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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Monday, March 24, 2008

Hey Tony, Why'd You Give That Money to Mayor Pawlowski?

You gotta' feel sorry for Tony Iannelli. After being nice enough to invite me to appear on his television show, Business Matters, I thanked him by grilling him on his campaign contributions to Allentown Mayor Ed "Pay to Play" Pawlowski.

I don't even think it was that much money. What's more, I actually like Tony and have been a fan of his show for several years. But I am a miserable bastard, and put Tony on the hot seat to give him a taste of what really goes on here in the blogosphere, where there are no sacred cows.

The show will air tonight on Channel 69 at 7:30 PM.

Tony had plenty of people there to put me in my place. Express Times Editor Joe Owens was there, and he describes me with charitable terms like "shameful blogger" and "Northampton County extremist." That's when he's in a good mood.

Unfortunately, Owens was in a bad mood.

Also in the house was Morning Call's state house reporter, John Micek, possibly Pennsylvania's best poliblogger. Micek, incidentally, is pretty much convinced I'm nutz, and spent most of his time there staring at me with his mouth open. But he was still nice to me. Before the show, he even made me a cup of coffee. Former blogger Chris Casey was also a panelist.

We met a cast of colorful characters because several shows were being taped at the same time. Lehigh County Exec Don Cunningham dropped by, and had something nice to say to each one of us. But PPL's CEO, James Miller, who was also there, looked like he'd be more comfortable inside a bubble. He clearly disliked being surrounded by such insignificant people, and would not even glance at anyone. He even had a handler (Smithers?) who looked down his nose at us so Miller wouldn't have to do it.

If you have a chance, tune in tonight. Dem bossman Joe Long will love it.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Tony, who lives in an affluent subdivision in Lower Macungie Township, donates so he can mingle and hob nob with the SLUGS who donate most of the local money to Ed's campaign. For Tony, I'm sure its a chance to network.

Anonymous said...

They must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Dear Maddy said...

I heard about this first hand. ever the gracious guest, aren't you BO? Casey's a former blogger?
He's writing a weight loss blog now. http://3xtoxl.blogspot.com/
He had his stomach shrank. Maybe you should try it on your mouth and/or ass. I'm sure there are a few people who would volunteer to do it for you?! LMFAO!

Bernie O'Hare said...

He's a former poliblogger. Several weeks ago, he circulated an email saying something to the effect that he's had enough and is dropping out. Last week, he dropped out of LVPoliblog, deleting a defamatory post. His own personal blog is gone. He does maintain a weight loss and dog blog.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I heard about this first hand. ever the gracious guest, aren't you BO?

Whatever you heard, it was necessarily second hand unless you were physically present.

As far as my question is concerned, Iannelli opened the door with his own remarks about Pawlowski. Rather than stab in the back, I asked him to his face why he was greasing Pawlowski. We weren't there to hug and kiss.

Dear Maddy said...

You must want someone to get sued, since when do you decide what is defamatory? If it is true, it isn't defamatory. You only post what you think you know, and if you really wanted to let this go, you would quit using every opportunity to link Chris with the words "defamatory". You know the truth, but that is inconvenient for your agenda. Why he defends you and the Molovinsky's of the world I don't understand, but I do understand that free speech requires responsible speech, so I understand Casey's argument of protecting sources.
I like your little insinuation that we were boycotting Molovinsky's blog, you know that isn't true, I read it all the time, and you don't even give Chris credit for arguing that there should be links for points of view we don't agree with.
If anyone is promoting a boycott, why is there still a link on that blog for Molovinsky?
All Casey did was ask us to not antagonize MM with our comments.
He never said stop commenting.
You are making mountains out of molehills, and pushing into an issue that you don't have all the info on.
BTW, I'm posting through a Verizon server hosted by the infamous Coyote Club on 663 in Quakertown. YeeHaw!

Dear Maddy said...

Oh, and Bernie, Chris telling me to my face what happened on BM is first hand to me.

michael molovinsky said...

bats, you wrote, "All Casey did was ask us to not antagonize MM with our comments."
most people who comment on a blog do so to disagree, agree or elaborate, not to antagonize. with the exemption of a recent disagreement between casey and myself over the walmart situation, no members of lvpoliblog comment on my blog, although there are indications they read it. this seems a coordinated boycott, what would you call it?

Dear Maddy said...

I don't know Mike, I'd call it "WE don't spend every waking moment on the Internet trolling for any hint of acknowledgement of our existence." I'm going to go find a place with peep shows now, in honor of a certain elected official I know of. I'll check back later tomight, or probably tomorrow, If I can't find any other reason for living.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Oh, and Bernie, Chris telling me to my face what happened on BM is first hand to me.

It is necessarily second hand unless you were physically present.

