Specifically, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.
A few things worth mentioning before the weekend hiatus:
Ted Stevens: Grinch
Northeastern senators like Lieberman, Dodd and others, who led the fight against oil drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, found themselves and their states punished today by the Republican leadership. Article here. Apparently, Ted Stevens of Alaska threw a fit, so we lost half of our heating assistance for the needy. The good news is that the heating money was apparently thrown into the mix to cajole reluctant Northeasterners into voting for drilling, so we probably won't miss it. Still. I'd wish Stevens a lump of coal for Christmas, but we're probably going to need it here.
Kudos to Lieberman and Dodd for holding the line against sneaky legislation and blackmail.
More on Moody
Two things. First, Moody wrote a memo in May forbidding employees from doing, well, what she did.
Secondly, Gov. Rell is now unwilling to publicly disclose the names of contributors to the fundraiser in question, which is a reversal from her earlier position. Apparently, since the money wasn't deposited, they aren't required to include it in the Jan. 7th filing... so they won't. Rell initially had indicated that the names would be made public then.
Enjoy the holidays! Posting will resume Monday. This is an open forum.
38 comments:
So these days we are ignoring Kwanza?
And Boxing Day?
Happy Everything to Everybody!
On a(n) (un)related note, I had one book bought but unread when the first year of law school started, so I promised myself I would read it when the semester ended.
I am only about half throught it, but The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is an addictive page-turner. If you haven't bought something for someone yet, check it out!
Happy Holydays to you and yours, GC! Rest up... I have a feeling 2006 is gonna be mighty interesting for every Connecticut locale....!
Peace!
Let me add my voice to everyone wishing Happy Holidays and what I expect will be a politicaly very exciting New Year here in Connecticut.
Now, being my usual contrary self, I must admit that while I find that I've agreed with Gabe a lot here, my wife got my Kavalier & Clay, and I couldn't get through it. The two books that I like best, and I particularly recommend to bloggers:
One Man's Meat by E. B. White and
Zeitgeist by Bruce Sterling .
My recomendation for smoe humor, pick up book called 'letters from a nut'. hysterical. feliz navidad.
I agree 2006 will be an exciting year in politics.
Looks like ethics will continue to play a major role ... will the ghost of xmas past haunt the candidates.... we shall see...
Merry! Merry!
Im disappointed that neither Democrat candidate has addressed the issue of Connecticut losing half the heating oil federal assistance.... in order to beat Rell a candidate will need to be bold and daring...
HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL YOU POLITICAL JUNKIES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gabe:forget about comment #54 on the last thread as I see you are studying law and that explains things and I respect lawyers but....
As for Senator Stevens he's fighting for his people who don't do as well as all us northeast liberals. Small states do better by the US Senate all the time and we frequently benefit as well. Folks in some states view us the same way some Arab countrymen view some Americans. All that said, Frist is the worst/most divisive majority leader in the senate I can remember. He might as well be GWB - and I'm not talking about the Geprge Washington Bridge.
" ... for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset ... His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him."
- Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Happy holidays, in all the observed forms, to all!
Henry Genga will be the Democratic candidate and Stephanie Labanowski the Republican in the January 23 special election to fill the House seat vacated by Melody Curry, who resigned to become the Mayor of East Hartford. The CT Working Families Party reportedly planned to also endorse Genga, meaning that he will appear on two ballot lines. (More from the East Hartford Gazette, Journal Inquirer, and Henry Genga's site.)
Genga, a high school teacher, clearly has the edge, given that East Hartford Dems have a nearly 4 to 1 voter registration advantage over Republicans, and the local legislative delegation is all Democratic.
In related news, Melody Currey decided to delay her planned resignation from her House seat on December 1 for one day so she could vote for the campaign finance reform bill. (She voted at 2:44 am and started her day as mayor at a 9 am meeting!) Unfortunately, her corrupt Democratic colleagues from East Hartford - Rep. Chris Stone and Rep. Michael Christ, voted against campaign finance reform.
And Happy Holidays!
Anon -
Anonymous said...
Gabe: you've got the wrong anonymous as I only expressed an opinion or two through the thread and had no link to offer any info.
How easy it would be to avoid the confusion if you just picked an anonymous name that you use everytime (like A differnet Anon) - you can get it without registering.
