This Week in Politics
By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Feb. 3, 2007
What
are our female freeholders doing on our behalf? Let me clue you in...
Last
week Freeholder Cooper was sued after some really bad political strategy
blew up in her face. Now she and her family are facing financial obliteration.
Ahh well, she made her political bed and now she has to lay in it.
Whoever was pimping Cooper out as a political tool should be taken
to the woodshed and horse whipped.
That
was last week. This week Freeholder April Sue Shilling a.k.a., the
mean-old hag of the Brigantine Lighthouse, climbed into her mortor---
pestle in hand and offered $100 to anybody else, up to 10 people,
who would also sue Cooper.
In
April Sue's world you can't be sued enough! She wants more, more,
more!
She reminds me of the mean girl in class who picked on the handicapped
girl in class. Shame, shame, shame on you Suzie Q.
Isn't
she lovely? That's exactly the kind of business our legislators should
be involved in. Can you measure the depth of nastiness in this women?
Is she letting others turn her into the worst kind of female sterotype
possible? Bitchy, strident, trite.
Shilling
probably had a lot of her friends slapping her on the back and telling
her how clever and funny the idea was. But that's not how it's playing
at the vegetable bin at my local supermarket. The women on the street
are expressing disgust and disappointment.
"She's
so nasty! I wonder how many hormones she taking. Are those cucumbers
on sale?"
"She
makes all women look bad, where is the fresh oregano?"
"No
wonder we don't have tax relief, I can't afford these organic carrots."
Whoever
is pimping Shilling out as a political tool should be taken to the
woodshed and horsewhipped.
I
don't know what forest Witch Shilling writhes in, but it must be inhabited
by some awful nasty creatures. The kind of creatures that can persuade
you to drop your dignity, bare your blood spattered teeth and shred
humanity.
Shilling,
a soon to be extinct duel-office holder, should have kept her mouth
shut and her frizzy head down in the wake of the disaster wrought
in Atlantic County by Freeholder Alisa Cooper. Shilling's giving up
her position on the Board of Chosen Freeholders, but she's keeping
her council position in Brigantine. Well, that's politics. Could this
former cheerleader be bitter about this? You didn't hear a significant
peep out of this broad until she began sucking the blood out of the
neck of Cooper's goat and screaming like an ancient Baby Yaga.
Shrill,
cheap, crass. Who's minding the multi-million dollar store down there
at the Freeholder Board? It's not Shilling. If she's not doing her
job as a freeholder, what the hell is she doing besides witch quipping
in the press?
Now
I know you are thinking that I am being a little hard on my own gender,
maybe I am. I thought that having women participate in the legislative
process would help the cause of the people. Women generally understand
kid's issues and budgets and health care and senior care, they know
how to stretch a dollar. Instead April Sue has become the standard
bearers for every stereotype out there.
Shilling
has let us all down. Instead of acting like an intelligent, dignified
woman who is doing the people's business, she lowered herself to cheap
political tricks...the kind the men use all the time.
Let's
face it. This broad is just window dressing for her party. She doesn't
call the shots in politics, she is the cheap shot other politicians
use to draw blood.
Ich Bin
Ein Historiker
By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published April, 13, 2006
Remember John
F. Kennedy’s famous speech in Germany? His speech writer wrote
“Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner), but Kennedy
said something slightly different.
He accidentally told the assembled Germans, in their own language,
“I am a donut.”
If he had not
told the whole of Berlin that he was a donut, almost nobody would
remember that speech today.
Now let's zip
through time to present day politics.
This week Dennis
Levinson said Freeholder Alisa Cooper was like “Hitler in the
bunker. The bombs are falling all around her and she doesn’t
know she lost the war.”
If Levinson had
prefaced that comment with Ich bin ein historiker, (I am a historian),
Cooper may not have shot off an indignant press release.
Now in politics
we all understand that timing is everything. Levinson gave Cooper
the opportunity to crucify herself on the eve of Passover, for the
good of the public during Easter.
