Author: Michael

Bloggers come to aid of World War II and Korean War vet

This story could either end in tragedy or a final triumph for an 84-year-old Army engineer who is facing eviction from his home and can’t get a whole lot of help from Freddie Mac and other lenders.

I don’t have a lot to add to what has been good coverage by Guardian of Valor and the Riverfront Times, or even the tip I received from The Vail Spot. But it is heartwarming to see that, as of this writing, the couple and their disabled daughter have been the beneficiary of well over $4,000 in contributions from common folks who cared about a stranger’s plight.

And it’s interesting to see what gets Freddie Mac to jump and ask “how high”:

“The banks really don’t respond to homeowners themselves, but they do respond to bad publicity,”  (homeowner advocate Zach) Chasnoff said.

So here’s how it works: one blogger takes up a cause, others see it and join in, and soon a good deed is performed. It looks like the Scotts will be able to save their home for at least a little longer. This is even true when the blogger who alerted me himself has suffered through a financial strain – despite his own setbacks, he’s willing to work and set things right for others.

It also points out the fact that a non-governmental safety net is possible – notice that Freddie Mac wasn’t even returning calls and bought the house at its own auction (presumably it’s a fairly well-kept home, judging by the picture.) Until his cerebral hemorrhage in 2007, now-disabled veteran Bob Scott owned a furniture store. Must have been one of the one percent, right?

We don’t need the government to perform charity and redistribute wealth, as they did to bail out these banks. People can do just fine if left to their devices.

 

WMSOP hosts meeting on ballot questions

On this coming Thursday the Wicomico Society of Patriots will reconvene for a meeting to discuss Maryland’s ballot questions; in particular Questions 4, 5, 6, and 7.

But instead of the usual local speaker, a special guest will address these topics from his unique perspective.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, September 27, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. at the Legacy Restaurant, 1801 N. Salisbury Boulevard in Salisbury. Guest speaker will be Bradlee Dean; here is a link to his website The Sons of Liberty.

As WSOP stresses:

Come learn about the issues so that you can share the information with friends and relatives. As we draw closer to the election, more people will begin to think about what they need to do. We can be there to help. Be the GO TO PERSON for information on the ballot questions. There will be seven statewide questions and four Wicomico County ballot questions. This is a long ballot and some of the questions are poorly worded, so we need to be prepared to explain the issues.

Bradlee Dean is described as a “firebrand minister, heavy metal drummer, and talk show host.” His appearance is mainly aimed at Question 6, which is the same-sex marriage question, but certainly there will be speakers to discuss all four of these important statewide issues: in-state tuition for illegal aliens (Question 4), Congressional redistricting (Question 5), same-sex marriage (Question 6), and expansion of gambling to include a sixth casino and table games (Question 7).

About the Sons of Liberty:

They are educating and equipping America with the knowledge of what our nation was truly founded upon – “The Bible is the Rock upon which our republic rests.”

The Sons of Liberty not only talk about the issues at hand, but lead by example with the ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International. (Emphasis in original.)

Interestingly, there may be a second guest speaker as Bradlee’s fellow Son of Liberty Jake McMillan is listed on one flyer but not the other. Both are coming from Minnesota to do a whirlwind tour of the region:

  • September 26: Barefoot Bernie’s, Hagerstown, MD (in conjunction with the Washington County Republican Club)
  • September 27: Legacy Restaurant, Salisbury, MD
  • September 28: Big Vanilla Athletic Club, Pasadena, MD
  • September 29 (morning): Millard Cooper Park, Sykesville, MD
  • September 29 (evening): Marco Polo Restaurant, Vienna, VA

Dean may be best known for his radio show and involvement with the Christian band Junkyard Prophet, a band which would be best described as a mix of rap and heavy metal. Now that would make the meeting interesting – and perhaps a bit uncomfortable – for those attending.

Weekend of local rock volume 49

This comes to you from the friendly confines of Ocean City, Maryland. If you couldn’t guess, it was OC Bike Week at Pickles Pub.

But I wasn’t there to celebrate the biker culture; instead I came out to one of my favorite charity events.

Yes, I am a tata lover. I admit it. But it was for a good cause, the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition. Several people gave their time and effort to make this possible, including those who manned (womanned?) this table.

(See the front bag on the left side? I dropped most of my arm’s length of raffle tickets into the bag and won that prize. Third year in a row I’ve won something.)

Lovely Melissa was selling the 50/50 tickets.

I didn’t get a picture of Iris, who was manning her own camera for the best tattoo contest, but I did get a good picture of the ringleader of the event – who happens to be a fine singer and breast cancer survivor to boot. Michele Hogsett is the singer from Semiblind and also is a DJ who goes by the nom de plume DJ Siren, for obvious reasons.

She started the Save the Breast Fest three years ago and has gone through many trials and tribulations to make the event as successful as it is.

A lot of people were having a good time throughout the evening.

I do have one complaint of sorts, though. Jesse James Dupree, the lead singer of Jackyl, is now a whiskey maker. He had a promotional appearance next door at 8th Street Liquors (Pickles Pub and 8th Street Liquors are actually attached.)

It would have been nice if he’d popped over to say hello or at least donated a couple bottles of his product to the cause as a late raffle item. By several accounts he was quite interested in autographing the tatas. (Even if I had taken pictures, this is a family-friendly website.)

