Untitled Document

Tripple Dipping
Atlantic County Freeholders
with Cherries on Top!

How Insured Should One
Atlantic County Freeholder Be These Days?

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Feb. 1, 2006

Double-Triple Dipping Freeholders

The Lackadaisical Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders finally has to make a tough decision and do it in front of the public. They are going to decide whether or not to extend county benefits to county employees in domestic partnerships. "How much does it cost?"
They've gotten the willies over it and tabled the resolution one week to grab a bit of time to figure out which way the wind is blowing.
Most of the Freeholders are all ready double dipping healthy, welfare and pension benefits. They have jobs outside of government that supply benefits and they are taking the county benefits as well. Their spouses also have benefits making some of them triple dippers.
Just how insured should one freeholder be these days when 44 million Americans don’t have health insurance? They have some nerve saying we can't afford to insure domestic partners.
Right now a plot is being hatched by some members of the freeholder board to provide partial benefits to domestic partners. They think they can appease the public by tossing the domestic partners a bone. They want to give them the pension, but not the health insurance.
This will likely expose Atlantic County residents to costly lawsuits because the freeholders will be discriminating against people on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Will government ever learn to do the right thing and worry about their careers later?
If a part time double or triple dipping freeholder can get benefits, surely we can afford to extend full benefits to full time employees in domestic partnerships.
The freeholders spend precious little time working as freeholders. Just try to get a hold of one of them. They don’t even go into the office each day to pick up messages or check their faxes or attend to their constituents.
If the freeholders are so worried about Atlantic County taxpayers, let them give up their county benefits too. Cutting them off the dole should be the next resolution that Atlantic County Freeholder Dennis Levinson sends up.

Harry's Stinkin' Up
The City Again

He Can't Put Up
& He Won't Shut Up On Phantom Criminal Complaint

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published May 6, 2005

This week Harry Hurley ceremoniously announced that a Criminal Complaint was filed against Mayoral Candidate Bob Levy. That is false information.

Then Harry yammered at me for correcting the public record that he mucked up. Now, Harry has dug his heels in and wants more, more, more reporting on it. Ok, Harry, you asked for it and now you're going to get it --- it's time to put up or shut up. Fax me the bona fide Criminal Complaint against Bob Levy by noon at
404-0365 and win a prize.

He can't do it because it does not exist.

FLASH NEWS - IT'S HIGH NOON AND NO FAX WAS RECEIVED FROM HARRY.

Harry's announcement against Bob Levy is just ding-dong-dead-wrong. The only question left now is why did Harry do this and why won't he fix it?

Now in this matter, you don't have to believe me, you can figure it our for yourself. Just ask yourself or better yet, call Harry up on the air and ask him the following questions. Then listen to him spin.

What crime was Levy officially charged with in this Criminal Complaint? (None).

Which law enforcement agency charged him with a crime? (None).

Has Levy been served a copy of this "Criminal Complaint?" (Nope, it does not exist).

Is Levy under direct indictment? (No).

Was Levy arrested? (No).

The answer to all these questions is of course no, because no Criminal Complaint has been lodged by a law enforcement agency against Bob Levy.

However, a citizen did file a citizen's complaint with the Office of Government Integrity because Levy used a fire truck and other city props in a political commercial. Levy might even get pinned with this, who knows? The OGI rejected the citizen's complaint and sent it along to the local prosecutor for a look-see.

That's a huge difference. It is the difference between being charged by a law enforcement agency with a crime and being accused of committing a crime by a political operative from the other side to curry the favor of the voters before a hotly contested primary election.

Political operatives do this all the time and reporters are instructed not to wet their pants and rush to report a political manuver as if it were the word of God. At least not until there is an official Criminal Complaint actually filed by a law enforcement agency and you have a copy of it in your hot little hands before you start typing.

Harry knows this because I explained it to him. I told him if he didn't GET IT, he should contact a lawyer to EXPLAIN IT to him so he can UNTWIST his gnarly reporting.

Now Harry wants me to apologize to him.

For Pete's sake Harry, are you really so fragile You can't admit a mistake? Do you really think that there is somebody in the universe that believes you are an objective, unbiased reporter on the Levy-Langford campaign? And that the rest of the media is conspiring not to write this story? That sounds pretty far-fetched and kooky to me. Will you be having lunch with Elvis?

Are you living under the gushy side of a mushroom lacking a window into the reality that no matter what you say or write about this campaign, everybody knows you are pulling for Langford and making $1,000 a month in advertising fees on your website from his campaign?

Everbody knows you took this raw political red meat and popped it into the grinder to manufacture a snassage to chew on.

Don't let your head implode over making a mistake Harry, even one as bad as this one. Get over it Harry and stop your crazy, over-the-top, overblown, twisty, gnarly campaign ranting.

Now here is my response to your request for an apology in this matter.

If you fax me a copy of a bona fide Criminal Complaint filed against Bob Levy before noon today (Friday, May 6), not only will I apologize to you, I will personally bring you a basket of fresh bagels with cream cheese and blueberry butter. In fact, I will bring enough to feed your crew too.

But Harry, if you don't fax me this Criminal Complaint, then I want something in return. You have to go stand on the boardwalk at high noon, with a fresh cow bone glued to your head and tell each passerby that it is far better to be humble and correct the record than it is to stink up the city with a rotting bone head.

Galloway Barnyard Politics
Pure Norman Rockwell Americana

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Oct. 2, 2005

Three weeks ago I was gearing up for another boring political season with the requisite poison pen letters, personal attacks, political lies, and last-minute dirty slams. Boring, predictable, dry.

