Category: Personal stuff

Rants, raves, and general stuff about me that’s not related to politics or sports.

Standings report: All-Star break

Back once again, this report comes as the leagues above the AA level take their annual All-Star break. But we’ll start with our local Delmarva Shorebirds. I’m hoping placing them in this report works the same magic for them as it did my Mud Hens (see below.)

As of tonight, though, it’s been a REALLY tough start to the second half for the Shorebirds. They are in the basement of the SAL North with a 5-12 record, and the only team holding them out of the league basement is the woeful Kannapolis Intimidators. While the Pirates and Royals are tanking in the bigs, they have nothing on the 24-63 (combined record) train wreck that is Kannapolis. But this stretch of bad baseball has placed the Shorebirds at .500 for the season (42-42) and sank them 9 1/2 games behind division-leading Lakewood, who has shaken off an 0-9 start to the season and stands 3 games clear of 10-8 Lake County in the SAL North. In particular, Lake County has fattened their second half record at the Shorebirds’ expense. The Captains are 8-3 against Delmarva in the second half, which means that they are 2-5 against the rest of the SAL.

Now I thought that the second-half schedule looked really easy for the Shorebirds because they played Lake County so much. But the Captains turned the tables and, with Lakewood, have used Delmarva as a springboard to pace the division.

The saddest part about this season is that I’ve been to 17 Shorebird games so far, and 9 of those have been against the Captains. Fortunately, we play them just one more series away, and guess where I’m going on vacation? It’s my week off and my stepdaughter lives near Cleveland, what can I say.

Now, speaking of Ohio teams, the last time I did a standings report my Toledo Mud Hens were tanking. Whether it was the excitement of hosting the AAA All-Star game, learning from their parent club Detroit, or just an early-season slump shaken, the Hens have surged into first place in the IL West at the break with a 50-41 record. It could be home cooking as well, as Toledo has crafted a league-best 30-16 record at Fifth Third Field. But their lead is tenuous as bitter rival Indianapolis lurks just a half-game back at 48-40 (and has 3 games in hand to the Mud Hens.) The Indians currently are positioned as the league wild-card, just as they did last season. Louisville sits just 1 1/2 back in third at 48-42, which means the IL West has all the makings of a late-season shootout. Only instate foe Columbus appears out with a 9 game hole (39-48); however, Toledo was 6 back at the first pole and the IL generally has all divisional games to round out the end of the schedule. Right now it appears that a wide open race is also going for that wild-card spot, as 9 of the league’s remaining 11 non-division leaders are within 9 games of the wild-card, four are within 4 1/2 games. Only the two Virginia teams (Norfolk and Richmond) appear out of the running.

And then you have those Tigers. Restore roar – check.

Last season I did an in-depth analysis of all the American League teams by remaining schedule and how easy or hard it was. This year it’s back, because it was so fun to do last year! Teams are listed in order of overall standing, which I like a lot better this year than I did in 2005! Schedule rank is easiest to hardest.

1. DETROIT (59-29), 1st in AL Central by 2 over Chicago.

Remaining games: 74 (33 away, 41 home).
Opponents: Chicago 13, Boston 3, New York 3, Toronto 3, Minnesota 10, Oakland 3, Texas 6, Los Angeles 3, Seattle 3, Cleveland 9, Baltimore 4, Tampa Bay 4, Kansas City 10.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +164 (3rd)
September opponents: -53 (1st)
Last two weeks: (at Chi, at Bal for a makeup game, at KC, Tor, KC) -50 (2nd)

Critical stretch: All 13 games playing against the White Sox. The Tigers must do better than the 1-5 mark they’ve had thus far against the Pale Hose.

2. Chicago (57-31), 2nd in AL Central by 9 over Minnesota, lead wild card by 6 over New York.

Remaining games: 74 (40 away, 34 home).
Opponents: Detroit 13, Boston 3, New York 6, Toronto 3, Minnesota 12, Oakland 3, Texas 3, Los Angeles 4, Seattle 4, Cleveland 7, Baltimore 3, Tampa Bay 3, Kansas City 10.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +296 (8th)
September opponents: +38 (5th)
Last two weeks: (Det, Sea, at Cle, at Min) +81 (10th)

Critical stretch: The White Sox come out of the break with 15 of 21 on the road, including a trip to New York and Detroit, and a longer trip to Baltimore, Kansas City, and Toronto.

3. Boston (53-33), 1st in AL East by 3 over New York.

Remaining games: 76 (32 away, 44 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 3, New York 9, Toronto 8, Minnesota 3, Oakland 10, Texas 1, Los Angeles 6, Seattle 6, Cleveland 4, Baltimore 9, Tampa Bay 5, Kansas City 9.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +10 (1st)
September opponents: +83 (6th)
Last two weeks: (Min, at Tor, TB, Bal) +18 (7th)

Critical stretch: The 9 games with the Yankees are on 7 dates because of first half rainouts. The Boston nine also has two west coast trips in late July and late August, the August trip has no scheduled off days on either side of a 9 game trip to Los Angeles, Seattle, and Oakland.

4. New York (50-36), 2nd in AL East by 2 games over Toronto.

Remaining games: 76 (38 away, 38 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 6, Boston 9, Toronto 13, Minnesota 3, Texas 3, Los Angeles 7, Seattle 6, Baltimore 13, Tampa Bay 10, Kansas City 3.
Finished with: Oakland, Cleveland.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +265 (6th)
September opponents: -44 (2nd)
Last two weeks: (at Tor, at TB, Bal, Tor) -8 (5th)

Critical stretch: The Yankees play their last 24 games against AL East foes, but just 4 against Boston – all in Yankee Stadium. The other three teams they play home-and-home.

5. Toronto (49-39), 3rd in AL East by 9 games over Baltimore.

Remaining games: 74 (39 away, 35 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 3, Boston 8, New York 13, Minnesota 4, Oakland 7, Texas 3, Los Angeles 3, Seattle 9, Cleveland 6, Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 3.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +298 (9th)
September opponents: +245 (12th)
Last two weeks: (NY, Bos, at Det, at NY) +254 (14th)

Critical stretch: The schedulemakers gave the Jays a sick last two weeks, didn’t they?