All right, that’s enough preliminaries. You can follow along with this handy band lineup.

As one may expect from this type of event, it was loaded with female-fronted bands. Lauren Glick and the Moodswingers batted leadoff.

I missed their first couple songs, but I did find out Lauren’s a great singer who can handle a little country or classic rock.

They yielded the stage to an up-and-coming band from Delaware called Elwood.

One of the younger groups playing the event, they mixed a couple bluesy originals in with their cover tunes. I thought they were the best band in the show.

Returning to the female-fronted pattern, Lipstick Molly came next.

The quintet played mostly rockers, but tossed in a little gunpowder and lead to liven things up for the modern country crowd.

The host band came next.

While Michele and Jim Hogsett have kept the band together for over six years, it seems like they have a different drummer and bassist every time I see them now. I was interested to hear they’ve gone back to their more “traditional” playlist, such as backing up Black Magic Woman with Magic Man.

The second picture of Semiblind was taken during Jim’s solo on Seven Nation Army, one which was so blisteringly hot you could fry eggs with it.

The composition and framing on this photo qualifies as my dumb luck shot of the night, and perhaps year.

Along with Semiblind, the only other band to play all four Save the Breast Fest events is Witches Brew.

I have to say that Susan Witchey (yes, that’s her name) personifies the biker chick, which makes her a natural for this show.

They also took care of the night’s first, long-neglected ‘social!’

Raise those glasses, ladies and gentlemen! And take some beads while you’re there – Susan really enjoyed passing them out between songs. I kind of wish they’d gotten to the last song in their written set, though – haven’t heard much Quiet Riot in awhile.

The final act eschewed cover songs, though. I liked that.

But I have a little trouble classifying Perception. Their artistic flair suggests their music would have a psychedelic strain, as you can see by the pictures of the guitar case and amplifier.

But when you actually hear them play, the very spare arrangements have more of a garage band feel. With these guys you can tell it’s three musicians as opposed to a band like Rush or even ZZ Top, where three musicians sound like four or five. They’re not heavy like Motorhead, either – these guys come with much more of an alternative sound and a “screw everything” attitude.

I have to wonder, though – I’m not a musician so I won’t hold myself out as an expert. But it seemed like on some of the middle songs they were either in a minor chord I don’t hear often or the guitar was a little out of tune. It was sort of strangely unpleasant.

Still, they put together some good songs which have gotten play on ‘Local Produce’ which was why I battled exhaustion from a long workday to stay around until 1 a.m. to hear them.

And the real good news is that the event raised almost $1,000 for the DBCC, which will go to help area women (and a few men) who are afflicted with breast cancer. All six bands should be commended, along with the local businesses which have supported this cause.

Upon further consideration…

After stewing on this for a few days, I’ve come to a conclusion: Jim Messina, Campaign Manager for Obama For Against America, is a total douchebag.

In reaction to the Romney statements surreptitiously taped and taken out of full context by Mother Jones magazine, Messina said the following:

Today we learned that Mitt Romney said this about Obama supporters to fellow millionaires at a closed-door fundraiser:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income taxes …

“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

The man who spoke these words — who demonstrates such disgust and disdain for half of our fellow Americans — is the other side’s choice for president of the United States. He wants to lead our country.

If we don’t come through for President Obama right now, this will be the guy making big decisions that affect us and our families every single day. (All emphasis in original.)

First of all, Romney was absolutely right. Sadly, we have an element of society (who will likely vote for Obama if they vote at all) who believes they’re entitled to every single morsel of government goodies because there are people who have things they want and they don’t. That selfish attitude lies in stark contrast to the attitude of many Romney supporters who are happy to be charitable but would prefer to make their own choices about who they donate to.

So we have remarks that the other 53 percent of us would likely listen to and nod our head in agreement with (not to mention some portion of the 47 percent who still have some semblance of pride.) Thing is, if the economy hadn’t gone in the tank a half-decade ago we may be looking at only 40 percent of the population being in the class Romney speaks of rather than 47 percent. That would be a huge electoral difference, although on the other hand if the economy were good Barack Obama would have had no chance of winning in 2008.

But the other question is why this video is important right now. Since it was apparently taped in the spring, it’s possible some turncoat – a double agent of sorts (remember, this was a fundraiser that attendees had to pay $50,000 a head for) – came and taped Romney’s remarks. At this point it was pretty obvious that Romney would be the GOP nominee so anything he said would be fair game. In a regular campaign, this tape would likely be the October surprise, but events in the Middle East have forced the Obama campaign and their allies in the press to go to the well a little early as yet another diversion. They couldn’t let the press narrative of Middle East protests sparked by an obscure filmmaker’s video fall apart as more evidence of an organized attack on the Libyan embassy leaked out, so this video becomes the new narrative: “Romney is out of touch and uncaring.”

Even if Romney is correct and Obama gets 47 percent of the vote, the good news is that leaves 53% of the vote for Mitt Romney. Depending on which states fall into each category, we can even allow Gary Johnson 3 percent and give Romney 50 percent and 270 or more electoral votes. Works for me.

Then maybe we can work on paring back that 47 percent on the government dole by growing the economy the right way, through job creation in the private sector and not “independence cards” from the public one. Funny how Jim Messina isn’t taking credit for all those new food stamp recipients.

Who really gets the Maryland casino jobs?