Levinson was a
history teacher and he never misses a chance to draw historical references
to present day events. Hitler, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Caesar,
I’ve heard zillions of his analogies. We once had a long conversation
about Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort of England and France circa
1122. A very clever woman. She knew how to rule the kingdoms of Europe
and keep her mouth shut at the same time.
Today, Levinson
told me his comments were not about the Holocaust but rather Hitler's
lunacy. I knew that. he is not the first person to use the bunker
analogy. I've heard it a zillion times before.
In the same vein,
Cooper is a music teacher and she draws on her knowlege to trumpet
her message. Cooper never misses a chance to sound off a discordant
note in the media about county government.
During her first 100 days in office she has orchestrated a symphony
of slanders that has left county employees bewildered, angry and assembled...waiting
for her return to the meetings.
Perhaps Cooper
thinks her own comments are just another upsweep on a downward tetrachord
in the song of political bangery.
Others think Cooper's
solos sounds like fingernails on the chalkboard of life and they are
fighting back.
I've heard the
county nurse, who Cooper anonyomized in her nepotism report, has fashioned
a makeshift guillotine out of plasters and scapels. It's sitting in
the freeholder closet...just waiting for Cooper to return to her freeholder
duties.
Speaking of French chopping implements, Levinson ratcheted up the
rhetoric with Press of Atlantic City writer Elaine Rose today.
Levinson has now compared Cooper's war on the county to “Napoleon
at Waterloo.”
Ho, ho, now he’s
getting nasty.
Is Levinson poking fun at Cooper's war tactics or is he making fun
of her because she is shrimpy in height?
I'm afraid to
call him and ask. God only knows what he will say in his present mood.
Cooper has not
issued a press release on the French comment yet, but it’s only
Thursday. She still has time to squeeze out one more press release
in the work-a-day news cycle.
But! she may put
out a call to all the "little people," to help her in her
campaign to root out something....anything...that will justify her
remarks about county employees in the press.
Harry Hurley and the
Amazing Technicolor Smoke Machine
In an age not too long ago, he had a moment
of clarity
Then he lost it
By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published Dec. 8, 2006
I can’t
think of a more entertaining farce than Harry Hurley lecturing anybody
in the media, about journalism and ethics.
No wait! almost equally funny is watching Hurley hard at work trying
to conjure up the Mother of All Smoke Screens for his political friend,
Rev. Eugene Robinson.
No matter what props Harry drags out of his dungeon to set on fire,
he just can’t stack the pile high enough to hide the view of
a video tape of Atlantic City Councilman Eugene Robinson receiving
oral sex in a seedy hotel room with a woman whose name he claims he
does not know --- after exchanging some cash. Oh yes, while wearing
his City Hall badge during most of the act.
If Harry wants
to defend the actions of Councilman Gene Robinson, I’m sure
not going to rush in and save him from himself.
Harry's rationalizations, ranting and lunatic explanations are the
mother lode of hilarity. You can only have more fun on a bus ride
to Atlantic City with a stolen $10 voucher for the slot machines.
Here's a tip!
Harry has not
always been this far off track during his career. I actually know
a date when Harry had what drunks and drug addicts call “a moment
of clarity.”
Harry wrote the
following on his website
“We
are adding Virginia McCabe to Hurley’s Heroes for several distinct
reasons. First, she is the professional consummate journalist. Second,
in a market of followers and phonies…Virginia is willing to
do true investigative reporting.”
Harry also stated
that my reporting was “quality” and “hard hitting,”
over the years he has heaped praise on me for my work.
“The region
desperately needs other views and having this online newspaper to
balance the often slanted news we see is a very good thing, stated
Hurley. “Yes Virginia, there is a newspaper worth reading….The
Sentinel.”
Harry, I couldn’t
agree with you more.
Harry take a word
of advise from an old wordsmith like me. Stop using the royal “We”
in your speech and scribbles. People might get the impression that
you are a pompous jackass who took a sharp left turn out of reality.