6. Minnesota (47-39), 3rd in AL Central by 7 1/2 over Cleveland.

Remaining games: 75 (34 away, 41 home).
Opponents: Detroit 10, Chicago 12, Boston 3, New York 3, Toronto 4, Oakland 3, Texas 3, Cleveland 14, Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 7, Kansas City 10.
Finished with: Los Angeles, Seattle.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +293 (7th)
September opponents: +113 (7th)
Last two weeks: (at Bos, at Bal, KC, Chi) +14 (6th)

Critical stretch: 46 of their last 75 games come against AL Central foes. The Twins were hot during June and particularly during interleague play, but could do no better than putting some daylight between themselves and the Indians.

7 (tie). Oakland (45-43), tied for 1st in AL West with Texas, 2 games ahead of 3rd place Los Angeles.

Remaining games: 74 (39 away, 35 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 3, Boston 10, Toronto 7, Minnesota 3, Texas 9, Los Angeles 10, Seattle 9, Cleveland 4, Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 4.
Finished with: New York.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +191 (5th)
September opponents: Even (4th)
Last two weeks: (Cle, LA, at Sea, at LA) -51 (1st)

Critical stretch: The Athletics can help themselves out immensely by doing well on an East Coast trip to Boston, Baltimore, and Detroit coming out of the All-Star break. They end with 17 games in 17 days, but the last 14 are against teams currently under break-even.

7 (tie). Texas (45-43), tied for 1st in AL West with Oakland, 2 games ahead of 3rd place Los Angeles.

Remaining games: 74 (43 away, 31 home).
Opponents: Detroit 6, Chicago 3, Boston 1, New York 3, Toronto 3, Minnesota 3, Oakland 9, Los Angeles 13, Seattle 13, Cleveland 6, Baltimore 7, Tampa Bay 4, Kansas City 3.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +110 (2nd)
September opponents: -17 (3rd)
Last two weeks: (Sea, Cle, at LA, at Sea) -45 (3rd)

Critical stretch: Eerily similar to Oakland, the Rangers can help themselves out immensely by doing well on an East Coast trip to Baltimore, Toronto, Boston (for a makeup game) and Chicago coming out of the All-Star break. While their last 4 opponents are common with Oakland’s, they do have the advantage of two off-days in that stretch.

9. Los Angeles (43-45), 3rd in AL West by 1/2 game over Seattle.

Remaining games: 74 (35 away, 39 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 4, Boston 6, New York 7, Toronto 3, Oakland 10, Texas 13, Seattle 7, Cleveland 6, Baltimore 3, Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 6.
Finished with: Minnesota.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +185 (4th)
September opponents: +152 (10th)
Last two weeks: (at KC, at Oak, Tex, Oak) -30 (4th)

Critical stretch: Los Angeles has a huge early September homestand where they host Baltimore, Toronto, and Chicago. They can gain quite a bit on teams ahead in the standings should they get hot in August. Their last two weeks are rather easy schedulewise.

10. Seattle (43-46), 4th in AL West, 1/2 game behind Los Angeles.

Remaining games: 73 (40 away, 33 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 4, Boston 6, New York 6, Toronto 9, Oakland 9, Texas 13, Los Angeles 7, Cleveland 3, Baltimore 3, Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 4.
Finished with: Minnesota.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +307 (10th)
September opponents: +115 (8th)
Last two weeks: (at Tex, at Chi, Oak, Tex) +122 (11th)

Critical stretch: Seattle embarks on a 11 game road trip in as many days to all three of their division rivals August 10th through 20th.

11. Cleveland (40-47), 4th in AL Central by 9 games over Kansas City.

Remaining games: 75 (40 away, 35 home).
Opponents: Detroit 9, Chicago 7, Boston 4, Toronto 6, Minnesota 14, Oakland 4, Texas 6, Los Angeles 6, Seattle 3, Tampa Bay 7, Kansas City 9.
Finished with: New York, Baltimore.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +401 (11th)
September opponents: +170 (11th)
Last two weeks: (at Oak, at Tex, Chi, TB) +48 (9th)

Critical stretch: The Indians probably need to be at .500 by the end of July to have a chance. They face Minnesota 7 times, the Angels, Detroit, and Seattle 3 games each, and finish the month with a game against Boston. Tall order. Last year they had the easiest second half schedule, what goes around comes around.

12. Baltimore (41-49), 4th in AL East by 1 1/2 games over Tampa Bay.

Remaining games: 72 (36 away, 36 home).
Opponents: Detroit 4, Chicago 3, Boston 9, New York 13, Toronto 6, Minnesota 6, Oakland 6, Texas 7, Los Angeles 3, Seattle 3, Tampa Bay 9, Kansas City 3.
Finished with: Cleveland.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +505 (13th)
September opponents: +329 (13th)
Last two weeks: (at TB, makeup game vs. Det, Min, at NY, at Bos) +123 (12th)

Critical stretch: Baltimore only plays 18 more games against teams currently under breakeven. Nine of these come prior to August 2nd, along with seven against Texas and Oakland, who are each over .500 by just two games. To have any chance, they need to win about 14 or 15 in that stretch before the schedule hammer comes down.

13. Tampa Bay (39-50), 5th in AL East by 1 1/2 games behind Baltimore.

Remaining games: 73 (34 away, 39 home).
Opponents: Detroit 4, Chicago 3, Boston 5, New York 10, Toronto 6, Minnesota 7, Oakland 6, Texas 4, Los Angeles 6, Seattle 6, Cleveland 7, Baltimore 9.
Finished with: Kansas City.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +423 (12th)
September opponents: +137 (9th)
Last two weeks: (Bal, NY, at Bos, at Cle) +44 (8th)

Critical stretch: Between September 22 and 27 they play New York four times in Tampa and the Red Sox twice in Boston. That will likely be their only impact on the division race.