One of the selling points proponents of Question 7 have tried to stress is job creation, claiming that 12,000 positions in the areas of constructing the new facility, working inside, and tourism in general would open up once the issue is passed.

But a serious question has been raised on the construction job aspect: who will get them? It’s a question posited on a mailer I obtained yesterday.

If you’ll notice in the first box on the back side (the second page of the .pdf file), there’s a question as to who can actually take these jobs. Quoting from the mailer:

Given that developers will operate under a ‘Project Labor Agreement’ that limits who can be employed during construction, most able-bodied Maryland workers will never even have a shot at getting a job there.

In other words, non-union contractors need not apply. Is it any wonder it was the building trades union who sent me a letter to convince me to support the measure passing the Special Session? (They dropped a lot of money on that effort, according to the Baltimore Sun.) The most cynical among us might do the math: more union jobs = more union dues = more money into Democrats’ coffers.

And then we have the promise of permanent jobs. Certainly there will be jobs to be had at a new facility, as it will host its share of service workers to maintain the video slots, run the table games, and serve food and drinks. Yet there’s a legitimate concern about jobs being lost in other nearby gaming venues such as Maryland Live! in Anne Arundel County. The opening of Maryland Live! has already prompted the management of the Hollywood Casino in Perryville to ask for the removal of 400 slots so their facility doesn’t look too empty and unused.

While the National Harbor facility may draw some business away from the Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, West Virginia and perhaps entice a few gamblers up from Virginia and out of Washington, D.C., the net effect on Maryland’s existing facilities is likely to be detrimental as the overall gaming participation growth is only predicted at 1 to 2 percent. Adding more Maryland facilities will shrink the pie for existing casinos more than it would add to the market, and as business declines elsewhere facilities like Maryland Live!, the Perryville Hollywood Casino, and Ocean Downs will have no choice but to shed jobs.

And let’s talk money. Oddly enough, arriving in my mailbox yesterday was another mailer which pointed out an obvious flaw covered in several other venues: money spent by gamblers in the hope of garnering a better education for our crumb-crunchers is really only replacing what’s already taken out of the general fund. So the net effect of Maryland’s education system may well be zero.

Yet the Diamondback piece also has some interesting quotes from Comptroller Peter Franchot, who chastises his fellow Democrats for hopping aboard the gambling train:

It’s a sad exercise to watch Democrats approve gambling, which everyone knows is a regressive tax. [Gaming] is a predatory industry.

It’s also likely to be another failed effort in a state which tried and failed to enact punitive taxes on millionaires, who simply laughed and moved to a state with lower taxes. Unfortunately, poor people – who are already stuck with underperforming schools which won’t see any true benefit from the money they’re wishing away – don’t readily have as many options aside from not gambling at all. And who’s going to pass up the allure of easy money?

If only they could get more benefit from the money being spent on passing or killing Question 7.

Bongino gets another conservative endorsement

Adding to his pocketful of meaningful conservative backers, Dan Bongino’s U.S. Senate campaign announced the endorsement of the FreedomWorks PAC today. Max Pappas, Executive Director of the PAC, noted in a statement:

Dan Bongino has the rare ability to simplify and effectively communicate limited-government economic principles. As a small business owner himself, he has seen first-hand how excessive regulations and taxes punish the risk-taking entrepreneurs at the heart and soul of America’s economy. Bongino has also been a vocal leader for allowing parents to have a choice in their children’s education.

Bongino’s opponent Senator Ben Cardin is an automatic vote for President Obama’s failed policies, which have dramatically increased the federal government’s spending and debt while stunting economic growth. In contrast, Dan Bongino understands that bailouts and stimulus spending do not create jobs, entrepreneurs do, and he will fight to get big government off their back so they can resume growing the economy.

Naturally, Dan was happy about the support:

I have long been a supporter of FreedomWorks and their tireless efforts to engage and mobilize the conservative grassroots. FreedomWorks is on the front lines of the fight for smaller government and fiscal sanity – a fight I gladly join them in. I am proud to have the endorsement of FreedomWorks PAC.

I did a little research on the FreeedomWorks PAC and, while they have a low six-figure amount (about $116,000) in the bank as of July 31, the real benefit to Bongino may be the publicity and awareness this endorsement will bring. The PAC is but a small portion of the overall FreedomWorks umbrella.

As the PAC boasts:

In the 2010 midterms we ushered in the largest electoral landslide in more than 70 years, electing a huge freshman class committed to lower taxes, less government, and more freedom.

The 2012 election is our chance to do even more: growing our House majority, flipping the Senate for fiscal conservatives, and making Barack Obama a one term president.

Obviously Bongino would fall under the “fiscal conservative” heading, and he seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders regarding that point.

One thing which characterizes Dan’s stump speeches is some variation on the theme that Republicans prefer low taxes, but few if any are radical enough to say we should pay no taxes – after all, we need to support the construction and maintenance of public infrastructure, provide for the common defense, maintain our system of justice, and so on through basic functions of government spelled out as duties under the Constitution. At one time we could do this almost solely through tariffs, but that day has long past as government – even its most basic functions – gets more expensive. Unfortunately, we also have to consider what we owe and the unfunded obligations we have to those who are living now but expect Social Security, Medicare, and pensions in the future. (Hint: don’t hold your breath unless we make radical changes like I spell out in my book. A little self-promotion never hurts.)