Then something changed.

The politicians in Galloway rearranged all the political molecules and came up with a winner.

They decided to make politics fun again...engage the people, get the kids involved, make the journalists sit up and take notice. Highlight the issues.

This is great for Galloway and a break from the bitter partisan nattering that has been going on for dog's years.

The new/old style of politics reminds me of a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting. This is more in keeping with the culture of Galloway than campaigns of years past.

To change the equation, the Democrats have reached back to their farming roots and paraded out a few barnyard animals to draw attention to the press releases they are sending to the media.

A student in a Bambi costume protested at the site where a developer relieved the forest of nearly 2,000 mature oaks and pines.

A broken down jalopy is making its way around Galloway with banners proclaiming that some elected officials are wasting taxpayers money under the guise of the "Mercedes Benz of Master Plans."

Then came the chickens.

Teens in professional chicken suits are appearing around town sporting signs that claim the Republicans are "Too Chicken to Debate," as a follow up to a debate challenge the Democrats issued.

I went down to Jimmie Leeds and Pitney roads to photograph the chickens. I shot about 50 photos and I began to wonder how all this was playing with the public.

If you look at my photos carefully and peer past the chickens, you can see the faces of the people in the cars.

They are all laughing.

When is the last time you saw people at a red light in Galloway having a good belly laugh? That stuff never happened before.

I like this new style of politics. Our world has become drab and dreary since 9-1-1. Everybody became angry, bitter, boring. We need a break.

Kudos to the politicians that have decided to find a way to bring us back to our roots. Thanks for creating something to smile about again. It's a great way to highlight the important issues of the day.

A Spectacular Week

By VIRGINIA McCABE
(609) 404-0362
Published March 19, 2005
E-MAIL McCABE

It could only happen in Atlantic City.

We saw a spectacular week in politics and by spectacular, I mean...spectacular like a 60 car pile up.

Atlantic City Council President Craig Calloway dropped out of the race like a lightning bolt from the sky. He claimed bad health but he was getting good legal advise from a well-known criminal defense attorney. And by well-known, I mean a guy who defended the mafia and an eclectic bunch of usual suspects.

Forget the miracle drugs, send money, guns and lawyers.

This week also brought us a peep inside the mind of the Democratic County Chairman Jim Carroll as he conducted another Panty Raid on the Republican Party . Bob Levy is now firmly in the drawer.

Actually Carroll has had precious little to do with flipping Republicans. The Dems have two covert operatives doing the nasty. However, that won't stop Carroll from taking the credit and driving Harry Hurley crazy in the process.

Carroll has been on the hot end of Harry Hurley's BBQ Fork for a couple of weeks now. Harry does not take kindly to filching his fellow Republicans and is waging a one-man war against Carroll.

As Joe Gindhardt would say, "it couldn't happen to a nicer guy."

Speaking of "Old Joe," --- wedged right in after the announcement that Bob Levy was taking over for Craig Calloway, there was a public spitting match between Joe Gindhardt and Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson LIVE and on the air.

If you missed the bout, let me sum it up in one word, "MEOW" these two cats got their tails caught in a wringer and took the show on the road.

Thanks to their edifying comments, we all learned that at some time in history, people at the Spanish Royal Court walked around with baboons on chains and we also learned that Suzy Wong was a prostitute in the Broadway Play Miss Saigon.

These two pearls of wisdom might actually be questions in my favorite game --- Trivial Pursuit!

In the end, I don't think anybody much cares about Levinson's baboons at the Royal Court of Spain or Gindhardt's Suzy Wong adventures, which by the way, Joe was cleared of bad intent in a polygraph test.

Joe might be as rude as the O'Reilly Factor, but his rudeness does not come with malice aforethought, according to the test. You can see the results at www.harryhurley.com.

The official announcement that Bob Levy is running for mayor has buoyed the Dems and shot the Pubs in the rear end. The Republicans can explain away one defector or maybe even two, but Levy is like the 5th or 6th high level defection.. I've actually lost count. Harry Hurley on the other hand is counting their time "in party" in weeks, days and minutes. You can get the blow by blow at this website located at www.harryhurley.com

Frankly, these party jumpers don't phase me one bit, but they have Harry all worked up into a lather.

There are not that many true right-wing ideologues in the party. For that matter, there are not that many true left-wing ideologues in the other party. Most people are just monkeys-in-the-middle.

These are ambitious men who can ride the donkey as well as the elephant and keep their morals and ideas intact ...assuming them have some.

Perhaps the big news this week was actually a non-news story --- news story. Reporters throughout the region are waiting by the phone for a call from the U.S. Attorney's Office announcing a press conference.

That's right I said it.

A whole pack of news hounds are sniffing out a rumor that federal indictments are coming down and the usual suspects are going to be rounded up at any minute.

I actually called a few of those guys to ask them if it was true that a former mayoral candidate cut a deal with the FBI last year and has been wearing a wire for some time now.

Nobody was laughing.

Well, actually one guy laughed at me, but I expected that. He's funny as all get out and has no qualms about taking a poke at reporters.

He promised to give me the exclusive if he gets indicted.

But it's all just rumors until you get a call from the U.S. Attorney telling you to be in courtroom 5 in Camden at 1 p.m. on Tuesday for a press conference.

Let's see what next week brings.

*Pop* Goes The Mayor!

By VIRGINIA McCABE

In politics and the court of public opinion, attempting to crack somebody on the jaw is just as bad as actually cracking them on the jaw. So if somebody has you all wound up to the popping point, go ahead and have at it. It's only a few days of bad press and weeks of bragging rights. In a violent American, a good fist fight is probably worth a 5 point bump in the polls. Look what it did for George Bush and The Arnold.

