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One busy night from Gunn to Reading

Posted: September 8, 2010 by datechguy in congress, elections, politics, tea parties
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Started the evening in Townsend Mass. Where Bill Gunn was holding a town hall after his return from Washington

Standing out for Bill Gunn (r) Ma-01 in Townsend

His fans were already out in force holding signs large and small:

The big sign at the Corner

Some of the younger guys not only took signs but as the event started went back to parade them for motorists returning home via Route 119

All the cool kids are supporting the guy who rides a motercycle

And Bill took the time to meet with some of the voters before things got started:

I once cast a ballot this big

Bill gave me a few minutes telling me a bit about the Beck Rally (he attended), approving of any pro-business moves the administration makes (while stating bluntly they are trying to buy votes at the last minute), He told me his plans for September 11th (Event at Fitchburg State University) and broke some news telling me that John Olver has challenged him to three debates and he has accepted. (I was under the impression that 20 year incumbents generally don’t see the need to have multiple debates with new challengers. Better get Olver off the triage list STAT!)

From there my next stop was the Reading Tea Party where 4 other candidates for Congress spoke:

Keith Lepor ma-09

Keith Lepor never told me he was a combat reporter in Afghanistan who is only alive to challenge Stephen Lynch because his body armor stopped a short that hit him square in the heart:

The difference between a dead combat reporter and a live republican candidate

When I asked him why he never mentioned it during my interview with him last week he answered “You never asked.”

I met two candidates for the republican nomination to face John Tierney in the Mass 6th District first Rob McCarthy

Rob McCarthy (r) 6th district

And secondly Bill Hudak who I first met and Scott Brown’s victory party and who gets a lot of credit for announcing early way before the republican tide started to sweep the land:

Bill Hudak republican candidate ma-06

Either would be a better alternative that Tierney we also met Gerry Dembrowski one of two republicans seeking to retire Ed Markey in the 7th district:

Gerry Dembrowski (r) for ma-7

He emphasized that the current economic woes can be traced to longtime congressmen like Markey who let things get this far. We also had state rep candidate for the 9th Essex district airline pilot Ray Igou:

Ray Igou (r) 9th Essex District


I found him very impressive, we need more like him on the state level.

The Axis of Fedora strikes again!

Of course the big news of the night was the expansion of the axis of fedora.

I’ll get the video up later, big day ahead tomorrow.

Fidel Castro and Pappy McDaniel

Posted: September 7, 2010 by datechguy in media, opinion/news
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In 1941 Governor Lee “Pappy” McDaniel ran in a special election for an open Senate seat created by the death of Senator John Sheppard (an interesting fact is that a son of Sam Houston the 1st president of Texas born in 1793 was appointed as a “placeholder” senator during the time between the death and the election). His primary opponent was Lyndon Johnson then a congressman from the 10th district. The two primary candidates fought it out and both were involved in some underhanded tactics however at the end of the day it looked like Johnson had the game won until (According to Robert Caro in his book The Years of Lyndon Johnson the Path to Power) O’Daniel’s enemies contrived to steal the election FOR him to get him out of the governors office.

It turned out that Pappy although corrupt had one “virtue” and that was dislike for alcohol. Convinced it was the devil’s brew he was prepared to keep “dry” zones around military bases and his foes in the liquor industry wanted him out.

I thought of Pappy O’Daniel when I read this surprising quote from Jeffrey Goldberg’s interview with Fidel Castro:

Over the course of this first, five-hour discussion, Castro repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism. He criticized Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and explained why the Iranian government would better serve the cause of peace by acknowledging the “unique” history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.

It was quite a shock to hear one of the monsters of the 20th century excoriating a modern monster for antisemitism and going on about the long history of Jewish suffering, that’s when I remembered Pappy.

Pappy was an opponent of the dangers of drinking, but it didn’t make him any less a corrupt pol.

Castro if this interview is to be believed believes that antisemitism is a centuries long disgrace and that Israel has a right to exist, that doesn’t make him any less of a murderous thug. I’m not going to fall for his pap any more that the Babliu blog guys will.

As the Doctor once told Margaret the Slitheen it doesn’t matter, you can oppress millions because every now and again you can speak up against an injustice that has nothing to do with you.

memeorandum thread here

I like this idea at Eye of Polyphemus

Posted: September 7, 2010 by datechguy in blogs, doctor who
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I wish I had thought of it myself:

It is time for the weekly round-up of favorite posts from my blogroll. As usual, these are not ranked, but in alphabetical order by blog title.

Plus you’ve gotta love someone who is into Dr. Who almost as much as me, (I don’t see anything on the big finish stuff)

On a side note I was reading his review of Waters of Mars. It was a good episode, I don’t know if it deserved a Hugo, particularly since there is a plot hole the size of Cuba. Namely that the Doctor could have easily taken Brooke & Co them to the far future to live and not affected the timelines in any way.

He has a huge number of Doctor Who posts, for that alone his site should be read a lot more often, however he never touched the Big Finish audios. He should try them, he’ll like them.

What hath Jones Wrought?

Posted: September 7, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
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The Answer is at the Corner:

…as Pastor Jones and his congregation of Dove World Outreach Church sing “Hallelujah!” while burning Qurans, my staff of 30 Christian Pakistani workers spread across the nation, as well as every Christian in Pakistan are put at greater risk and danger through the proposed actions of Pastor Jones and his church. Instead of building bridges to reach Muslims with the Gospel message, we will now have to travel with armed security and be burdened by heightened threats because of his “carnal actions”.

I will not be grateful to Pastor Jones and his theologically deranged church, as I make a trip to the city of Quetta on the Afghanistan border in October to hold a regional pastor seminar; instead I will be watching my back by the heightened risk posed by this so-called “Defender of the Faith”!

You know there is a difference between a comedy show that makes fun of everyone else cowering and a Christian ministry whose goal is supposedly to convert souls being trying to incite. Yes it is important to fight Sharia Law, Yes it is proper to point out the weaknesses in the Koran, but it’s hard to get people to listen to your message of faith if you are kicking them in the groin.

How many persuadable souls worldwide will not be converted thanks to this idiocy?

Eyes on the prize guys, eyes on the prize.

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