Of course one can argue that Bongino has no record of fiscal conservatism to fall back on because he’s never voted for (or against) a budget, a government program, or any other item of public interest for that matter. But my counter to that is that the incumbent has voted against fiscal conservatism every chance he got, so the absolute worst we could do is a wash and I have a lot more confidence in Dan than that. To use another state’s example: even though once in awhile he’s quite maddening to conservatives and the TEA Party, taken as a whole Scott Brown has been a vast improvement over Ted Kennedy or Martha Coakley.

By the same token, there are some among the 28 candidates FreedomWorks PAC is endorsing who might lead me to scratch my head, but in toto they would present a much better opportunity to advance the conservative cause in the right direction than electing their Democratic opponents. I would rather the debate be between right-of-center and far-right than middle-of-the-road and far-left, as the case seems to be now.

So Dan should be pleased with this newest endorsement, but the trick will be that uphill battle to get the endorsement of 50% +1 of Maryland’s voters come November 6. It should be easy to convince the thoughtful ones, but those who just sort of hazily walk in and cast their ballot need to know the name Dan Bongino. Let’s make sure they do.

As expected, CD1 Dems pick LaFerla for write-in bid

You can call him cannon fodder. This from the Maryland Democrat Party’s Yvette Lewis (h/t Maryland Juice):

I am extremely proud to announce that the Maryland Democratic Party has endorsed the candidacy of Dr. John LaFerla in the First Congressional District. Dr. LaFerla has resounding grassroots support and the full confidence of the Party’s Executive Committee and Democratic leaders.

Democrats cannot stand on the sidelines in this election, and John will fight for the Democratic values we believe in. John understands we must create jobs, expand opportunity and grow an economy for the middle class by investing in manufacturing, innovation and education.

Andy Harris relentlessly pursues an extreme far right agenda that puts special interests above Maryland working families. Harris consistently votes against women, students, seniors and the environment. Andy Harris is wrong for Maryland. John LaFerla and Democrats are right for Maryland and we are prepared to work hard to win.

Madam, with all due respect, you wouldn’t know what was right for Maryland if it hit you upside the head. While LaFerla may be an improvement over the woman who blamed the Koch Brothers for many of our ills, the fact is that First District voters aren’t ready to embrace a candidate who is endorsed by the pro-abortionists NARAL Pro-Choice and Planned Parenthood or by the turncoat Wayne Gilchrest, who’s only doing it because he didn’t like Andy Harris exposing him for the squishy moderate he was.

While at least one large-scale write-in campaign has worked in the recent past, re-electing Senator Lisa Murkowski to a Senate seat she couldn’t win in her own Republican primary, the odds are much more stacked against John as a write-in candidate in the one Maryland seat where Republicans are ahead of Democrats in voter registration, and many of those Democrats are DINO to boot.

Hammering home the point

If there’s one thing which can be said about Dan Bongino, it’s that he is very, very telegenic. Here’s an example: this interview with Ginni Thomas at the Daily Caller. (I had issues last night with this video so sorry, no embed.)

The only complaint I would have about the video is questioning why they had to use the profile camera angle when both parties aren’t involved in the shot. It makes Dan look like he wouldn’t look you in the eye and in my dealings with him there’s nothing further from the truth.

But if you have forty minutes this is a valuable chance to hear what Bongino has to say, in depth. It’s the raw video from one which was culled by Anthropocon‘s Jim Jamitis and praised by conservatives like Sarah Palin. I didn’t know it existed until I looked for a better source to embed the first video.

Having been involved in politics for almost twenty years, I’ve found there are rare people who seem to cut through the political crap and are genuine. I would put Dan in this category, even though I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says. Let’s just put it this way: unlike his opponent, I wouldn’t have to be convinced he’s my friend.

So how is the Bongino campaign going? Well, the conventional wisdom is that Ben Cardin is safe, so there’s no recent polling. The most recent poll I found is a PPP Poll from 2010 which had Cardin defeating a generic Republican 51-33. (The poll was intended to match him up with Michael Steele, who Cardin beat 58-28.) But it’s telling that in the poll Cardin only had a 42% approval rating, with 28% disapproval. Against the current partisan breakdown of Maryland voters, the poll oversamples Democrats by 4 points and Republicans by about 1 point, so I suspect Cardin would be polling under 50 percent now. More recently, the Gonzales Research Maryland Poll from January had Cardin with 51% approval, but it didn’t project a primary opponent.

The same polling company did a survey last October which stated Cardin had 32% who “definitely would” vote for him with 25% saying the opposite. Supposedly 1/3 of Republicans would consider voting for Cardin, but they hadn’t met Dan Bongino yet. Considered in that respect, with that seven-point margin it’s a little surprising that people believe Maryland is safe Cardin territory, but they’re probably basing that simply on the 56-26 Democrat partisan advantage in the state. One thing about a significant percentage of Maryland Democrats, though: they’re not necessarily party loyalists.

Yet Dan Bongino is ceding no ground and Ben Cardin’s not covering a whole lot of it. Apparently Ben’s counting on that $1.5 million in the bank to carpetbomb the state with 30-second commercials, but it’s possible Cardin may be aced out by the massive spending on issues like Question 7. There’s only so much commercial time available and television stations are licking their chops, imagining a robust bottom line thanks to at least $11 million spent so far by gambling interests.

So in this case grassroots may be more important than money, and I’d rather side with the true conservative believers than the hired guns who are in it for the box lunch or time off work on Election Day, like this rent-a-mob.