Thanks for the gratuitous lawyer shot - There's the holiday spirit!
As for Senator Stevens he's fighting for his people who don't do as well as all us northeast liberals.
He is figting for them by cutting funding that would subsidize heating oil for the poorest in the northeast? Let's elect him president! Merry Christmas, Ted.
Aldon - I tore through it in 24 hours - Simply could not put it down.
MikeCT-
Why are Rep. Christ and Rep. Stone corrupt? Because they did not support a junk campaign finance proposal that is a little step towards doing nothing?
I just read comments from the "Open Forum" post on Wednesday and want to add my two cents. In response to the comments of Aldon Hynes and others, Shonu Ghandi is absolutely incompetent and the campaign is lucky to have survived this long. She does not return phone calls, is COMPLETELY disorganized and has no idea how to manage anything. The recently identified reporting errors are just the tip of the iceberg. I would strongly encourage anyone who donates to the campaign and/or raises money to think twice.
I heard Shonu eats kittens, punched Santa, and stole Christmas on several nonconsecutive occasions. Ya’ll sound like a bunch of 14-year-old boys whining because the girl you had a crush on in the eighth grade didn’t call ya’ll back. I mean how many people are calling this woman? Seems to me like there is a bad case of “Shonu-envy” out there. It also seems that folks here are pulling at straws. I don’t really know the numbers, but if she was doing such a bad job why does DeStefano have the most meaningful labor/political endorsements and a commanding lead in funds raised? I just do not get the knitpicking that goes on on this blog sometimes.
Anonymous(10:21) I think your remarks are perhaps the closest to the truth about Christmas that we've gotten in a long time.
Have you ever notice who is accused of eating kittens on this blog? Nancy Johnson, Jodi Rell, Susan Bysiewicz and now Shonu Ghandi. Is this a case of rampant misogyny here?
No wonder Shonu doesn't return Jim's phone calls. I probably wouldn't either. Is Jim a jilted lover? Perhaps Jim should read this book .
Back on theme, Happy Holidays everyone.
The more I see people referring to those they don't agree with as "corrupt," the more I'm CONVINCED that they don't have what it takes to do anything in politics beyond blog posting.
For crying out loud, Stone and Mike Christ are solid Dems who.. gasp.. vote their districts instead of ill-advised crusades and agendas.
Let's keep the name-calling in the schoolyard, or maybe have an age requirement to post on the blog.
That being said, Happy Holidays! 06 is gonna rock!
Politicians who block campaign finance reform and fight to ensure that our political life is primarily funded by wealthy individuals and corporations are corrupt. They do not act in the public interest; they act in the interests of their donors and their careers. That's only a controversial statement among political pundits and insiders. It makes perfect sense to most folks after all we've seen in our state and country. Cry and cling to the corrupt old ways, if you will, but you've already been left behind.
Aldon...Of course you will stick up for Shonu...she hired you as a staffer....i noticed you didnt declare yourself a staffer when you responded to anonymous...im not surprised...
The fact is Shonu has no experience at all in running a statewide effort and it shows...She often is intemperate...never returns phone calls and cant manage people....
The fact That DeStefano is leading in labor endorsements,money etc is attibutabled to other folks....who i might add work around her.
Many have complained about her being " out of her league"
You would be doing John and the campaign a favor by showing him the many negative posts here about her...but of course you wont....
Im sure i will see Aldon post a " pro Shonu" posting here...and get paid for it too...ah the blantant hypocracy...
Mike, Bruce: Call me when the scales fall off your eyes. Corruption, sad to say is found in all sorts of behavior in and out of politics... and redemption cannot be found in a bill that protects--no--strengthens the hand of leadership PACs. This bill could have been done right, but the Dem leaders would NEVER let it pass without incumbency protections that-pound for pound-are stronger than they are today. But go ahead and pat them on the back and call the folks who didn't buy their plan corrupt.
"Move on," Mike. Attacking the integrity of people who disagree with you is just lame.
Wassail, everybody! Happy Holidays.
Since peace on earth is way too much to ask, maybe we could have peace in this post instead. Let's bury our differences for the weekend.
Merry Christmas GC, hope Mrs. Claus is good to you.