14. Kansas City (31-56), 5th in AL Central by 9 games behind Cleveland.

Remaining games: 74 (38 away, 36 home).
Opponents: Detroit 10, Chicago 10, Boston 9, New York 3, Toronto 3, Minnesota 10, Oakland 4, Texas 3, Los Angeles 6, Seattle 4, Cleveland 9, Baltimore 3.
Finished with: Tampa Bay.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +505 (14th)
September opponents: +362 (14th)
Last two weeks: (LA, Det, at Min, at Det) +208 (13th)

Critical stretch: The stretch could begin as early as July 31 if there’s any viable veteran trade options, but certainly the 27 games in September against some stiff competition will prove to be a test for the Royals’ top prospects, who will have a lengthy audition.

I was going to do the National League, but after interleague play it’s apparent the AL is dominant, and the Nats are pretty much out of it anyway. And by the way, since all this numbercrunching took so long, I went to the Shorebirds game tonight and they won 7-6 in 11, so make the ‘Birds 6-12 on the half.

Allen parade in pictures

I told you that I love a parade. Now I don’t care how hot it was, I was going to show up and I did. The only thing that could have made it better was a marching band, although since I was standing by the Asbury Methodist Church, their carolier was thoughtful enough to program some patriotic tunes into the 2:00 chimes.

So here’s where I was standing in relation to the parade route:

Looking southwest from Asbury Church.

And you know it’s not a parade this summer without at least some politics. He wasn’t marching, but Sheriff candidate Kenneth Pusey had someone in his corner.

Maybe not there physically, but he has a supporter at the Allen 4th of July parade.

Finally the parade arrives as a police car is leading the way.

Leading off the parade is a police car and Boy Scout color guard.

Once the police car came closer, I realized it was a Wicomico County Sheriff’s cruiser, and who’s behind the wheel? Sheriff candidate (and current second in command) Major Doris Schonbrunner. Perhaps she’s getting in some practice?

Sheriff candidate and current second-in-command Doris Schonbrunner paces the parade.

But she was certainly not without some competition. Almost immediately behind the cruiser walked Kirk Daugherty, another candidate for the post. I suppose this is a good health indicator, since it was a pretty long stroll in 90 plus degree heat. The man must not sweat.

Sheriff candidate Kirk Daugherty walks the parade route.

Soon Wicomico County Council’s Gail Bartkovich came by in a very nice Mustang convertible. This is another thing I love about parades, I love classic cars in (slow) motion. But I think I caught her a half-beat off a classic politician’s smile. Oh well.

Inside this sweet Mustang convertible sits District 3 Councilwoman Gail Bartkovich.

Here’s another nice classic car, this time sans politician. Instead there was a gentleman driving who should be proud of this stately automobile.

An old classic Buick from the era when Detroit ruled the auto world.

And once again, a Mustang with a politician in it. This time it’s District 37 Senator Rich Colburn.

Senator Rich Colburn waves to the crowd at the July 4th parade in Allen.

But not everyone rode through the parade. It’s sort of an oddity, but most of the Democrats who were in the parade walked the route, while the bulk of the Republicans rode in a car. I’m not sure if this has any political significance. Anyway, Mark Bowen, Wicomico County Clerk of Courts, was among the walkers. It’s a good thing he carried the sign because personally I wouldn’t know him from Adam otherwise.

Clerk of Courts Mark Bowen with his large sign.

It wasn’t all politicians who were represented. You had the obligitory Scout troops, a few floats, lots of bikes, and cute kids. The next photo is of a group called the Buffalo Soldiers, which represented ancestors of the onetime Negro-only regiments in the U.S. military. They weren’t integrated with the rest of the armed forces until World War II. It’s sort of a forgotten chapter in military history that this group serves as a reminder of.

The local Buffalo Soldiers proudly participated.

And here’s just a sample of the cute kid quotient:

A young lady rides a decorated ATV in the Allen July 4th parade.

Now I find it interesting that District 38A Delegate Page Elmore has his own campaign van. Even more interesting was the fact he was walking the route, and the van stopped for a time because he was gladhanding Allen residents and the van pulled over so he could catch up. The van was originally behind Gail Bartkovich’s Mustang but didn’t pass until almost the end of the parade!

And he was not unopposed at the parade. I spied Tony Bruce, a Democrat hopeful, walking (again a Democrat walking!) along the parade route, but I got a bad picture of him. The same happened to Bob Culver, candidate for County Executive. That’s too bad because he was alongside a neat little yellow Volkswagen Beetle.

But here’s Page, finally caught up to his van.

District 38A Delegate Page Elmore walks alongside his campaign van.

Now, there’s always a finish to the parade. If it’s a Christmas parade, they put Santa at the end. I’m not sure she qualifies at Saint Nick, but Orphans Court Judge Melissa Pollitt Bright struggled to keep up on her bike and thus was the parade’s tail end. But she made it through.

Melissa Pollitt Bright is the cow's tail for this parade.

Now there was a celebration at the Allen Community Hall afterward with food and music, along with the acknowlegement of candidates and elected officials there. Most of those I pictured stayed around for that as well, plus I was greeted by Wicomico County Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman and Sheriff Hunter Nelms. Since they’re both Republicans, they know me from the WCRC meetings. It’s nice that they can recognize me now, and from the indications that the Board of Elections has given me, I’ll be their elected peer for at least a short time.

I’m going to post all my Allen photos on my Flickr page, I didn’t take all of them for cropping to blog size and as I noted some of them didn’t turn out as I liked. (And it was bipartisan.) This will likely happen over the weekend since I have several personal and blog-related items on my agenda the next few days.

But I’ll tell you what, I enjoyed the parade and gathering. Had I known what kind of fiasco the Lynard Skynard concert would be, I would have stayed in Allen a little longer!

Happy Birthday to US

Once again, our nation celebrates its birthday with pomp and circumstance. I’ll likely go down to the hamlet of Allen and scope out their parade because I love a parade! (That sounds like a song.) Then I’m off to the Lynard Skynard concert.

If it sounds like a campaign calendar, well, it sort of is. But last night I found out that there were just 7 applicants for the 7 spots on the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee ballot so barring a late write-in campaign, come September I’ll become one of 4 new members of the committee (joining 3 incumbent holdovers.) However, I also found that there were quite a few new names added to other ballots, so this week I have to send more copies of my original Ten Questions posthaste to latecomers in the U.S. Senate race and the Maryland General Assembly version to 22 folks (and slot them in.) That should be interesting and it should be fair warning to hopefuls who read monoblogue.