It's historical to become hysterical in politics.

I am of course speaking about the rumble between Mayor Lorenzo Langford and former A.C. Business Administrator Dominic Cappella at the Jefferies Towers the other night. I don't blame Langford for popping off and if I h ad my way, I would wash Dominic Cappella's mouth out with soap for talking like that in front of the elderly.

These kinds of political altercations are nothing new and I wish people would stop making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Wasn't it only a year ago when 252 members of the Japanese Parliament started slugging each other, dragging each other across the floor, throwing each other over the balcony and winging chairs at Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi?

The entire Deit of Japan got snarky and tossed a melee in time for the evening news, and I appreciated that story very much.

In Philadelphia they have at least one good fist fight a year in their council meetings and if you want to be the mayor of Boston, you have to crack a few eggs and scramble 'em up.

In Las Vegas, not only will they smack each other around, they actually shoot each other and stuff the bodies in a hole in the desert. It's a Red State, what can I say?

They figure it's quicker and cheaper than going to court.

I'm not surprised. Fighting in Las Vegas is big business and people make millions from boxing. You know how humans are, monkey see - monkey do, we learn from watching each other. It's not surprising that we try to solve problems by punching each other out.

There's only one thing better than a good political fist fight and that is a good reporter to relay the news to the rest of the village. Thank goodness for Press of Atlantic City Reporter Martin DeAngelis (a reporter who was actually there.)

DeAngelis is a gentle soul by all accounts and it's a shame he had to be there to witness the violence and try to figure out a way to quote Cappella and get his copy past the editors. Nonetheless, he stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum of a story...including expletives!

Now that's what I call a good day in the news room.

I was just tickled pink after reading his report of the event. He captured the pomp, the pulp and the drama of the whole fracas from every possible vantage point. Thank you Mr. D!

I actually felt like I was a part of the melee. I could hear the roar of the crowd, I could hear the gasp of the elderly and infirm, I could hear the whirring sound of the spin doctors winding up for the next day's round of talk radio shows...

Now I know some people will take exception to this satire and write me letters about The Kids.

I can hear it now. Shouldn't they be good role models for the kids? what about the kids? what will the kids think? How will this effect the kids? Blah, blah, blah.

As Dominic Cappella might say, Screw the kids!

The kids are too busy shooting each other in Atlantic City these days to notice a common street brawl and kids don't read newspapers anymore anyway. So go ahead all you elected officials and former city employees! Have at it! Knock yourselves out!

Ron Ruff, The Dark Master of Slime
By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published June 29, 2005

Why is Ron Ruff wading waist deep in slime when he has a major campaign to run in Atlantic County? As a voter, I am a little ticked off about this.

The executive director of the Atlantic County Democrats is as busy as a beaver rolling up slime balls to throw at Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson. And yes, you are right, Levinson in not running for office.

In a thinly veiled and smarmy Open Public Records Request, Ruff is trying to obtain the travel records of Levinson and a female county employee.

This nasty connect the dots innuendo has been published on www.PoliticsNJ.com and faxed around the state in a weekly newsletter titled POLITIFAX.

The trouble started when Levinson and Freeholder Candidate Scott McKnight got into a spitting match on the phone and taped the conversation. The content of that tape includes foul language and more innuendo, this time by Levinson.

That is a private conversation and for pete's sake, why don't you people keep it private. People don't give one whoot about your argument.

Now both sides are on the attack and the public is being treated to a large double dose of political castor oil.

By the way, is there any fire under this Ron Ruff smoke signal? No.

I asked Ruff if he had information that Levinson was having an affair and he told me “No.”

Ruff also said that he does not even care if Levinson or anybody else is having an affair.

So why is Ruff sending up this puff of smoke? Ruff said he just wants to rattle Levinson’s cage.

I wish he would not do that on the taxpayer’s dime. I can’t believe we have to pay somebody to retrieve public records because Ruff wants to monkey around with Levinson.

As political message goes, Ruff’s arrow is so far off target that it may circle around and poke him in his tender parts.

So far we have not heard who Ruff is running in the Freeholder race and what they stand for in this campaign.

That’s kind of important isn’t it? Don’t you want to know who is running and what they stand for before you go the election booth?

I doubt they stand for family values. If they did, somebody would have put the breaks on Ruff and his slime machine. He is smearing two people and the collateral damage includes spouses and children.

I can’t vote for that.

Ruff’s candidates obviously have no political message. No, I am wrong. Their message must be that they don’t have the first clue about politics or the issues that are important to the voters on the county level. If they did, they might be talking about that.

I like many of my readers are interested in the issues surrounding the operation of county government. These are important issues. It concerns our elderly, care for the sick and indigent, the operation of roads and bridges, the county tax rate and a whole host of other problems that need to be solved. The freeholders manage an enormous budget. Are they doing a good job? They must be, I have not heard otherwise from the opposition.

So to the executive director of the Atlantic County Democrats I want to say this….

Leave the women and children out of this fight and focus on the operation of the county government.

The War on Christmas
Put some cookies in your arsenal

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Dec. 8, 2005

I hear there is a war on Christmas, but I haven’t been able to find any casualty counts. Is there really a movement to kick Jesus out of the holidays or have the far right evangelical Pharisees and money changers just dreamed up a new fund raising scheme?

World Net Daily founder Joseph Farah, who told the Washington Post that he threw out his White House “holiday card’ the minute he opened it, is now selling “Just Say Merry Christmas” bracelets on his evangelical news website.