Anonymous(3:07) I didn't mention my role as a staffer in the most recent post, just as I haven't in most of the comments I've added over the past month or two because most people, yourself included, already know that I am a staffer.
As to my defense of Shonu, I will say up front that Shonu and I have probably had more differences of opinion than you can imagine and I expect we will have many more.
However, this ability to have differences of opinion, and yet still work together and see the best in each other is a great strength that we have in the DeStefano campaign. It is this ability to tackle difficult issues and work well together that I believe is part of the reason we have such a great collection of endorsements.
I really feel sorry for those who can't participate in such charity and civility, especially in this holiday season.
Brass hit a grand slam home run here today with his defense of Stone, Christ, and every other reasonable legislator that recognized that the campaign finance bill was nothing more than window dressing to satisfy the loud minority. Jobs and taxes are the number one issues on the minds of CT voters, but if the CFR supporters REALLY believed that most people care about this issue, the least they could have done was seriously reformed the system. We all know this law hardly does that.
as one of the anomymous Bushies who post here, let me second Geghis's appeal for peace on earth and in cyberspace, especially among those whom we don't agree with
Merry Christmas to Ghengia and all the CTLoPol readers.
Like Ghengis said, Jesus doesnt't care which critter your party uses as a logo. Christmas is for everybody! Enjoy it.
All the best.
Has anyone actually called Shonu and not received a callback, or is everyone taking someone else's word for it? And if you guys that are complaining that she "never returns phone calls" have called her, when was it and what were you calling about?
I'm a lifelong R and every campaign I've been involved in has had all hat and no cattle types who do nothing except whine about the campaign manager ignoring them,
So Ms. Gandhi might be over her head, or she has a bunch of whiners just looking to lop off her head. Who knows?
Hi Gabe: just getting back to you after the weekend. It's cold in Alaska and the state doesn't have a high per capita income like CT. Stevens did his job of representing 'his' people in our Republic.
And my point about the lawyer is that you shouldn't care who says what since justice is supposed to be blind. I read this site to learn what inside politicos do. If I wanted to have a conversation I'd go to a bar. And I still don;t see the point of same day voter reg.
I'm glad that Stevens "helped" his "people" on the backs of the poor of New England (who apparently don't exist to people who only look at per capita income totals - CT's is very high, so I guess Bridgeport doesn't exist). Also, a case could be made that the people he helped are the rich business owners of Alaska, not the poor. How much heating oil would trickle out of ANWR this winter? Compare that to the amount that he directly removed from the budget that would have gone to poor families in the North East this winter.
This is a blog. There is debate and (gasp) conversation. If you don't like it, maybe you should go to a bar. Cheers.
Prediction: If Lisa Moody goes before a judge, the Governor loses re-election.
The Democrats beleive in redistributing wealth when it suits them. It just doesn't suit the Northeast Democrats. Stevens bargained and he lost. Welocme to DC Politcs 101.
Oh, and it is a blog, a blog that allows anonymous posts. Get over it Gabe and study real hard.
Anon(9:38) -
According to the U.S. Census, the three year average median household income (2001-2003) for Alaska was $55,143. Connecticut was $55,004.
Aldon: thank you but the median is just one number, there's the average, the range, the low, the high, etc. and a few other socioeconomic factors us sociologist types figure in. I'm glad our guys stood up to Stevens, I don't like Stevens most of the time but he represented his people the same way our guys saved the subbase that the navy is in process of shutting down by taking away work from Electric Boat whose synergy was one of the reasons for keeping it open. The Navy is right on schedule for the twenty year plan as they are warriors in every respect.
Anon(12:52) Unfortunately, there isn't a nice summary of per capita income the way there is of median household income, at least that I can find. However, if you check the Census FactFinder you will see that Alaska has a per capita income of $22,660, which is above the national average of $21,587.
Connecticut has a very large underground economy that gets factored in too. Have a Happy New year.
In a virual world Mooney from New York is right. In a world where technolgy has its limits he's a little bit unrealistic or delusional. I've never met a singel soul who said they'd wish they could vote but weren't on election day. Some liberals live in adream world that never comes true and then they move to the suburbs to raise their kids because they really don't beleive the cities can do it..
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