But I think this is good news. I got a handout at last night’s Central Committee meeting of everyone who is running in Wicomico County. For all of the elective offices, there are 78 people on the ballot.

As long as America has a stock of people who wish to make a difference, we’re going to be all right. It’s when apathy becomes the norm that we are in trouble.

And it’s not just a popularity thing. The Democrats and moonbats out there like to rail on President Bush’s 40% approval rating. From what I understand, if there had been opinion polls out during Revolutionary times, the approval rating of that war would’ve been in the low 30’s. Fortunately for us 230 years later, those guys you see the places named after (Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hancock, et. al.) ignored the polls and did what they believed was right to secure the blessings of liberty.

Today we celebrate with fireworks, concerts, parades, family gettogethers, and the like. It’s one of the few days the government hasn’t messed with as far as holidays go, and it’s the one day we should revel in the red, white, and blue.

Speaking of which, I’m a little tardy in doing it, so I’ll take my leave to proudly hang up my flag! Happy Independence Day to all!

Now that I feel like chopped liver…

Reading through JFA? as I do daily, I came across this portion of a comment by “ablogbunny”:

Yes, it’s his blog (I think) and he can do as he pleases, and so can those who are looking for local news and information. This post is a prime example of the inane — who gives a hoot about the subject (the photos are well-taken, but so what?).

That said, it is sad that this blog seems to be going the way that Delmarva Dealing (sic) went and Duvafiles is heading. Several months ago there were three significant local blogs, soon we may have none. (emphasis mine)

Unless someone upstairs has other plans, I’m not going anywhere. So does that make me insignificant? Please.

Obviously “ablogbunny” hasn’t read here. Maybe I’m not so much into the local news, but I’ll contribute where I see fit (certainly on the development issue.) I’ll probably have much more of a local focus once we get past the 2006 election and 3 members of the so-called “Dream Team” begin their campaigns. Will we have a Crisfield-style “clean sweep”?

A blog is completely up to the writer, if they are like me they write about what is interesting to them. So I’m not all local politics, I delve into other issues and also like to have recurring features that no one else does (Shorebird of the Week, Ten Questions, Political Calendar, etc.)

The blogs were quite popular a couple months ago, things have tailed off as usual during the summer. Come Labor Day, we’ll be back in the news as we all focus on the elections. (In monoblogue’s case though, my hit rate has still slowly increased. This month I should have over 30,000 hits, although the system is skewed because I had one day when I was being hammered by comment spam, that probably added an extra 6,000 hits to a “normal” day.)

Speaking of other blogs, let me take this moment to welcome two more blogs to the Maryland Bloggers Alliance – Crablaw and Kevin Dayhoff’s blog. We have now reached a membership of nine, although I’m still the only one on the Eastern Shore. Welcome aboard to you two!

Maybe they see me as more significant than “ablogbunny” does.

Ehrlich’s hires and fires

I’m going to start out from the title and sort of work around to my point, so be patient tonight. The germ of this post has come from a variety of different items I came across today.

In Duvafiles there’s a post about Governor Ehrlich appointing an openly gay judge to a District Court seat. This after firing one of his appointees to a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority seat last week because of percieved anti-gay remarks (which were really pro-Catholic.)

Well, to me that’s not the whole story. If you read the comments to the post, one stands out. I’m going to go ahead and paste it here so you can keep it in context. The author is BJ Corbin, who I know as a fellow WCRC member. (I can say this because he signed his comment, which is why I cite him and use this comment.)

As a social/moral conservative that is active in the Republican Party… I have already contacted the Governor, Senator Stoltzfus and the Wicomico County Ehrlich campaign coordinator withdrawing my support for the Governor because of his positions on gambling, embryonic stem cell research and his most recent action firing Mr. Smith for his Christian view of homosexuality. (So much for free speech and tolerance) I think there are many others that are just as disappointed as I am… even in the VERY LIBERAL BLUE State of Maryland!

Actually, I have no problem with Corbin’s views at all, but the question has to be asked: who would he support then? He has four choices in the governor’s race at the moment: voting to keep Governor Ehrlich in office despite the differences of opinion that he has with the governor; crossing party lines and voting for Martin O’Malley, who would’ve likely appointed the gay judge anyhow to promote “diversity”; or voting for Green Party candidate Ed Boyd, who would probably select a rainbow of openly gay judges. The other choice is skipping the governor’s race on the ballot entirely, which I’d bet he will do.

And this is why I like lots of choices when it comes to voting. Readers familiar with monoblogue can likely recall a time or two when I’ve cited my frustrations with the Ohio GOP for “annointing” candidates to avoid primary fights. The problem was they always selected the more “electable” (read: moderate) person to run.

In reading some of the party websites today for preparing my election calendar for the week, I came across a tidbit on the Green Party’s site (besides now knowing that Ed Boyd and James Joseph Madigan are their governor/LG candidates respectively) where they need to collect a certain number of signatures to keep a place on the ballot for the 2007-2010 election cycle. I know the Libertarian Party here in Maryland has the same dilemma, and I assume the Constitution Party does as well. (Unfortunately, their website is “under construction” so I bet they’ve already thrown in the towel.)

This may sound very strange from a guy who’s running for the Republican Central Committee and has a goal of making it the majority party in Wicomico County, but I’d love to see more parties get on the ballot and start fielding serious, credible candidates throughout the state. BJ’s comment shines a light on a problem that exists with our system that has two dominant parties who set the rules to suit them.

Yes, Governor Ehrlich is a Republican and theoretically all GOP members should support him. But in a lot of ways, he’s out of step with the conservatives in the party (recent hirings and firings a case in point.) In 2002, he had broad support from everyone in the GOP (who, conservatives among them, were thrilled just to have a shot at the governor’s chair after 30+ years away) and then Ehrlich siphoned enough votes from the more moderate Democrats who weren’t enamored with Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to win the race.