As far as linking Chris Casey with the word "defamatory," you're absolutely right. The post in question did contain a false accusation, but whether it rises to the level of defamation is someone else's call. Suffice it to say Casey deleted that post and dropped out.

I originally believed Casey had been set up. He acknowledged that to me. I've since learned that Casey has been telling different stories to others, some of which slam me. I am very sorry to hear that, but it explains why I'm now the "bad guy" with the kiddies at LVPolibog.

Maybe it will take some of the heat off Molovinsky.

In my own post about Easterling's supposed use of the city PC to blog, do private business and campaign, I simply laid out the facts in my possession. I was very specific, and just challenged Chris to provide us with details. "Where's the beef?" is the question I asked. Casey called me and told me I was on the right track, going so far as to claim we had the same IPs. If that is so, then it just proves that Casey was wrong because those IPs were tied to Easterling's home PC and his own ISP. Casey admitted he had been set up and asked me for Easterling's number so he could call him and personally apologize.

I've now discovered that makes me a back stabber. In other words, I must allow information that is inconsistent with mine to remain unchallenged bc it was posted by another blogger.

Actually, now I do have some questions for Casey. I'd like him to tell the truth about that cut on his head back in October. He told an incredible tale about that.

A blog boycott, directed at Michael Molovinsky, was in fact organized and carried on by some LVPolihogs. It actually extends to contacting people back channel and asking them not to post comments on Molovinsky's blog.

Anonymous said...

Actually, those folks are pretty disgusting. If you disagree with them just a little, they swarm all over you with all kinds of personal attacks.

Addicted is a bigot. He's proved that about five or six times now. He got downright filthy with his homophobic remarks to you, Bernie. His wife is just as gross as him. Nasty people. They're like some kooky cult. Better check the cemeteries at night!

Bernie O'Hare said...

OK, folks. We're going OT here. I made the mistake of answering Maddy in detail instead of letting his comments speak for themselves. But the focus here is Business Matters, not LVPoliblog.

Blah Society said...

That's Ch. 7 with RCN, right?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Beats me. I don't have cable.

Anonymous said...

Iannelli is a waiter that got lucky. I admit it I am jealous. He makes a ton of money for what? I don't care really, if business people want to give their hard earned dollars to this little empire and ALL the political jobs it supports more power to them. That is the reason some business owners have said no thanks; who can blame them. But guess what BO, who do you think are the business owners who get hurt by Govt. and Lanta actions, Bingo the businesses that say no to the Greater LV Extortion Ring.
Darn shame, BO. Just keep my tax money out of these leeches pockets.

Anonymous said...

Uncle Bernie,

You should've seen my mom's (ellen) face when she saw you on TV. She was horrified. But we watched the whole thing. Pretty thoughtful and entertaining stuff.

I'm thinking of starting a blog for my four classes. The students would write articles (political, historical), I would read them to the class, and we would vote on whose is the best so we could post those. Maybe we could get a link on your site?

Take it easy,

Erik

Bernie O'Hare said...

Erik,

I'm her frickin' brother. Is my face that horrifying? I even shaved and dressed in blue so I would not look so fat.

As far as your class is concerned, i think that is and excellent idea. It brings more diversity to the blogosphere. I'd link to it right away and am sure most local bloggers would follow suit.

Anonymous said...

You should call her and scream at her. She wouldn't stop laughing. You can tell her I told you too.

Plus, Mary just had a baby. He's doing good and farts ALL THE TIME. He fits right in.

Erik

Anonymous said...

Bernie,
Stop scaring your family! Erik, you get to teach the baby the "pull my finger trick". I haven't laughed this hard in a long time! It reminds me of my three boys and their sister when they were small. Thanks!

Bernie O'Hare said...

He's doing good and farts ALL THE TIME. He fits right in.

A definite O'Hare.

donmiles said...

Bernie,
You looked and sounded great on Ianelli's show last night. Your question about his $400 donation to Pawlowski was entirely justified -- Ianelli brought the subject up.
BTW, I'm on Ianelli's show next week (it was taped a couple of weeks ago), representing the Sierra Club in a discussion about LV transportation (including a discussion of the idiots proposing widening Rt. 22 to 8 lanes :-)
On that show, Ianelli was enthralled by Don Cunningham (who wasn't scheduled to be there, but showed up to "replace" LVIA head Doughty) and spend much of the show serving up softball questions to Cunningham.
And so it goes ... :-)
- Don

Anonymous said...

So the dude on the show was the same dude in the picture on the blog? They look nothing alike...

Bernie O'Hare said...

So the dude on the show was the same dude in the picture on the blog? They look nothing alike...

True. The pic on that blog is only about 3 years old. When I am healthy, I run marathons and ride bicycles. When I'm not, I don't. For the past two years, I've had a number of nagging physical injuries and illnesses. My goal is to be healthy enough to be running in about two months.