As Bongino said:

I will not let the Republican Party cede the moral high-ground to a Party driven by lofty intentions and failed results. Time to take off the gloves and fight for what we know is the right path forward.

Speaking of Dan, this also gives me an opportunity to update yesterday’s post on the Libya response. Bongino added these remarks in a release today:

The Administration’s continuing claims that the Libyan protests, which resulted in the horrific deaths of four Americans along with our Ambassador, were the result of unpredictable, spontaneous protest activity are either intentionally deceptive or demonstrate complete incompetence.

Having spent over a decade reviewing threat assessments from all over the world, it is hard to believe that given the amount of information Libyan officials claim to have passed to the U.S. government regarding the active terrorist threat to our personnel on the ground, that the Administration sincerely believes this deadly assault to be spontaneous. There are only two potential answers, either the threat to our personnel was ignored due to incompetence or political concerns regarding the approaching election influenced the allocation of security forces to the region. I am calling upon the State Department to immediately release any information related to the threat assessment which led to the sub-standard and deadly security footprint in Benghazi.

The Hillary Clinton State Department? I’m not holding my breath that she’s going to fall on a sword for Obama. Interesting times indeed.

But returning to my main point: we have to believe this race is winnable because a lot has changed in the six years since Ben Cardin eked out a surprisingly close 10-point victory over Michael Steele – in an awful year for Republicans. Cardin is not the shoo-in people think he is, so let’s get to work and prove the conventional wisdom wrong once again.

A plea for return

On this day, the 225th anniversary of the Constitution, this might be a good time to pass along this commentary by an old and good friend of mine, Bob Densic. He’s the founder of a group called Back to Basics.

In our past seminars on “The Enumerated Powers”, I have asked the audience what is the main cause of our nation’s problems.  Often I hear concerns of a federal government spending problem that gives drunken sailors a bad name.  Occasionally someone will offer up a concern of federal revenue (not that often Thank God!).  While these answers focus on the frightening economic conditions we find ourselves in, they often miss a larger issue: that of God-given freedom and liberty, or state control.

The Forefathers who came to this continent did so with a clearly established goal.  “in the name of God, Amen.  We whose names are underwritten… by the grace of God… defender of Faith; having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith… a voyage to plant the first colony…do by these present, and in the presence of God, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic..”  Apparently the Forefathers had not attended public education where they would be taught of “separation of church and state”.

Our nation’s Founding Fathers carried this vision forward throughout or Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

(snip)

Like so much of our nation’s history, we have forgotten from where we have come. We have ignored the lessons of the past and we have stood by as the principles that were fought and paid for with blood have been twisted or ignored. The Forefathers that came to this continent did so to maximize the freedoms they recognized as coming from God. Our Founding father fought a war with the most advanced, the most feared army and navy the world had ever seen. They won and secured that freedom not only for themselves, but for future generations.

It is our duty, it is our solemn obligation to carry on these principles. The book of Revelations warns us “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Rev 2:5). As Joshua was taking the nation of Israel to the Promised Land, representative from the twelve tribes carried stones from the riverbed of the Jordan River to create a memorial – so that future generations would learn and return to the ways of God-given freedom.

On Monday, September 17, 2012, we will celebrate the 225th anniversary of our Constitution. If we are to restore our nation, we must take up the burden of remembering the past, relearning the principles and returning to them. Please join me in these 10 simple steps and together, we will become the tireless, irate minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men!

The “10 simple steps” Bob cited come in an article on the anniversary written Friday by Julia Shaw of the Heritage Foundation, which I’ve found useful to link as well.

But it’s interesting to note a juxtaposition in the space of less than a week, and a change seemingly to suit those who don’t believe America is the “shining city on a hill” but rather just a space on the map, a nation no more exceptional than, say, Estonia, Peru, or Namibia.

We just went through a 9/11 which reminded us once again there is a group out there actively striving for “death to America!” Yet the prevailing mood conveyed by the current administration is one of devoting the day to service.

On the other hand, few take the time to celebrate or even think about the blessings of liberty bestowed upon us by our Creator and enshrined in perhaps the finest document to come from the hands and minds of men. Just think: these learned men could have been the tyrants, dukes, and lords of this fledgling nation, protected by an ocean from the mighty Crown that they just beat back. They couldn’t be blamed if they were feeling their oats, boastfully giving themselves a place in the hierarchy they’d earned through hard-won independence.

Instead, they yielded all that prospective power to a mostly uneducated motley group of people, many of whom were barely scratching out their existence in this new nation as common farmers and laborers. It would have been so tempting for these leaders to take the paternal attitude that they needed to take this nation by the hand and lead it where they believed it needed to go, but they resisted and trusted the people to have common sense. All they needed to do was live by the precepts spelled out in this wonderful document and they, too, could secure and maintain their God-given rights ceded to them by those who wrote the Constitution and could have been in a position to take full advantage.

But while we celebrate our independence with everything from fireworks to parades to crass commercialism, the annual passing of Constitution Day goes almost unnoticed. Perhaps that’s fitting since, as a regulator of the federal government, all the Constitution did was replace the weak and ineffective Articles of Confederation which had formed the skeletal governmental structure for the decade which had passed since independence was declared.