One thing the powers-that-be in the Democrat party sighed in relief about last week was having Doug Duncan drop out of the race unexpectedly. To me, though, it was a sad day because we voters lost our only chance at choice in the matter, now the primary is meaningless in that regard. On the other hand, the plethora of candidates for the U.S. Senate seat is great for voters, although most of the wannabes have no hope because they aren’t being backed by the party apparatus who thinks they aren’t “electable.” Technically, the Maryland GOP is supposed to stay neutral but come on, I don’t see John Kane, Ken Mehlman et. al. doing a lot to help out Corrogan Vaughn, who’s also a black Republican in the U.S. Senate race.

Republicans like to claim they have a “big tent”, where they have a broad enough list of principles to appeal to a large swath of voters, everyone from “middle-of-the-road” to neo- and paleo-conservatives, to the Main Street Partnership moderates (a group that includes Gov. Ehrlich and Rep. Gilchrest.) In theory, that does work as most GOP’ers will pull that lever whether they agree with all of the candidate’s views or not, as they put party above principle. (Democrats do the same thing, especially union members.)

But people like Corbin want to run things the other way and put principle above party, and I’m the same way. And this is where I have a problem with the two major “one-size-fits-all” parties. Because they seem to try and take as much choice from the primary voters as they can (at least in the major races) I think the best solution is to allow as many parties in as possible. Obviously the two parties in charge don’t like that so they set onerous goalposts for other parties to conform to, and I think we voters deserve more choices.

So I was really tempted to print out a Green Party petition form and bring it to the meeting tomorrow. Their website noted that they were only at about 2500 signatures and they needed someplace north of 10,000 by November to secure a ballot place for 2007-2010. But then since I can witness my own signature, I can just sign my own petition and send it in. I’m sure the Libertarian Party would send me a copy of theirs. (All it does is put them on the ballot, you don’t change your registration with it.)

As far as local Wicomico elections go, I’d enjoy seeing other parties’ candidates for the county offices, although this year we have a pretty good selection in just the Republican party because of the number of open seats. But assuming we win the ’06 elections, I’d still like to see at least some opposition for the incumbents in 2010 to put pressure on them. If you only could buy Fords, what incentive would they have to evolve and improve their product? The minute Chevy comes out with something, it puts Ford on notice that they have to do something to hold its share of the market. Throw Chrysler in there, and both have to redouble their efforts.

However, change has to start from the very bottom because it’s in the vested interest of the big money folks and the powerful special interests to maintain the system the way it is. Now, I’m all for unlimited monetary contributions (and full, instant disclosure of them) but I’m also for much easier ballot access to all who wish to put forth their platforms and slates. So I support these parties as they try to get on the ballot. I may not agree with them, but they should be heard, not just the same old Democrats and Republicans.

Off to the Chicken Festival

In an effort to a) improve my website by meeting some of the local politicians, b) meet and greet potential voters – I’m sure a few from Wicomico County will be there, and c) get out of my apartment and have some fun! I’m heading down to Snow Hill today for awhile just to check it out, particularly the car show!

So I’ll have a camera in my hand. If you’re curious about meeting the guy who does monoblogue, look for the guy in a “Toledo Mud Hens – 2005 IL Champions” shirt. I don’t think there’s too many of those on Delmarva!

Hopefully the rain that plagued yesterday’s events will stay away today, we got our share for sure.

Post-visit edit…I enjoyed my time there except for the mud! The other major bummer was not getting to see the car show that was scheduled, it was scrubbed because of the weather. Guess they really don’t want to drive the cars through the mud too much. But the rain held off by and large, I had a great BBQ’d chicken sandwich and some nice crispy fries for lunch, witnessed with my very own eyes and camera the World’s Largest Frying Pan, and I saw a slew of politicians there.

As promised in my calendar, Jack Lord was at the Chicken Festival with his little tent enjoying the fact it was actually dry. I also saw the remainder of the 38B candidates strolling about (Luna, Lewis, Mathias, Conway) with the exception of Sonny Bloxom and newcomer Bill McDermott, and jawed with Norm Conway for a few minutes about health care (very amicably I may add, I think we just agree to disagree on solutions.) Both Worcester County parties had a small tent there – GOP collecting petition signatures and passing out literature, the Democrats playing host to the two local state reps. In addition, U.S. Senate candidate Josh Rales had a tent there although he wasn’t present. I did tell his volunteers there about the Ten Questions, and have a new address to resend them to. His turn will come up in early August.

It’s early summer and the campaign’s starting to heat up with the weather. While I’m going to be busy with my own campaign, I’ll be out and about taking in the sights of a Delmarva election summer. It should be more interesting than last year’s version.

Oh, and I think I had the “allow comments” feature turned off on the last couple posts because of heavy spam volume – that problem has been taken care of. Akismet seems to be doing a great job.

In print no. 4

This also got pushed back a couple days because of the announcement of my candidacy for Wicomico County Republican Central Committee.

On Wednesday, I was quoted in a Daily Times story on Ben Cardin’s new War on Terror stance. If the link ceases to work, here’s the money quote I gave to reporter James Fisher:

In any case, conservatives who may have been inclined to pick Steele over Cardin or Mfume won’t have second thoughts after Cardin’s speech, said Michael Swartz of Salisbury, who runs a Web log that focuses on state and local politics, www.monoblogue.us.

“I think, in a way, he’s trying to kick Bush when he’s down,” Swartz said of Cardin.“I think he’s wanted to say this for awhile. He might have thought this in 2002, but he sure as heck wasn’t going to say it. Now he can get away with it.”

He actually did quote me pretty well, the only thing is I actually misspoke. I was thinking of when we started the push to topple Saddam Hussein (that actually occurred in 2003), but no matter. The point remains.

Now, as part of my efforts to collect items for the weekly election calendar, I’m now on Rep. Cardin’s mailing list. Here’s a release I got in my e-mail on this subject:

Dear Friend,

More than three years ago, President Bush sent our brave men and women to war in Iraq with no strategy in place to bring them home – and the American people have paid a heavy price. To this day, the President wants to simply stay the course.

I disagree.

I voted against the war in 2002 and today, in a speech at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, I called on President Bush to take a new direction in Iraq. We must immediately start bringing American troops home and we must reengage the international community in Iraq’s reconstruction.