Do you think any of his profits from the sales will go to feed the hungry, clothe the naked or comfort the sick? It’s doubtful.

Other kooky evangelicals are offering up similar sayings on mugs, T-shits, prayer books, and a whole host of other revolting stock items. When they are not raking in the cash, they are ruining everybody’s holiday by mugging on the national media. They sure do have the glums these days.

First Lady Laura Bush shot off a curt statement that curled their tails. She has said the 1.5 million cards that went out this year are delivered to people of all faiths and she and the President wish to include everybody in their holiday wishes.

God Bless Laura Bush.

She’s right on the cue. The Bush’s have been sending out “holiday” cards since their first year in office.

I’m glad the President hasn’t bowed down to the tantrum-tossing evangelicals. I didn’t like it when they went after cartoon character Tinky Wink, a pocketbook carrying purple creature they tried to accuse of being a Gay recruiter and I was equally aghast when they went after Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Now it’s the holiday cards.

I have decided to join up for the war on Christmas. I'm strapped with good cheer and I've stocked my arsenal with Christmas cookies.

I carry them around in a basket. Every time I encounter one of my kooky evangelical friends, I immediately stuff a yummy cookie in their gob before they can start yammering about holiday cards.

“Here! try this double-chocolate fudge nut Christmas cookie!”

It’s working great too! Timing is everything.

My sincerest wish this holiday season is that all of you find peace, health, love and kindness in the coming year and keep Christmas in your heart every day.

Race to the Bottom - Baiting
Atlantic City Mayoral Campaign

By VIRGINIA McCABE
(609) 404-0362 Published April 28, 2005
EMAIL editor@gallowaynews.com

Let me say right up front that I do not believe Mayor Lorenzo Langford or Bob Levy had any part in circulating the race-baiting flyers that are going around the city. Both campaign spokesman have told me that Levy and Langford were not involved and they disavow this kind of tactic.

Now it is time for Langford and Levy to give their foot soldiers the hook. These chowder heads think they are doing their candidates some good by trying to inflame the voters. It ain't working.

Rather than being inflamed, I would wager the voters are rather oh-so bored with it all.

The only people that pay attention to race-baiting campaign tactics these days are some members of the media. I think it's high time my colleagues stops reeling in these trash-fish news stories and serving them up to the public like they are Filet de Poisson.

People know the truth about Langford and Levy. They are both very decent men who want to do the best for their city. Neither of them has a racist bone in their body and I think we all stopped falling for race baiting about 20 or so years ago.

So it is time to stop this race to the bottom and start discussing the issues. Call it a day with this nonsense and let's start talking about things the people of Atlantic City really care about..

There is a little more than a month until the June 7 Primary. It's not too late to hold debates and discuss budgets, housing, traffic, planning, zoning, taxes and a cornucopia of other topics that have a real affect on the voters. Who has the better vision for the future of Atlantic City Mayor Langford or Bob Levy?

MAD POLL DISEASE

There is a Cure!

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published June 9, 2005

The day after the election, when the fog of elation or depression begins to lift, political people start asking themselves the inevitable question.

“What the hell was I thinking?”

They are of course asking this question in relation to their behavior during the campaign.

One man I know tried to run his friend over with a car. They were perfectly good friends before the campaign season started, but they fell victim to Mad Poll Disease or (MPD).

MPD is quite like Mad Cow Disease. You eat a little bit of political red meat and you lose your mind and start acting crazy.

MPD is characterized by shouting, cursing, banging people in the head with signs, marching in lock step with other sufferers of MPD, fist fighting, insulting other people’s family members, making threats and participating in involuntary illegal activity.

MPD is spread through the mail, over broadcast airwaves and by the bite of inflatable rats.

For those of you suffering from the after effects of MPD, there is a cure. You don’t have to suffer in silence.

It’s a hard dose to take, but you have to pick up the phone and start apologizing to the people you insulted or otherwise attacked.

Now I know some of you would rather eat your children than make an apology. It takes a strong person to pluck out an olive branch and offer it up to somebody else.

Nonetheless, it has to be done before the next election cycle when you will suffer a relapse.

Political battles can be fierce, bruising, embarrassing and well…you know the drill. For those of you who contracted MPD, there is hope. A new study shows that nearly 98 percent of the people suffering from MPD are cured.

That is the good news. MPD is not a terminal illness. The sooner you take steps to mend the political fences you managed to breach, the better you will feel.

So pick up the phone today and start apologizing. And to the people who have fallen victim to somebody with MPD, cut them a little slack. Not only will you get your friends back, you will have something to hold over their head for the rest of your life.

'LIVE FREE OR DIE'