Yet the question has to be asked: why is it so unnoticed? What would be so wrong about a reminder, or even a government holiday? Sure, they would make it one of those generic Monday holidays just to give themselves a late-summer three-day weekend but it would still be a topic of conversation. (And yes, I can see the crass commercialism out there: three guys dressed up as our Founding Fathers debating whether the right to save 50% off a TV should be in the Bill of Rights. That right didn’t make it into the Constitution, but we’ll give you the freedom to save big at XYZ Warehouse this Constitution Day weekend!)

Perhaps there is a group out there, though, who would like the Constitution and its “negative liberties” to be forgotten by the public, the better to do their dirty work.

Unfortunately, most of us will be working today and not have the opportunity to give the Constitution the commemoration it deserves on this 225th anniversary of its unveiling. But the better way to celebrate would be a true day of service: making an active effort to bring about the return of those liberties granted to “We the People” and not a overbearing, Crown-like tyrannical government.

On the question of Libya

This evening I’m choosing to highlight some of what you may not have heard on the evening news. Republicans in Maryland don’t always get a lot of news coverage, but they were handed a golden opportunity for criticism about the Obama Administration and their handling of the Ambassador Chris Stevens murder and other issues around the Middle East.

So let’s look at how some of these challengers are reacting to Middle East tensions, beginning with U.S. Senate hopeful Dan Bongino.

My prayers go out to the families and friends of Ambassador Stevens and the three other Americans who were brutally massacred yesterday in Benghazi. As a Secret Service agent, I saw firsthand the dangers that face our diplomats as they go about the business of spreading the message of freedom and democracy to other nations. I have the greatest respect for these men and women and for those who are called on to protect them. I join all Americans in thanking them for their service to our country.

This tragedy underscores our need for a peace through strength foreign policy, not a chaos through weakness approach. America must forever be vigilant toward the danger posed by those who choose violence over diplomacy, disorder over peace.

That “chaos through weakness” approach seems to be even more apparent as more is learned about the situation. Obviously Dan has a unique perspective on the situation, which is why he was in demand as a news guest after the incident. He was more harsh on Andrew Wilkow’s show on The Blaze’s new cable channel:

Either this was the worst threat assessment done by completely incompetent people or the threat assessment was accurate and was ignored.

Of the Congressional Republican candidates who reacted, some were more brief. For example, Third District candidate Eric Knowles noted on his Facebook page:

Work to preserve our liberties for generations to come – this is the ultimate way we can honor those who lost their lives on this day as well as those who sacrificed so much in the resulting wars.

Also on Facebook, Seventh District aspirant Frank Mirabile took exception to Obama’s statements on the President’s weekly radio address yesterday:

Mr. President where is the issuance of…

“The United States of America WILL NOT tolerate any acts of terrorism issued against American diplomats or those who protect them. Period. We WILL bring upon those who participated in these acts of aggression the true nature of American Justice and Retribution! America will not tolerate terrorist acts of aggression against it’s people.”

Nancy Jacobs, who’s running in the Second District, minced no words: “America needs to be tough.”

As we Americans spent the day reflecting on the horrors of 9/11, a similar incident of mass murder and hate by religious zealots was underway at the U.S. Embassy in Libya.  The killing of our Ambassador Christopher Stevens, and three other diplomatic staff by an angry mob in Benghazi is an absolute outrage.  Today I feel terrible grief for the families of the victims but also immense anger over the attack.

Our leaders in Washington should be expressing to the world that we will not be terrorized by radical extremists.  We cannot afford a mealy mouthed response to this atrocious act.  It is critical that America stand strong, shout loud and show, with our actions, it will do everything necessary to protect the safety and security of our people here and overseas. The world must know those who dare to participate in such lawlessness should be aware that the United States has the strength, ability and resolve to fight back if necessary.

It is also critical for America to immediately address with Israeli leadership the continuing threat to Israel by Iraq.  Instability in the region is a huge threat to the world and America.  Throughout we have stood proud, strong and tough in defense of democracy. We must be ever so clear that America will not start wavering now.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Eighth District hopeful Ken Timmerman, who’s written extensively on the Middle East, also had a diatribe which featured this remark:

It’s time that we face reality: the so-called Arab Spring that the United States aided and abetted has ushered in an Islamist Dark Age descending upon much of the Middle East that endangers Americans, endangers Christians and other religious minorities, and endangers Israel.

It also directly threatens the authentic, pro-freedom forces in these countries that Ambassador Stephens and his colleagues tried bravely to nurture.

Timmerman is one who’s calling for specific action: suspending aid to Libya and other governments in the region until they clean up their acts and bring perpetrators to justice. It’s a start.

The more I hear about how one portion of the media seems to desperately playing defense for their favored candidate, while a collection of foreign sources and domestic alternative media tries to uncover what’s really happened and – more importantly – what led up to it. Missing daily security briefings at a critical foreign policy juncture, as the President has reportedly done, is legitimately a questionable policy issue and Mitt Romney should call President Obama out on it. This point is made by pro-troop group Move America Forward, with spokesman Danny Gonzalez noting:

(MAF) also pointed to the official White House Calendar, which showed no public record of President Obama attending a daily intelligence briefing since September 5th, as further evidence that the administration is not taking foreign policy or national security seriously. Hostile foreign regimes and terrorist groups around the globe have picked up on his nonchalant attitude and have displayed a pattern of further testing his commitment to American national security.