Military experts recommend bringing American troops back home at the rate of 10,000 per month, which would cut our troop level in Iraq in half by the end of 2006. We should be able to bring all American combat troops home from Iraq by the end of 2007. A gradual drawdown will allow U.S. military advisers to continue training Iraqi troops but will put Iraqi officials on notice that the new Iraqi government must soon take full responsibility.

Our troops have performed magnificently under difficult conditions in Iraq, but they can not remain there indefinitely. Most military officials agree that American forces are over-stretched and would be unable to quickly respond to another situation at home or abroad. Furthermore, military recruitment has slowed considerably during the Iraq war.

At the top of the list to come home should be our National Guard units. Many of these units, including hundreds of guardsmen and guardswomen from Maryland, have been overseas far longer than ever intended. They need to come home so they are prepared to respond to local needs.

In order to effectively drawdown American troops from Iraq, we must have the cooperation of our allies in the international community. President Bush and Secretary of State Rice should organize a peace conference to negotiate international responsibilities with allied nations and mend the relationships that were damaged by ignoring diplomacy and rushing to war three years ago. The entire world has an interest in a free and secure Iraq; rebuilding Iraq should be a shared responsibility among allied democratic nations.

More than 2,400 young American men and women have lost their lives in Iraq. More than 18,000 troops have been wounded and more than $300 billion dollars have been spent. It’s time for a change of course.

I hope you will join me in calling on President Bush to begin bringing American troops home.

(at this point he references an item on his website)

Thank you for your trust and support,

Ben Cardin

Well, I don’t know if I can trust him with national defense issues and I certainly don’t support his call to bring the troops home by a date certain. When the job is finished, we will bring the troops home. As I’ve said before, I think we’re closer to the end than to the beginning now. But it’s foolhardy to give the enemy a timetable so they can lay low until the time is right.

Personally, I see no problem with having a forward base of operations in Iraq much as we do in Germany, Japan, Korea, and dozens of other countries. Obviously, that’s up to their government but seeing that we’re going to be dependent on a lot of oil from that region of the world (with thanks to Rep. Cardin on that since he’s a reliable vote against U.S. drilling) it’s clear to me that a forward deployment is a good thing.

Our enemy doesn’t go by a timetable dictated by the next election. They’ve waited many years and generations to have their opportunity to strike back against the Christians and the West. We need to have the same resolve they do and the same goal: to subdue the enemy until he’s no more.

Announcement

Tonight on monoblogue I’m formally announcing my candidacy for a seat on Wicomico County’s Republican Central Committee. My treasurer, Michael Waldman, and I filed the papers this afternoon with the Board of Elections. Hence, the new AUTHORITY statement in the upper right hand corner. I was told that this will satisfy the requirements for the state. I’m unique in that monoblogue is not exclusively a campaign site like many I link to, but there will be elements of the campaign that will be posted here. This way all who visit know that I’m being above board when it comes to my quest and there’s items pertaining to my race that are posted here.

So why am I running?

This will be a four-year term that I’m running for. My goal in that four years is to help strengthen the Wicomico County Republican Party to a point where they become the larger of the two major political parties in this county. Currently this disparity runs about 18,000 Republicans to 23,000 Democrats.

However, I’m of the opinion that the Republican Party is truly the majority party both in Wicomico County and the Eastern Shore in general. We need only look at what our county contributes to the statewide and national election results. The last even-year election where a Democrat candidate for governor or President carried Wicomico County was 1986, the year William Donald Schaefer crushed a weak GOP opponent. With that success, I feel that the goal of majority status is easily attainable.

In my belief, the most important immediate goal of our party should be to help Governor Ehrlich attain another term. The second 2006 goal is to elect at least one if not two Republicans to the District 38B seats in the General Assembly while keeping our current crop of Wicomico’s Republican representatives in office. The party needs to have at least enough people in Annapolis to enable Governor Ehrlich’s vetoes to stand. Had the GOP held 5 more seats in the House of Delegates this spring, Wal-Mart might well be breaking ground this summer on a new Somerset County distribution center.

And it’s obvious that the GOP slate extends beyond those races, both at a state and local level. Fine candidates are stepping up from all over Maryland to attempt a breakup of the Democrat dominance that has placated the Baltimore/DC region but left the Eastern Shore fuming.

While the main goal of my agenda is to place Wicomico County in the GOP column as far as voters, there is a more in-depth plan I’d like to adopt to begin a wholesale change in our county, state, and national governments.

Those who know me from reading monoblogue these last few months probably understand that I’m a believer in the Reaganesque mantra which states government that governs best governs least. The problem we have is that most of us have grown up in an era where government has become less like a genial Uncle Sam and more like Orwellian Big Brother. Even the Reagan mystique and the Contract with America have only been speedbumps on this road paved with good intentions, but bad results.

I think that those who have the youth, have the future. I’m 41 years old. Assuming it’s still around in its present form, in 21 years I’d be eligible to collect Social Security. In just 9 years I can become an AARP member should I choose to. (Yeah, right.) While a lot can change in 20 years, the problem with my generation is that there’s as many or more who like to belly up to the government nipple and drink to their fill as there are people who agree with me that this madness needs to come to an end, better sooner than later.

One thing I would like to adopt if elected is an open-door policy and outreach to the Salisbury University College Republicans as well as local Young Republican chapters. While they legally wouldn’t get a vote in Central Committee decisions, they certainly could and should attend and offer input. In turn, we as Central Committee members need to do what we can to encourage these interested youths to get involved with the political process. Take advantage of their youthful energy, not just as grunt workers for the same old candidates but give them an opportunity to make a difference. Will mistakes be made? Yes, but it’s better to make a mistake trying to make a positive change than screwing up doing the same old thing.

I’ve done this sort of thing before, but on a much smaller scale. Between 1998 and 2002 I served on the Republican Central Committee in Lucas County, Ohio. While Lucas County (city of Toledo and surrounding suburbs) has 6 times the population of Wicomico County, they also had over 200 on their Central Committee, with many other seats available since the county has about 500 precincts. The area I represented was just a couple dozen blocks.