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Dec. 17, 2005

When you practice real democracy, it's like tap dancing on a high wire, balancing a giraffe on your nose, while juggling flaming knives. That’s how fragile the democratic process is…it takes commitment, it requires attention and you need to make sure everything is in balance.
President Bush is not the man for this high wire work --- evidenced by the fact that he gave permission for the National Security Agency to spy on Americans, on American soil, without judicial review.
And that my fellow Americans, is a democracy way out of balance. We've got a madman in the White House. You might as well just rip the entire 4th and 14th Amendments out of the Constitution and set them on fire.
What's next? Are we going to detain people in secret prisons, hold them without charging them with crimes, torture them and....
Oh, wait, Bush is already doing that.
You can not pretend to live in a democracy when you no longer enjoy the freedoms that a democracy provides.
You no longer live in a Democracy when the government is secretly wire tapping its citizens, secretly throwing people in secret jails and torturing people, sexually abusing prisoners and murdering people who have not been charged with a crime.
That’s what they do in China, the former Soviet Union and North Korea.
Protecting citizens without taking away their Constitutional rights is what America stands for.
"Justice be done though the heavens may fall..."
Either we're a nation of laws or we're not.
You need a president who is sufficiently humble enough to realize he is not a king and Papa doesn't always know what's best.
That's why we have three branches of government, one fourth estate and no kings.
It’s even trickier to protect a democracy when you’re at war against a stateless group of zealots who are capable of bringing down the World Trade Center and sections of the Pentagon --- with nothing more than a handful of box cutters.
Those kind of people will always manage to slip through, no matter how many conversations are scooped up by the NSA in their satellite nets. Thjat's not reason enough to give up our civil liberties.
I for one would rather die in a terrorist attack than to live in a country where the Constitution is loaded into a lorry and taken off to the dump.
Call me crazy, but I subscribe to the motto, “Life Free or Die.”
“I have a responsibility to protect the people,” Bush said in his radio address on Saturday morning.
Yes Mr. President, but who is going to protect us from you and the NSA?
I know that every great society and super power eventually fails. History teaches us that...but gee whiz..can't we stave off this decline for a few more decades?
If you look around the landscape and take stock of the damage caused by the Bush administration, you might notice there is something very Romanesque going on and it's not too late to stop it.
You remember Rome don't you? That great super power that ruled the world --- then in the blink of an eye, became a tin pot noodle factory with some good wine.
We now have some strange things in common with Rome.
The Roman Senate lost their moral compass and our Senate lost their moral compass.
The Roman leaders sacked the national treasury and our leaders are sacking our national treasury.
The Romans sanctioned torture for the good of the people and the Bush administration sanctioned torture for the good of the people.
The Romans believed the Gods wanted them to kill Christians and George Bush believes God wants him to kill Iraqis.
The Romans kept strange animals in the Coliseum and George Bush keeps black Scottie Dogs in the White House (even if they are only prop dogs for the news media).
I have a remedy. It's not too late to patch up our constitution and stitch the Republic back together again.
If the snoops have to capture electronic phone calls and E-mails with the speed of light, fine. Go ahead and do that. However, they can not listen to that information until a judge approves it.
That’s no problem because the whole system is automated anyway.
The NSA scoops in information via sattellite and other means and beams it into computers. It is stored there until an analyst takes a look at it and decides it need to be bumped up to the next level.
We could have judges on call 24-hours a day, with offices in the NSA, who do nothing but approve or deny applications to open up these snoop packages.
If the trauma surgeons of America can respond with lightning speed to save lives, so can the federal judges who are tasked with making sure the Constitution is not being butchered.
So that is how you protect the American Constitution while fighting terrorists.
Snoop if you must, but don’t mangle our 4th and 14th amendment rights.
Live free or die.

Republican Leaders
Cut and Run on Laura-Bill Ade

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Aug. 27, 2005

Arch conservatives Laura and Bill Ade should be commended by their fellow political party members for setting up a website to flak for their Republican leadership. After all, it was the Republican leaders who put them up to it.

Read Ade Response to this opinion piece

But this week, the Galloway Republican League (GRL) leaders and candidates cut and ran when the Press of Atlantic City wrote a story about their website at www.aceditorial.com

Are their conservative views so extreme that they can’t speak openly about them? They sent the Ades’ into partisan battle and then they proceeded to leave the pair --- bloodied and dying on the field alone.

I wouldn’t want to go to war with that crew.

Republican Councilman Tom Bassford, who is running for office, could not have distanced himself farther from the Ades’ if he had taken a Swift Boat to China. He said he didn’t know the Ades’.

What’s Bassford talking about? He hired this married pair to be 9-1-1 dispatchers in Galloway Township this year.

In a military family like mine, we would call Bassford a Chicken Hawk. Some people are calling him a bold faced liar, but good breeding prevents me from using the “L” word.

The Ades’ are not alone in their abandonment.

Two years ago, Bassford, Councilmen Al DeSimon and Dave Maxwell disavowed knowing Terry Lucarelli at a council meeting when she shot off her mouth. Luccarelli was their campaign manager. The audience collapsed in gales of laughter and groans when they said they “did not know her,” and “she is not with us.” This year she is the Municipal Leader for the GRL.

What can be said of Terry Luccarelli? I like to think of her as the Baghdad Bobette of the GRL.

It’s not just that her communication style is ridiculous, ignorant, bloated, repugnant and overblown, it’s that you have to hold the phone three feet away from your ear when she calls you screaming abut the latest "liberal" press story you have written.

Republicans who can stomach her call her “Momma Lucarelli.”

“Momma Luccarelli” was suspiciously absent in Saturday’s Press story. I suppose they shoved this crazy aunt into the basement until after the election.

Lucarelli vowed at a recent Republican club meeting to do something about “Virginia McCabe” and the Atlantic Daily Sentinel.

Two of her ideas included jamming my website and flooding me with emails.

My friends in the GRL called me after the meeting to let me know I was included in her target package and gleefully told me they would keep me abreast of developments.

Bring it on Momma Lucarelli!

Two weeks later, like a fully cranked up Jack-in-the-Box, this Baghdad Bobette popped out a website. And I am thrilled about that. I’ve been sending their link to everybody I know.

The public needs to know what this crew espouses.

One of their views is that the Galloway Township Sports Teams do not need legislation to ensure criminal background checks. That article was snatched down and "disappeared" from their site the day I broke the news that a Tier Two sex offender was coaching on the Galloway PAL Basketball Team.

When I asked for a copy of the article they "disappeared," I was politely told “no.”

