presidential campaign mailing lists even after the campaigns are history, I occasionally get little nuggets of information that interest me.

While Ron Paul hasn’t officially withdrawn from the Presidential side of the race, he’s more interested now in maintaining his Congressional seat from the 14th District in Texas against a conservative primary opponent, Chris Peden. So I got an e-mail from Ron Paul today I found kind of funny. After the financial appeal I read this:

My friend Congressmen (sic) Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland) was just defeated in his primary election by a neocon fraud similar to the one I face…People like our hand-picked opponents will do anything to gain and keep power.  They represent everything that is wrong with DC.

If I am defeated in the upcoming congressional primary, our ideas will be held to have been defeated as well.  It will be proclaimed from the rooftops in DC that such “ridiculous and outmoded notions” as the free market, sound money, personal liberty, limited government, and a pro-American foreign policy are through.

I am determined not to let this happen.  All that you and I believe in is far too important to the future of our country, and to everyone and everything we love, to let the neocons dance on its grave. (Emphasis mine.)

Somewhere Joe Arminio’s head is exploding. But hearing talk like that is what has placed Ron Paul is the category of right-wing moonbat to a lot of voters, and it will be an interesting sidebar to see what happens on March 4th in his district.

More love for Harris from Rush

From the radio program this afternoon. I’m starting to wonder when the campaign contribution check will come in from Florida:

It’s House and Senate races that are going to count here, regardless how you vote in the presidential race. And this is going to be my emphasis and it has been my emphasis. And, in fact, I gave an example last week after the Maryland primary, a challenging Republican defeated an alleged incumbent Republican. Guy’s name was Wayne Gilchrist (sic), that voted against the war. The challenger Republican won big, shocked everybody, especially because the conventional wisdom here is is that the Republican Party is eschewing itself of conservatism, people gotta get rid of it…People have to understand here, the conservative wing of the Republican Party is losing its power, it’s being diminished here, it’s being redefined and we’ve gotta go more mainstream establishment Republican-type Big Government, compassionate government, Republicanism, blah, blah, blah. And yet here in the state of Maryland, Andy Harris, member of the Senate there, was victorious over Wayne Gilchrist (sic).  And I pointed this out as exactly the kind of thing that needs to take place.

He then played a soundbite from DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen that talked about Frank Kratovil being more like the deposed Gilchrest than Harris is. Well, you can go here and here to judge for yourself, since this is what Frank said in order to secure his base.

Meanwhile, I’m sure Andy likes the attention, since he’s not getting much love from the Daily Times. They placed an AP hit piece above the fold on Page 1 today – six days after the election.

And last…just added at 10 p.m.

There’s a new blog in town. Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen are On Your Side. First thing out of the chute is knowing that Terry Cohen will be the AM Salisbury 7:40 a.m. guest tomorrow with host Bill Reddish.

I know the pair have a lot to do, so hopefully they can keep this site regularly updated and inform city residents about what really goes on.

It already has an entry in the category of “understatement of the year”:

The views expressed in this newsletter are those of Councilwomen Campbell and Cohen solely and do not necessarily represent those of other council members.

With the number of 3-2 votes that occur on Salisbury City Council, that may be the truest statement ever made.

Tomorrow I’ll go back to my longer format since there’s a couple subjects I’d like to address from bills pending in the General Assembly.