While Romney was condemned in the press for supposedly speaking too soon, it turns out his gut instinct was pretty much on the mark. Did you actually think the mainstream, partisan media would give him a fair shake? Neither did I. And those who were ignored until I mentioned it today finally get a piece of their due as well.

Defending the homefront

It’s been an extremely busy week for me – and the next seven to ten days promise to be the same – but I couldn’t refrain from commenting on a phenomenon which has bubbled beneath the surface for some time. Like the aftereffects of Jed Clampett shootin’ at some food, the frustration from grassroots activists first surfaced with the Republican National Convention rules change controversy and is now spreading to a flap over sending Maryland Republican volunteers to other states, perhaps at the expense of good Free State candidates who have a chance to pull the upset over entrenched liberal incumbents.

As reported by Ann Corcoran over at Potomac TEA Party Report, the Maryland AFP chapter enlisted former Governor Bob Ehrlich to assist them in enticing Maryland volunteers to help defeat Barack Obama in Virginia. This “Rally for Repeal” would occur in Maryland, with volunteers continuing on afterward to work in northern Virginia. Corcoran states that campaign volunteer Fred Propheter complained vehemently to all-but-official 2014 gubernatorial candidate David Craig and others about abandoning a number of good Maryland Republican candidates in the field because the party brass deemed the top-of-the-ticket race unwinnable here.

Similarly, Anthropocon‘s Jim Jamitis takes former MDGOP First Vice-Chair Chris Cavey to task over remarks attributed to him in the Baltimore Sun. Joining in the chorus were both U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino – who perhaps stands to lose the most from the state party hierarchy’s attitude that Maryland is a lost cause for Mitt Romney – and the Anne Arundel County GOP:

 

Yet Jamitis stumbles onto a good suggestion in his Anthropocon post: why don’t conservatives in safe Romney states come to the aid of Maryland conservatives? After all, I’ve learned the local Wicomico Democrats are playing in Virginia:

We are holding weekly phone banks on Wednesday evenings, from 6:30 – 8:30, at Democratic Headquarters…  Our task is to call people in Virginia (one of the swing states) about the campaign. We are given a script to follow, so making the calls is easy.  I know a lot of people to whom I am sending this email have already helped with the phone banks, and I am hoping that they will continue to help.  We’d love those of you who haven’t participated in a phone bank to join us.

(snip)

…definitely bring your cell phone with you (we don’t actually have a bank of phones in Democratic headquarters, so we have to use our cell phones).

What? I thought the Democrats were fat and happy with union cash; apparently they don’t spread the wealth (or the dedicated phone lines) to states they think are in the bag. Maybe some Wednesday or Saturday I’ll drive by and see how attendance appears.

But I think a valid point is being made, despite the naysayers who say things like this. The following is an actual Facebook post, but I’ll withhold the person’s name:

There are two kinds of Maryland Republicans: those that can do math, and those that can’t. If I hear one more person complaining about resources being diverted to other states, I swear I’m registering as an Independent.

Interestingly, one of those who “liked” the post is heavily involved in David Craig’s campaign.

My point with all this, though, is to remind people the Democrats didn’t get to the position they currently reside in here in Maryland overnight. Along the line they had their share of activists, dreamers, and people who believed enough in their ideas – misguided as they are – to stand up and tell their friends to vote for their party.

And even though they’ve been running the General Assembly for a century and a half, it’s worth noting that the Democrats of 1860 or even the Democrats of 1960 aren’t really like those of today. As they stand currently a good share of Democratic registrations come from the “daddy” wing of the party, as in “my daddy was a Democrat so I am too.” Never mind there’s a good chance that if you sit down and talk to them, you can help them discover that perhaps they have much more in common with the GOP than with the party that left them.

But if we simply throw up our hands, complain Maryland is a lost cause, and decide we should go try to win states which are deemed more winnable by the blind followers of conventional wisdom who never venture beyond the safe confines of the Beltway, then we never talk to those people who may change their mind when they learn the truth and because of that continue to vote down-the-line Democrat – to their own detriment.

I’m not going to tell you we can win every race this year, but it is worth noting that in this supposedly true-blue Democratic state a large number of local elected officials are Republicans. Granted, there are pockets of the state where we have not made inroads and it may take a generation before we do. But that doesn’t mean the effort can’t begin now with Marylanders helping fellow Marylanders to see the light. Of course, if you want to help us from Texas, Utah, or the solidly GOP South, we’re not going to turn up our noses at you.

Let the Democrats assume they have these things safely in the bag – it’ll make November 7 even more depressing for them when they realize a lot of their patronage slipped away overnight, and it can create a template for important races in 2014. Even David Craig may appreciate Maryland conservatives by then.

Update: In fairness, I should note this came from the Maryland GOP, signed by new NCW Nicolee Ambrose:

This autumn we have the opportunity for Marylanders to help Maryland.  To support our tremendous candidates and educate voters on the ballot initiatives, we have designed a Super Saturday program – all we need now is YOU!

Join the Maryland Republican Party StrikeForce for our Super Saturdays.  We are asking that every GOP activist and Central Committee member donate ONE Saturday before Election Day to make Maryland a true two party state!

