Archive for the ‘opinion/news’ Category

Because this time the zoning petition that was offered was passed onto the proper board rather than simply tabled:

Members of the Planning Board will have a turn to hear from those who oppose Planned Parenthood opening an office on Main Street, after the City Council referred a petition banning medical offices downtown to the Planning Board Tuesday night.

Several people, most of whom mentioned Planned Parenthood as the impetus for the petition, spoke in favor of such an amendment to the city’s zoning laws.

Normal procedure for any kind of zoning petition is to send such things to a planning board, in fact the general laws of the state demand it. The last time we were before the counsel the matter was tabled and not sent forward, this time armed with a lawyer’s letter stating what the law is, the counsel relented and the item was passed.

Joan Conroy said it best:

“The last time, most of you councilors knew we were green … so you withdrew the petition,” said Conroy, who added that city councilors should not cut off what she has to say.

“Whether you agree with me or not, you represent me and have a responsibility to listen to me,” Conroy said.

Of course this isn’t a final victory in the fight, but it was the first real win in what Stacy McCain called the Battle of Fitchburg so we are going to enjoy it for a day before preparing for the next fight.

Update: Much more info at the new Greater Fitchburg For Life Blog. Good idea starting a blog. I wonder what put that thought into their heads?

…so blogging might be light.

Lucky for everybody others are on the ball:

Casey Fiano takes a pause from her pro life blogging to remind us of the small annoyances that the Obama administration brings us:

“An international partner”?? This may be an international relief effort — with the United States as usual giving far more than any other country — but that hasn’t kept other countries from flying their flags. France, Germany, and Croatia are all flying their flags, just like every other country. I doubt anyone in Haiti is weeping over the French, German, and Croatian occupations taking place because of it. No one besides Obama is idiotic enough to think that flying our flag means that we’ll be seen as an occupation force. It’s perfectly clear to everyone with a brain that we are in Haiti for one reason alone, and that is to give relief.

Considering the amount of money, time, and manpower we’ve contributed to the relief effort in Haiti, one would think that Obama would be proud to have our flag flying in Haiti. But Obama isn’t a president who is proud of his country, is he? He’d rather apologize for the United States than take pride in it. We are literally saving lives for no gain of our own in a foreign country, and he’s still apologizing.

If we aren’t even allowed to be proud of the country when we are doing a humanitarian mission when will it be.

At the other McCain Smitty has a word about St. Patrick’s day at google:

As a Christian, I’ll venture as a default position that Saint Patrick would be as excited about the attention directed at himself, and not Christ, as, say, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be.
Heaven forbid anything ever be about me personally, in all seriousness.

I don’t know it sure looks like a cross on that G to me and anyways we Catholics don’t have a problem asking the saints to pray for us. After all these guys have proven that they know what they’re doing.

Meanwhile the Washington Monthly bemoans CNN’s desire to try to actually get people to watch them.

This is easily the worst decision CNN has ever made. That the network probably reviewed Erickson’s work before hiring him, and offered him a job anyway, suggests CNN’s professional standards for what constitutes “an important voice” have all but disappeared.

The point here isn’t that it’s disappointing to see CNN hire yet another conservative voice, adding to its already-large stable of conservative voices. To be sure, it’s frustrating, but it’s nothing new.

The problem here is with Erickson himself.

Well Erickson did give me CPAC credentials so that’s a strike against him.

And if you need a sign of spring, look no further than the site of Father Z. He not only give you a taste of the birds of spring he handles the attacks on the Pope exactly the right way:

Pray.

Just pray.

Forgiveness for the haters.

Forgiveness for the failings of all professed Catholics.

Consolation for the damaged.

Courage, health and length of days for the Pope.

And he provides a prayer for those who might not have one handy.

I’ll be back in a bit, meanwhile pop in The Quiet Man and enjoy St. Patrick’s day

Barack “Don’t worry Martha Coakley I’ll come to Massachusetts to save you” Obama has decided to lay down the law for wavering democrats:

The president will refuse to make fund-raising visits during November elections to any district whose representative has not backed the bill.

A one-night presidential appearance can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds which would otherwise take months to accumulate through cold-calling by campaign volunteers.

We all saw how anxious John Boccieri was to attend the Obama event in Ohio, I’m sure other congressmen in swing districts are just as anxious to have him there.

Between this and the sudden shifts by newspapers things are going to get very interesting.

FYI around the blogroll will return tomorrow.

It is rare enough for Fitchburg to have protests, It is even rarer for a group to have two protests in one day, but it is totally unheard of for Two different groups to be protesting two separate issues within a block of each other at the same time here.

The first of the two was the daily protest against Planned Parenthood’s attempt to open a clinic in Fitchburg. Ted Turner and his hearty band were once again standing tall. Every time I come down I see new faces but the message remains the same:

I’ve known Lorraine and her sister and her son for decades. I was surprised to see her.

Therese Cross comes down weekly to protest. she has no intention of giving up.

Ted spoke about the regular protests that have gone on since Feb 8th. He said it was a good experience and allowed him to meet a lot of good people. A new zoning resolution is going up before the city counsel tonight and he is hoping that regular order will be followed allowing the petition to pass to the zoning board without being blocked by the city counsel.

As for the tea party protesters down the block Turner and the rest of the regular group of protesters to a person expressed their support for their goals. When they left they expressed that support with a symphony of car horns.

Down the block I saw some familiar faces from the morning. Anne Andrews was there as was Michael Wertz. A local reporter showed up and asked a few questions, unfortunately for the group he left before the crowd reached its height.

I started my interviews with Kate Wirtz:

I never thought to ask if they were related. Joyce Jacobs talked to me as well.

Clark Straight had a perspective that most of the other people I talked to did not. Unlike everyone else I had met he was a long time activist who was active in Republican Political circles.

The big question is why now? We had smaller movements like Porkbusters during the Bush years but what has made the difference is? Ted Turner had one interesting thing to say. He suggested that the policies of President Obama lit a fire among the electorate. It motivated folks to get involved and an involved electorate is an informed one. You can’t have a healthy republic without one.

From what I’ve seen today, the republic is healthy indeed.