Little
Bird
In The Big House
By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published April 10, 2006
For years now
I have heard that at any moment one bunch or the other bunch of Atlantic
City Hall dwellers are about to be scooped up and taken off to the
big house for their alleged crimes. It never happens.
I’m beginning
to think there are no crimes going on, just a bunch of political Tweety
Birds singing their song and tapping their toes.
Like testy budgies
in a gilded cage, there’s always some discordant song and dance
coming from the area around the A.C. city council chambers. It just
depends on whose Ox is being gored at the moment.
That’s politics right?
Not this time!.
It appears, and I could be wrong, that a shadowy group is operating
to over-throw the government in Atlantic City.
Somebody wound
them up and told them they’re on a mission, but guess what.
They’re just whacky little birds, scratching their beaks and
ting, ting, tinging the bird cage bell. I guess they have nothing
better to do most days.
Up until last
week, I had not seen one shred of publishable proof that a crime has
been committed until Atlantic City v. Bruce Gittleman
produced “undisputed facts” that a transcript of a closed
session meeting was stolen from City Hall and shipped.
Finally, we have
some evidence of a crime at City Hall. It’s a serious crime
too. This breach of security could be a state and federal crime. The
stuff that is in that stolen transcript is so sensitive that it’s
probably an Inter-Galactic crime as well.
(By the way, there
is no time off for good behavior in the federal prison system.)
The stolen transcript
included the medical records of a female police officer, some tax
abatement information about a casino, employee records and the cherry
on the top of this Sundae Magnificence is that the thief smashed to
smithereens the attorney-client privilege of some individuals and
corporations, not to mention the Atlantic City taxpayers.
If you think gadflies
can get themselves all worked up into a lather, just watch a bunch
of attorneys whose attorney-client privilege has been violated. Whoo
hooo! Smokin’! This is going to be an all out snarkfest.
How ironic would
it be that the private citizens who consorted with the document thief
at City Hall, if there are any, are the only ones to wind up in state
or federal prison?
That’s just
not right.
By the way, I
am not referring to Mr. Gittleman, I presume he was duped by the thief
with an ox to gore.
Maybe some reporters
are going to be spending some time in stir as well. Then again, I
can’t imagine that anybody in the media would conspire with
city hall workers, past and present, and private citizens to steal
confidential documents just to do a half-baked political story.
No reporter worth
their salt would entice a person to break into a government computer,
even by using old passwords in a patched system from an anonymous
site on the web, in order to steal documents.
/get docs.
hmmm...trace route.
So that can’t
be happening.
Because that would
carry some heavy penalties for any jerky reporter who would do that,
and, it is morally reprehensible to use people in an effort that could
land them in jail.
My prediction
is that the pressure is going to be on and any secret society pacts
will flame out, if there are any.
We know there is no honor among thieves.
The Tweety Birds will start singing up a storm about who did what
for whom if they are looking down the barrel of a 5 to 7 year prison
sentence.
Because we all
know why the caged bird sings.
Necro-Nepotism
Alea Iacta
Est
By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published April 2, 2006
When I billed my new radio show “The Zone - Talk
Radio, Sassy and Smarter,” I never thought about Atlantic County
Chief of Staff Howard Kyle and Atlantic County Democratic Party Executive
Director Ron Ruff. If I had, I would have gotten protective gear for
the staff.
This week we delivered what we promised in the promo. Ron Ruff got
Sassy and Howard Kyle got smarter.
But,
it nearly came to death blows in the studio.
When two men are
about to kill each other it’s usually over a woman. This case
is no different. Freeholder Alisa Cooper (D) is the femme provocatrice
who brought these two in for nine rounds.
Last week she
dropped a “dirty bomb” on the electorate just hours before
major shoulder surgery temporarily sidelined her. Hmm, timing is everything.
So while Freeholder
Cooper was lounging about in a Cleopatra-like state of post operative
malaise, the rest of the county went radio-active over her press release.