The MDGOP StrikeForce is composed of grassroots activists who will work on behalf of all of our GOP candidates:  Romney/Ryan, Dan Bongino, Andy Harris, Nancy Jacobs, Eric Knowles, Faith Loudon, Tony O’Donnell, Roscoe Bartlett, Frank Mirabile, and Ken Timmerman; while also providing ballot initiative education material.  We will spend four full Saturdays in targeted areas across our state to help Get out the Vote (GOTV) for our entire Republican ticket.

These “Super Saturdays” aren’t a new concept – I seem to recall we had at least one in each of the last several cycles – but it’s also worth mentioning that the focal points will be Baltimore County on September 29, Prince George’s County on October 13, Districts 3 and 7 on October 20, and Montgomery County on October 27.

Picks and pans from a Shorebird fan – 2012 edition

As has been the case over the last several years this series of Shorebirds-related posts will wrap up with this fan’s perspective. Henceforth until next spring I’ll go back to regular political programming on Thursdays, for the most part – it looks like I will have four in the Shorebird of the Week Hall of Fame Class of 2012 (Xavier Avery, Joe Mahoney, Manny Machado, and now L.J. Hoes.) I’ll do the induction post and update on present members around the first of December.

If you look strictly at attendance and not at the onfield product, the team had a great year this season. For the first time since 2002, the Shorebirds exceeded the 230,000 mark in attendance, breaking a bit away from residing in a narrow band between 210,000 and 230,000 by collecting 231,194 fans. This turns out to be an increase of nearly 20,000 over last year’s franchise-worst attendance of 211,993. But how did they succeed when the team was even worse?

Honestly, there are probably fewer than five out of a hundred fans who care about how good the team is. I’ll admit I’m a sucker and I would go even if they were 0-140. But I also would like to see us make the playoffs more than once a decade or so – unfortunately, that is mainly up to the Orioles and how well they draft and provide minor league talent for Delmarva.

I suspect the reason we did so well insofar as attendance goes – besides the fact we had generally dry weather and got all 70 openings in – was this young phenom named Dylan Bundy. When you look at the crowds he brought in and compare them to the usual early-season weeknight attendance, I would venture to say his four home starts added around 4,500 to our total attendance. Add in the extra 500 or so I would presume Brian Roberts drew in his rehab stint and it’s a nice round 5,000 bonus for the ‘Birds. Toss in the extra date and another 3,000 and that explains part of the increase.

But while we never know what kind of players we’ll get, the ballpark experience can be controlled, and obviously more people were satisfied enough to come out. Of course, there are a number of things I’ve had on my wish list for years: a new videoboard to replace the old one which is more than twenty years old, a CCTV system so one can watch the action while standing in certain concession lines (or the restroom), and someone to bring back the real Thirsty Thursday tradition of live postgame concerts.

But there is another suggestion I have which may make advance planning a little more of a headache for the team but may draw more people because of its flexibility.

A couple years back I was required for various reasons to cut back from being a full-season ticket holder to a half-season one. As part of the package I was (presumably) forced to select my list of 35 games before the season started – even though I renewed fairly late in the game, it was still a wild guess as to which games I could attend. I knew there were a few games I’d miss due to meetings or other items on my calendar; meanwhile Kim had no-go dates on her part as well. On the other side, there were promotions where we wanted to make sure we had our ticket.

The problem is that things change in life. A date which looked good over the winter didn’t always pan out in reality because something came up. One example: back in the early spring when I renewed I didn’t know my parents and daughter would visit during a particular homestand so those were three games I skipped.

The solution I would suggest comes from something I recall from years ago. The company my dad once worked for used to have season passes to the Toledo Mud Hens, which came in a book of 70 vouchers (one for each game.) But the vouchers were undated, so in theory I could use several one day and skip a few games if I desired. (Generally I was the only one requesting them; toward the end of the season they just gave the book to my dad. I think I went to the last fifteen games or so in a row that year.) Nor were these tied to a specific seat, so one day I could sit right behind the Mud Hens’ dugout while another day I might have decided to go behind the plate under the press box at the old Ned Skeldon Stadium.

While I like sitting in Section 111, I’m not tied to “my” seat anymore – as it turned out we had to move around a bit this season. I think having that sort of flexibility would be enticing to people who didn’t want a season ticket package but wanted to go to perhaps 12 to 35 games. Maybe a small premium can be attached to the regular price for this convenience, but even if the price is the same I think more packages could be sold for the best available seat.

There were a couple things which I thought were done right in 2012 as well. Whoever had the idea of adding the Chicken Fry Fry concession stand and the craft beers is a genius. The CFF stand added some pizzazz to a fairly staid, stale palette of menu options and made it more easily available than trucking all the way up to the third level or hoping the Angus stand was open. And of course, adding local beer is always a good thing.

Also, what could have turned into a disaster was saved by finding a good onfield host in a pinch. I’m sorry, but the original guy who started the season was pretty bad. Thank goodness Eric Sichau stepped in and once he grew into the job did pretty well, all things considered.

As always, the staff was very good. I thought the PlayBall magazines were well put-together this season, too. And since Bret Lasky is the guy who constructs them (and was recognized for his accomplishments) I should point out that we’re quite blessed to have a team which broadcasts all 140 games, home and away. There are a few teams in the league who don’t have full coverage, but we do.

Really, aside from a few hassles here and there with the ticketing department based on ticket exchanges (hence, my suggestion) this year was an enjoyable one. Unfortunately, we have 29 weeks until baseball returns – but when it does, look for that first Shorebird of the Week on April 4, 2013.