Oh well…I know how busy the news business can be...they were too busy to find one of the four stories that they have published.

I wish Laura and Bill Ade every success in their endeavor. While I do not share their political views, I do share their desire to exercise my First Amendment rights.

I only hope that the people supporting, encouraging and helping Laura and Bill Ade will show a shred of the courage that the Ades’ have ---- and stand up for what they believe in --- in the light of day.

This Week In Politics
How Low Will Dems Go?

BY VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Oct. 13, 2005

Kids dressing up in chicken suits
making $25 an hour after school?

That's outrageous!

They should have asked me to do it!
I've done a lot worse for $3.49 an hour.
Like many young kids my parents signed
my working papers when I was 14 and
sent me off to work. First it was a small lemonade stand in the front yard. I graduated to flipping burgers at the ice cream hut and I thought I hit the jackpot when I worked one summer in the Brigantine Castle as the vampire in the picture frame.
But the worst job I ever had was working as a candy packer at the James Salt Water Taffy factory in Atlantic City. My best friend (at the time) talked me into working for $3.49 an hour packing taffy boxes as they rolled down the assembly line.
"You get to eat all the taffy you want!" she squealed as we walked into the orientation room that morning.
"Anyone caught eating taffy will be fired immediately!" Warned our boss Jean, who had worked at the factory three times longer than I had lived on the Earth.
Some of the Republican political operatives are carping about the local kids wearing chicken suits and strutting around town. My advice to them is to leave the kids (and their parents) alone. They're having fun, they don't give one hoot about politics It's just a little pocket money and some of you Republicans need a dose of humor. Lighten up on the chickens.

Napalm? Now That’s
an Incendiary Statement

...............

Vets Were Passing the Ammo
Republicans are Passing the Buck
Democrats Passing Off Rudolph as Bambi

By VIRGINIA McCABE
September 25, 2005

Some politicians are going over the top in this election. Let’s start with Mayor Mark Hanko’s incendiary statement about clear cutting the field on Jimmie Leeds Road.

To score some political points with the environmentally leaning voters, Hanko likened an illegally clear cut field on Jimmie Leeds Road to a napalmed field in Vietnam.

Good grief almighty.

As soon as I read it in the Press of Atlantic City, my nerves started to jangle, not least of all because Mayor Hanko has never worn the uniform.

Talking about napalm when you haven’t served a day in uniform is a colossal political blunder. It’s bloody heartless.

“Gee…Napalm? Really?....hmmm, bet he gets in trouble with some vets over that statement,” I thought to myself while munching a bagel with some raspberry schmear.

It wasn’t a comment the reporter stuck in the middle of the story either. It was a blaring ripper jammed right up front in the lead.

Hmm, this is bad for him and bad for some Vets. I popped the last bite of breakfast in my mouth and turned to answer the phone.

It was a friend of mine who served in the Vietnam war. He lives here in Galloway. The first thing out of his mouth was about the “napalm” comment.

Yikes!

The field on Jimmie Leeds Road was illegally clear cut. It looks bloody awful, but Hanko’s attempt to blame the Democrats backfired in a huge way.

After all, this clear-cutting event happened on Hanko's watch, with his professionals, not getting the job done. The tree cutter told me it took him a month to cut down all the trees. They didn’t know this was going on?

Who's minding the store?

And, it hardly looks like any war zone the vets have described to me.
I mean there is a huge difference between a clear cut forest in comfortable, beautiful Galloway and a napalmed field in a war zone where Americans died in agony.

The Democrats in response to this unfair pass-the-buck attack immediately dispatched their secret weapon. Bambi.

Bambi, or a student in a Bambi costume, was soon prancing around the field sporting a sign declaring the place the “Republican Forest.”

The beloved deer of our childhood hours was wringing its paws in angst at losing its home….you get the picture. Democratic deer drama ---very effective.

For two days, Bambi received honks, beeps, sirens and other noises of approval from the passersby.

Even a police car gave two screeches on the siren and a fire truck blew the horn and waved.

Only one resident (who is notoriously ill mannered) shouted an expletive at the deer….which I won’t repeat here.

All this bodes very poorly for the Republicans. They have been doing a lot of buck passing and people are taking notice.

In response to this thumb-in-your-eye deer attack by the Democrats, Republican Councilman Al DeSimone launched into a flat comedy routine in the newspaper.

Crikey!

I didn’t get it. This was a serious issue and DeSimone was saying really goofy things to the media. He was getting nit picky about the costume. It was Rudolph, not Bambi. The nose was red, not black….on and on about this costume. I mean…that is really goofy.

If the Republicans were half as nit picky about the job done in town, as they were about this costume, I wouldn’t be writing this column.

So here is a little bit of advice for Councilman DeSimone, who happens to be one of my favorite councilmen…

Get off the goofy stick and go check out the other sites under development in Galloway!

While you guys are passing the buck, the Democrats are fostering deer ...under your little red noses.