Cooper named names
and made charges of nepotism and patronage, which were just more charges
she heaped upon the “fraud and corruption,” pile from
her successful campaign for freeholder.
Cooper in her
quest to start a political fight went so far as to invent a whole
new class of political patronage. I’ve been combing the books
for days to define it, but there’s nothing there to describe
it. So I am going to name it myself…it’s sooo Egyptian.
Cooper has invented
“Necro-Nepotism.”
Yes folks, Cooper
pointed out in her missive that a man who volunteers in county government
received his non-paying position because his former wife was Senator
Bill Gormley’s sister.
The shocking part
about this revelation is that Senator Gormley’s sister has been
dead for 40 years. The widower eventually married another lady and
they had a new family. However, in Cooper's world, he's a political
hack due to a dead wife in a former life.
Hence the term
“Necro-Nepotism.”
You have to know
Howard Kyle and Ron Ruff to understand the full weight of what happened
on the radio show last Saturday when they crossed the Rubicon.
Howard is a man
of mild manner. He is measured, he is kind and protective, he works
hard and he’s smart. This past weekend, he got a lot smarter
after talking with Ron. He looked into the soul of the beast…and
he found more beast. Now, Howard knows what his employees are up against.
Ron looked into
the soul of a paper tiger …and he found a slashing ferocious
tiger ready to protect his cubs.
Ron is a protector
of the people he runs for office. The public be damned. He is a dark
and slothful man. Ron is a fanatical party man. He believes in the
scorched earth method of politics. He hails from Camden County where
politics is a blood sport.
If a Republican
were laying bloodied on the field of battle gasping for air, Ron Ruff
is they guy they would send out to slit his throat, kick his dog and
steal the gold fillings from the guy’s teeth.
How does he do
it? Well....he is temperamentally suited to being the Grim Reaper
and he employs smugness as one of his tools. He also looks exactly
like Santa Claus, so you never see him coming.
But you don’t
see Howard coming either. Who knew he stored up a well of ferociousness
behind that mild façade? I bet he’s home right now, filing
his claws to a rapier-like point.
On Saturday, Howard
was passionately protecting his staff, the little guy, and Ron was
sitting only inches away from him looking smug and sanguine.
The angrier Howard got, the smugger Ron got. It was too much for Howard.
He went supersonic and broke the sound barrier in the studio.
He grabbed Ron
by the wrist in a fit of pro-employee passion and to accentuate a
point he was trying to make.
Ron, ever the
beast, didn't even flinch. He just looked smugger.
I could not believe
my eyes. I’ve never seen Howard Kyle so mad. Than something
even crazier happened.
After the mics
were turned off, Howard pointed right in Ron’s face and shouted
“you would do anything to win! You would lie! deceive! and hurt
innocent people!”
Ron smugly replied
“Yes, I
would,”
And, Ron looked
rather surprised that Howard was shocked that anybody would admit
to doing anything to get their people elected.
Hence, they crossed
the Rubicon together. The race is on to conquer Rome.
So there we have
it my friends, alea iacta est...the die is cast.
The battle lines
have been drawn. No quarter will be given and non taken. The collateral
damage will be county employees who will have their gold fillings
pulled out.
The dead and the living will have equal political status and everybody’s
dog risks being kicked.
Janitors, ditch diggers, file clerks and all the political elite will
be in the cross hairs of Ruff and Cooper.
And, Ruff, Cooper
and all the other Democrats will be in the cross hairs of the Republicans.
It should make for some good, but dangerous, fireworks.
Cooper and Ruff
want to root out “corruption, fraud, nepotism and patronage,”
even where none exists, so they can presumably plant their own brand
of corruption, fraud, nepotism and patronage, which will also not
exist.
That’s how the game is played isn’t it? Isn’t that
why Ruff is willing to spend $6 million dollars to unseat Levinson
and Senator Bill Gormley?
Let’s see
who the Roman troops will follow.
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?