With so many people holding seats, it was a little bit difficult to change the status quo. Unfortunately, the status quo in Toledo and Lucas County was the Democrat machine continuing to operate almost uninterrupted. So I see a much better opportunity for change in Wicomico County.

In Wicomico County, as anywhere in America, the Republican Party seeks to gain control of government. Saying that, I’d like to see our party win the County Executive post and a majority on County Council as well as the lesser offices, particularly the high-profile Sheriff post. We have a good slate of candidates in 2006. However, part of our job has to be holding their feet to the fire. As a new candidate, for me to win means that one incumbent on the Central Committee has to be bumped out. It’s possible he or she simply may not choose to run and there’s an open seat.

But I’m a believer in contested primaries regardless of office. Just because someone is in elected office makes them no more special than the rest of us. In Ohio, the state GOP used to drive me crazy by annointing candidates prior to the voters getting our say. In this year’s race for governor, once again they attempted to thwart the will of the rank-and-file by throwing their support behind Jim Petro – but the Republican voters chose the more conservative Ken Blackwell as their nominee. In 2010, I would like to see even the Republicans who win election this year pushed to a contest in the primary. A spirited but friendly competition is a good warmup for the real test, when our candidates square off with those Democrats who will likely have the advantages of help from Annapolis and a friendlier media.

This is my platform. I think it’s time for some new blood and new ideas on the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee, thus I’ve placed my hat squarely in the ring. While we’ve had some success doing things the way we always have, I think we should take advantage of the opportunities presented to us right here in Wicomico County and improve things for everyone by promoting candidates with varied ideas on how to achieve a more well-governed county and state.

I’d appreciate your help on September 12 in making the first step toward government that’s more honest, more efficient, and more in tune with the common-sense values I see among those on the Eastern Shore. Don’t just pick the first seven people on the list for Central Committee. Being at the end of the alphabet, I’m going to be toward the bottom of the list, so make a note to look for it. My name is Michael Swartz and I’m asking for your support.

Wish I had my camera

This is the first time I’ve ever crossposted between the LiveJournal I keep and monoblogue. But this is something I wanted to share.

This is one of those nights I’m skipping the gory details of life and focusing on a 20 minute walk.

Tonight we had one of the most gorgeous sunsets I’ve seen in a long time. It rained a good chunk of the day but now it’s cleared off. It so happened that a bank of high clouds was laying almost perfectly perpendicular to the sun angle. The best analogy I could think of as I walked and enjoyed the view was this:

Imagine if you will a barbeque grill full of charcoal that’s a fairly uniform gray and ashy. But between the coals there’s a lot of hotter spots glowing. The sunset tonight on those clouds reminded me of this – fiery orange at first, then fading through the spectrum of reds and slowly disappearing. What was projected on a whole large bank of clouds at first slowly receded in both brightness and area, finally becoming a dark reddish-gray smudge as the sun receded over the unseen horizon.

Then the sky itself took center stage, a million shades of yellow fading to orange then to purple as it met the remnants of the cloudbank as it moved southeastward. It backlit the trees and buildings in the medium distance. Where I walk is basically a quarter mile of so of open area sandwiched between my apartment complex on the east and an established neighborhood on the west.

At some point, I’m going to move on from this apartment I live in now, I’m already getting the itch to be back in a place I can call my own. I’m pretty settled on the Eastern Shore now. I’m sure there were a hundred sunsets like this when I was growing up in a rural area of northwest Ohio that had an almost clear view to the west, with the exception of the corn growing in the field. But tonight I wanted to reflect on this sunset that I didn’t miss and wanted to remember. It was an odd circumstance that I was out this late doing my walk, and maybe I needed a reminder that life’s not half bad if you take a little time and live in the world. Had I been in front of the TV or the computer I would’ve missed it. Hopefully you didn’t, but make sure you catch the next repeat performance if you did.

The newest Alliance member

If you had a sharp eye this afternoon or evening, you’d have noticed a new box on the left hand side of monoblogue with a Maryland flag up top. Yesterday I learned that I’m now the seventh and newest member of the Maryland Bloggers Alliance. I was invited by David of the Soccer Dad blog. He’s an occasional commenter here on monoblogue as I am on his blog.

So there’s a chance that I’m welcoming a few new readers from the other blogs in the Alliance (only my site counter knows for sure!) My blog is a little bit of a departure from theirs. Although we all generally have a conservative viewpoint, I think my blog is focused a little less on policy and more on process. My emphasis of late has been to get voters in the Eastern Shore area to inform themselves on those who seek their vote this fall. To that end, I’ve started two continuing features on monoblogue that I think would be good for the others to follow.

The first is called the Ten Questions. Back in early May, I sent a list of 10 questions on a variety of issues that will face them to each of the U.S. Senate candidates in Maryland, as well as Delaware and Virginia. Each Tuesday and Friday, I’m posting one set of answers from a randomly-chosen candidate. The bad news is thus far I’ve only posted answers from one hopeful (Democrat Allan Lichtman) out of the three who have had their turn. I do have three others who have responded but their publication date’s not come up yet. This series will continue through to the primary. In addition, I’m going to do another set of questions on state issues tailored to our state Delegate and Senate candidates in July after the filing period is over. Because of the death of one of our Lower Shore delegates (K. Bennett Bozman) in April, we’ll have an open seat for both parties to contend for. That seat’s now held by former Ocean City mayor Jim Mathias, it’s a question whether any other Democrats will covet the seat and seek to join his fellow Delegate Norm Conway (or a GOP successor) in Annapolis.

Second is a weekly political calendar that I debuted tonight (see below.) This will cover events on the lower shore, plus nearby Sussex County in Delaware. I’d like voters to see these folks and ask them the tough questions.

The second major difference between myself and the rest of the Alliance is simple geography. The rest are Baltimore-area blogs and I’m here on the Eastern Shore. We have a little different opinion on the shenanigans of the big city here, but we have our share of those urban problems, particularly gangs and drugs. There’s a thriving blogosphere here too, several are linked from my site.

Again, I’d like to welcome readers of my fellow Alliance blogs to monoblogue. And to my adoring fans here on the Eastern Shore, please partake in reading my fellow MBA cohorts.