This Week In Politics

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Aug. 16, 2005

I don't know who is managing the broken hearts department in the Bush administration in Crawford, but they sure made a mistake in telling the President not to meet with Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan again.
I know that probably nothing the President says is going to heal Cindy Sheehan's heart. Her son Casey is dead in a war she thinks is unjust. But that is not the point. As important as an American President is, that job pales in comparison to being an American mother. He owes her a heart-to- heart talk. He gave the order that resulted in her son's death.
Cindy Sheehan is a woman in the grips of grief and transition. She's had just enough time for the shock to wear off and the bone crushing grief, including insane anger to take hold.
What do you do with that? You do the best you can.
In Sheehan's case she is turning into a Mother Tiger, and maybe that is not such a bad option for her to take. We owe it to this mother to listen, even if we don't agree with her. We should listen to her without countering her statements. It's the right thing to do.
Who are we to tell a mother how she should grieve for her child? Her arms are empty and she is probably doing the very best she can under inconceivable circumstances.
I am not going to criticize Cindy Sheehan, I have no right. My son is alive, safe and doing well.
Cindy Sheehan has also lost her husband of 28 years in the process. They separated shortly after their son died. She also lost his side of the family, when they issued a press release supporting the President's decision to go to war. I am not surprized, the death of a child drives people apart.
More than 70 percent of couples who loose a child to death, wind up getting divorced. Families are torn apart and the parades and fanfare meant to comfort us when a solider dies, only last a few hours --- then it is back to reality again for these families.
Grief is an isolating process.
The experts say this is because people experience and express grief differently and do not understand each other --- problems are exacerbated.
The intense emotional pain puts strains on people who can otherwise cope in the world and in their relationships.
Cindy Sheehan is not alone. There are nearly 1,900 other American mothers grieving in their own way for their children. Some do it quietly, some do it loudly, some form groups and others suffer alone in a haze of depression. American mothers are not alone. The number of mothers who have lost their children in Iraq and Afghanistan is untold. Each mother a person just trying to cope.
No, I will not criticize Cindy Sheehan or any other mother who's is doing what she has to do to continue living in a world without her child.

This Week in Politics
Somthing Smells Fishy

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published May 6, 2005

Meet Horace The Fish. He is just one of the curious creatures who will be voting by absentee ballot in the Atlantic City Primary on June 7.

Horace isn't old enough to vote, he does not live in Atlantic City and he's not even an American.

Horace is a Norwegian Cod Fish who lives way up north on the Flemish Cap. He was vacationing off the Atlantic City coast when he was hooked by a fisherman. Instead of being eaten, he was registered to vote.

"Some guy just reeled me in," said Horace.. "He gave me two choices. He said I could register to vote or die. What could I do? I had a hook in my mouth and this guy looked menacing."

"He told me I could use the address of a vacant uptown lot. He assured me it was perfectly legal. After he signed my name, I was back out at sea," he said.

But that is not the end of the tale for Horace the Fish. A week later he ran into some friends in Cape May. They too had been registered to vote in the Primary.

Since I was talking to a man who had been interviewing a fish, I decided to check out the absentee ballot applications myself. I just had to find out if somebody was registering fish and voting in their stead.

I found Horace.

Horace Fish is indeed registered to vote in the primary. A vacant lot uptown is listed as his address. At the same address the following people are registered to vote.

Manny Fish, Ethel Fish, Karen Fish, Lydia Fish, Cray Fish, Darla Fish, Fresh Fish and Mitchel Fish.

I don't know about you, but I think it is probably illegal to register fish to vote in an American election.

However, this is Atlantic City we are talking about. I guess everybody is willing to take a gamble.

Shape Shifting Republicans

By VIRGINIA McCABE
editor@gallowaynews.com
Published March 24, 2005
(609) 404-0362

My son was the first person I heard use the term “shape shifters.” These intriguing science-fiction creatures are able to morph into other shapes in order to do good, do evil or dabble in various forms of mischief.

At least I thought they were science-fiction creatures. As it turns out, we have 600 Republican Shape Shifters right here in the World’s Playground. That’s right folks, 600 Republicans have shape-shifted into Democrats.

You can’t get 600 Republicans to switch parties without a Papal Bull coming down from Senator Bill Gormley, what kind of mischief is this?

By my calculation, if they can sign up 66 more people and hit the 666 mark and then get the Four Horsemen in from Vegas, they can kick off the Apocalypse right here on the Boardwalk.

In what twisted universal bang do you get 600 Republicans to change their party and a half dozen Republican leaders to turn Democrat and run in the General Election? I can’t keep my Journal of Who’s Who straight anymore.

But I do know this, the Republicans can not win Atlantic City as Republicans, so maybe they are going to win Atlantic City as Democrats and then the whole lot of them will shape shift back into elephants.

It could happen.

I can’t wait to find out who is responsible for this caper and since I am attending Bob Levy’s news conference today, I might be able to tell my readers what’s going on tomorrow. That is unless some crazed gunman starts shooting up the place and none of us get back home alive. In the meantime, I am looking for clues.

I referred to a section of my Journal titled “Sneaky Republican Geniuses” (SRG) to look for a clue as to who is pulling the strings.

I have six people entered into this super superior-species of Republicans. I can give you three names because they are known to the public. Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson, Paul D’Amato and Senator Bill Gormley are listed near the top.

The other three are so super sneaky that I can not reveal their names. So in order to protect their identities I will just call them Zaa Zaa, The Fish and Donna Taylor.

Now, We can rule out Gormley, D’Amato and Levinson working together because these three dogs just won’t hunt. Together they would make a great axis of evil but when you put them in a room together, they snarl, drool and snap at each other and spontaneously shape shift into Cerberus.

Cerberus would dovetail nicely into a Boardwalk Apocalypse Showcase. He is a strange three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hell. He has a dragon’s tail, and heads of snakes all over his back, and that is exactly what you need to run any political party.

However, they could be working through their super secret proxy(s). I heard a few weeks ago that D’Amato was switching to the Democratic Party, but then he pulled back just short of signing a party card. Hmmm, curious. Maybe he pulled back because his public shape shifting would have been a drop-dead clue that the end is near.

Since we are brewing up a flask of dastardly bubbly, I think we can assume that Gormley wants to get rid of Langford but he does not want Calloway as the ceremonial head of Atlantic City either. He probably would frown on a shoot out during the Miss American Contest, even if the Calloways do manage to keep it in the family.

Calloway’s a loose cannon and you can’t have pig iron flying around the deck with a senator on board. That would be unseemly. It didn’t work for Admiral Lord Nelson and it won’t work for Pope William Gormley. So, Gormley must have cut a deal with Calloway to pull out and stick Levy into the mix. Everybody knows that Calloway and Gormley are close buddies.

Now Gormley has another very close friend and that is Bob Levy. They were destined to fall in love. Gormley was a lifeguard and Levy was a lifeguard, Gormley likes to paddle around in the ocean and so does Levy. They both served in the military and both men like wearing muscle man T-shirts. I am told they both have command over the common Harbor Seal and the Quahog. While Gormley can make green fogs appear, Levy has the power to make heads explode. They’re nifty additions to our Boardwalk.

Even though Levy is a close friend of Bill Gormley he was brunching with Levinson last week. Should I pen Levy’s name into the SRG section of my Journal? I’m not sure. It takes a lot to get into the Sneaky Republican Genius section. The jury is still out on Levy.

Now let’s take stock of who is doing what. We have the 666 Republican Shape Shifters, we have the three-headed dog from Hell named Cerebus, we have three secret proxies, a Pope, two men that command fogs and harbor seals, we have two moles in the Republican Party and one mole digging a tunnel into the Democratic Party, so what are we missing here….

Oh Yes! We need the Anti-Christ!

There are so many candidates for the Anti-Christ it is nearly impossible to ferret him out. Since the Anti-Christ is a charmer, according to the Bible, we have to look at all the charming people.

I turned to the Charming People section of my Journal and found two names jump out at me. The first name is Rick Dovey. He is the head of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority and a very charming person. He is so charming that people say he could charm the hind legs off a mule. That would be a handy skill in a political race.

The other name was even more intriguing. Howard Kyle. Howard is the Chief of Staff for Dennis Levinson. Hmmm, he is perfectly positioned to be the Anti-Christ, but he is too charming. He has bodacious management skills --- enough to orchestrate the downfall of the world, but he has no inclination towards evil. Scratch Howard.

I think the Anti-Christ must be Rick Dovey. He has his finger on the button that can unleash millions and millions of gallons of untreated waste on Election Day. He has the power to block up all the Democratic toilets and intersections in the county. This makes me suspicious of him.

I’ll let you know if he is at the press conference.

OPERATION CODE WORD
'Callaway in Galloway' Story

Operation Code Word is Exposed
Republicans Caught Red Handed
in Leaked Strategy Memo. Commentary

This Week In Politics
This Week in Politics Archives
Harry Hurley & Derek Harper
The $25.4 Million Reporters

By VIRGINIA McCABE
(609) 404-0362
editor@gallowaynews.com

You can’t shake a stick at Press of Atlantic City Reporter Derek Harper these days. This Road Runner of reporters got his hands on a BEEP-BEEP secret city audit that says Atlantic City politicians could have trimmed $25.4 million off the back of taxpayers Each Year! and they didn’t do it.

They didn’t do it and they hid the report too.

Harper has moxie getting the goods and writing that story. He’s not an old grumpy reporter either...he’s still just knee high to a grasshopper. Harper once again has the hottest property in town and I bet you balls to bones, everybody’s going to take a nip out of his backside in the coming weeks. Kudos to the Press for publishing the story and writing an editorial.

But there are FIRST kudos to go around too. Radio Talk Show Host Harry Hurley 1450 AM informed me this morning that he got the report FIRST and broke the news on his morning talk radio show and his website located at www.harryhurley.com. He said the Press then followed his lead story. My apologies to Harry and to Derek for the goof in my spoof.

What makes this audit report story so bubblicious is that a bunch of Atlantic City weenies sat on it for a couple of years.

What kind of lily-livered old knackers are working at the Casino Association and the Atlantic City Regional Chamber of Commerce? After you get rid of the dead wood at city hall, move right on down the street and fire those old coyotes too. What are they going to hide next? The cure for cancer?

As comedian Lewis Black would say, Why didn’t they just knock on the door of every taxpayer in Atlantic City ----and----just piss on their foot?

For all its shiny glass towers and blinky, blinky lights, Atlantic City is not much more than a goofy cartoon scene featuring Wiley E. Coyote tying himself to a rocket and shooting for the moon.

It’s time for the citizens of Atlantic City to rise up, register to vote and slay these people.

Atlantic City voters should unite and throw every single one of those bums out of office. Clear them all out and get a whole new set of leaders who are looking after the interests of the taxpayers. Then pressure your lawmakers and business leaders to mop up the mess at the Casino Association and Atlantic City Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Harper, if you are reading this, and no doubt you’ve never even seen this website, you are going to be in for a few rough weeks. So strap yourself in kid, ignore all the slings and arrows that are going to come your way and keep on grinding the meat. Run their photos, list their bios, put these bastards on the record and ….well you know the gig.

I'm not so worried about Harry Hurley. He's been in the game since I was knee high to a grasshopper and he could chew the brass tacks out of a battleship. Harry knows well the way of slings and arrows and they just bounce off his chest.

Reporters can’t change the world, but we sure can flush out the guilty.

Thanks to Hurley/Harper, maybe some of the elderly people in Atlantic City will get a tax break and they won’t have to decide between eating Alpo or people food. If the city has a $25.4 Million tax break, it’s going to be Scrapple all around for everyone!