Looking for a little cooperation!

Let’s see…

You have the candidate links I have placed up top in the directory of links on the right side of this page.

You have the Ten Questions, which I’ve asked of each candidate running for federal office in this area. Soon a similar list will be sent to those running locally for state legislative posts.

Well, today I solicited a number of local political leaders from all of the state parties I could get contact info for in Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester counties here in Maryland and Sussex County in Delaware. This included Republicans, Democrats, Greens, and Libertarians for both states, plus a couple other parties in Delaware. There’s also a number of Maryland statewide candidates I did this for yesterday, although that was a bit more difficult. I’d just like to be placed on a mailing list, folks, I’m not necessarily wanting to volunteer for you.

The idea is to put together a political calendar each week, where if there’s a candidate who’s speaking out on the issues, it’s an opportunity for all of you readers to get to see them in person and judge their qualifications for yourselves.

Obviously if you’re a regular monoblogue reader, you’ll know that I’m in the local Republican club. But as I wrote to these folks of other political stripes, just because I am the person who writes the views on monoblogue, I’m still fair enough to allow them to make the news. I’d be interested in getting to see some of the other people who are making the effort to avail themselves for public service – while I may disagree with their views diametrically, I do believe in free political speech.

So I’m leaving it up to those who are the movers and shakers in each area county whether they wish to participate (assuming of course I had their proper contact info.) But come about this time next Sunday (if I’m through with some personal business) I’ll debut the first weekly political calendar for the time period of June 12-20. This will continue up until Election Day of 2006.

If next week comes and I have no responses, then it becomes incumbent upon the loyal readers of monoblogue to ask what these politicians and parties have to hide?

Wicomico County Memorial Day ceremony

Memorial Day is a lot of things: the unofficial kickoff of summer, a day for most to be off work, and another excuse for retailers to have a sale. And as I’ve only been in Maryland since the fall of 2004, this is the second Memorial Day I’ve spent as a Free State resident. But last year I chose to visit my family in Ohio over the holiday so I missed the remembrances here. While it was nice to be with my folks and my brothers enjoying a great cookout, I sort of missed the solemnity associated with the day.

But this year my parents are preparing to retire to Florida so I opted to stay here for the weekend. In years past, I’ve tried to attend some gathering to honor the veterans. Toledo has a Memorial Day parade and ceremony, but generally it’s held the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and sadly attendance is pretty sparse. One thing I didn’t care for regarding the citizens of Toledo was the small attendance at the Memorial Day parade compared to the thousands who participate in and watch the Labor Day parade. Granted, Toledo is a heavily unionized town, but those throngs should make it downtown twice a year, as Memorial Day in my opinion is vastly more important. Without veterans, we would have neither Memorial Day nor Labor Day.

This morning I attended the gathering held at the Wicomico County War Veterans Memorial.

The site of the 2006 Memorial Day ceremony, Salisbury, Maryland.

The theme of the event was a standard: “Never Forget”. With thousands of veterans of World War II and the Korean Conflict dying every year, and the Viet Nam era servicemen advancing toward retirement age, it’s easier for our youth-oriented society to lose track of the sacrifices they made.

Plaques listing those who made the ultimate sacrifice with Wicomico County ties.

The War Memorial was dedicated in 2003.

This is part of the Wicomico County War memorial. As shown above, it was dedicated on Memorial Day of 2003.

Wicomico County Council President Anthony Sarbanes.

Today’s master of ceremonies was Wicomico County Council President Anthony Sarbanes (shown above.) After observing that to date 1,142,655 American men and women had paid their price for the freedom we enjoy today, he introduced Rev. Tom Bunting, who did the invocation, and the National Anthem, sung by Ronny Cheezum.

After the lowering of the colors by the Wicomico County Junior ROTC, the Gold Star Mothers and the Wicomico War Memorial Committee were asked to stand. Sarbanes also mentioned the elected officials that were present (besides himself): District 38A Delegate Page Elmore, Wicomico County Council members Larry Dodd and Gail Bartkovich, and Register of Wills Karen Lemon. Also spied in the crowd was Wicomico County Sheriff candidate Kirk Daugherty.

Maryland Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs James A. Adkins.

We then heard a Proclamation from Governor Ehrlich exhorting Marylanders to set aside some time today to honor and thank our veterans, read by Deputy Secretary James A. Adkins of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs.

After Adkins finished, we were given a reading of the Air Force, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, and Marine Prayers.

Ed Tattersall reading the names of Wicomico County veterans killed in action since World War I.

Ed Tattersall then read the over 180 names of county veterans who died to defend our land. Most of these are enshrined on the wall shown above, with a few additions becoming necessary due to Operation Iraqi Freedom. At the announcement of each conflict (World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, etc.) a bell was tolled.

Ringing a bell to honor our fallen servicemen.

The solemn ceremony concluded with Matthew Wallace playing “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes, the volley of arms by American Legion Post 64 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 194, and “Taps” played by Jim Collins. I noticed another photographer on that side of the ceremony (to the left of the stage, I was to the right) so hopefully the Daily Times will record those moments for posterity.

The Reverend J. Harvey Dixon performed the benediction that finalized the half-hour ceremony.

Some of the onlookers at the 2006 Memorial Day service.

The Patriot Guard, present and accounted for.

Fortunately, we had a nice day and a fair-sized gathering that included members of the Patriot Guard. When I pulled up to the Civic Center, I saw a huge number of cars and thought attendance would be such to befit this event, until I realized that the majority of them were here for a weekend wrestling tournament being held inside. There were a few who ventured outside to see the festivities, which was good to see.

But if you do nothing else today, thank a veteran for his service. Then again, if you see one August 18th (or any other day on the calendar), you should do the same.

One other thing I missed, and I’m sure it happens all over Delmarva this weekend, is the tradition of placing small flags at the gravesites of each veteran buried in the local cemetaries. Getting my news of this event from the Daily Times, I didn’t see any sort of volunteer contact to do these honors. Hopefully for Memorial Day 2007 this oversight will be corrected, perhaps through the local blogosphere. I’d be happy to help that cause.