Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
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Friday, September 30, 2011
Bethlehem City Council Race: Rubberstamp Reynolds?
Like Russell Crowe did to a corrupt Roman Emperor in Gladiator, Bethlehem City Council candidates Tony Simao and Tom Carroll have unleashed hell on Bethlehem politicians. In a youtube video so powerful that it caught the attention of The Morning Call, two men have presented a compelling indictment of Bethlehem's financial mismanagement under Mayor John Callahan.
Blogger Jonathan Geeting, who is an expert on ... well ... everything, huffed that he was "not impressed" by 241 page views in less than 24 hours. It's now up to 643 views. I have over 389 videos uploaded on my Youtube channel, and the only ones with more views than that are, believe it or not, some of my Bethlehem Steelers football shots.
I'm impressed.
Simao and Carroll are still unleashing hell. In their second segment, which you can see above, they take specific aim at Bethlehem Council member J. William Reynolds, whom is labeled as "Rubberstamp Reynolds."
I contacted Reynolds for his response to this video. Unfortunately, his grandmother recently passed away, so he was in New Jersey today for the viewing and away from the computer. He'll send me his reaction in the next few days.
24 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
You like gladiator movies, Bernie?
ReplyDeleteNice one O'Hare. Badger the guy when his grandmother dies. Maybe if you are lucky, next time you call it will be a parent or a sibling. Do you even comprehend the depth of your depravity?
ReplyDeleteI'm reporting the release of an anti-Reynolds video and, in an effort to be fair and get his side, contacted him. Although I certainly am a bottom feeder, there is nothing depraved or inappropriate in what I did. Your disdain is motivated more by your outright hatred than by any sensitivity.
ReplyDeleteThrow out Bobby, I'm part of the problem,Donchez. His rubber stamp has been raging for 16 years. Wee willy must go. The most corrupt council ever.
ReplyDeletethese chowderheads are not even close to maximus.
ReplyDeletemaybe biggus dickus from Life of Brian.
It's cute that you think these dudes have a chance. Check the voter registration numbers some time.
ReplyDeleteonly fools like you geeting would vote the party line. vote for the nominee not the party
ReplyDeleteActually, come to think of it, the Morning Call has since linked to that video. If it only has 643 views, that's pretty pathetic.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with Geeting here..The Dems are working hard on getting reelected. They have been going from door to door and will be doing a number of direct mail pieces..The Republican candidates have no chance of winning. However I am glad they are stirring up political interest because the more voters that come out in that district, the better it is for the Democratic County Council candidate..
ReplyDeleteThere is no link to that video at The Morning Call, just a screen grab. Keep telling yourself it doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteWhen people stop believing that an underdog has a chance, that's when we stop being a a Republican Democracy.
ReplyDeleteSo despite your smug assessment, I do think they have a chance.
The message is good , the video is terrible. The fonts and the timing and the poor photos make my son look like kubrick, he's 2 and uses an elmo computer. Invest in final cut.
ReplyDeleteDear Tom and Tony,
ReplyDeleteGreat video. Thanks. BTW, your video tells me nothing about you or what you would do differently. You complain about deficits as well as higher fees being taxes on the people, so I am still a little confused. What would your policies be going forward? How would you square away the budget deficit, maintain services and infrastructure, while not increasing the cost to the taxpayer?
In other words, why should I vote for you?
Publius
P.S. If and when you answer, nobody really wants to hear political BS. What we really want to hear is specific, data driven solutions where the math makes sense. Thanks in advance.
Be patient. It's only the second segment.
ReplyDeleteHey knock it off. If you were a Bethlehem basketball star and had a hot girlfriend you could be a Bethlehem elected official too!!
ReplyDeleteGeeting said, "Check the voter registration numbers some time."
ReplyDeleteDidnt you make this same argument as to why Dent was going to lose the last election for Congress? The beauty of our system is that voters actually get to vote and arent solely counted on their registration.
I was banned from making comments on Tony Simao's video. I have the screen shots to prove it and I'll be putting them up on my blog today.
ReplyDeleteAre you supportive of censorship Bernie?
This is the comment I tried to leave last week:
"This is the biggest turd I've seen in a while. First of all what did Callahan and Reynolds (who was like 9 at the time) have to do with the demise of the Steel? I remember Bethlehem in the years prior to Cunningham and Callahan, Main St was a ghost town. We have fared better than most during the recession as well.
This video is a sham. Mostly irrelevant still photos set to dramatic music may scare simple minds but anyone capable of independent thought will see it as it is, a joke."
I tried to post "Ban lifted?" today and I'm still blocked. The actual message is "You have been blocked by the owner of this video."
That's a pretty clear statement.
Michele,
ReplyDeleteGovernment may not censor. But I can, you can and so can anyone running a political campaign. Someone running a political campaign has no legal obligation to permit people who oppose him lash out at him. For example, when Callahan ran for Congress, he allowed no comments questioning him on his youtube videos. Pawlowski had a moderated blog and deactivated it bc he was getting too many attacks, even though they were unposted. So I believe you are raising a nonissue in an attempt to divert attention away from the real issue, the finances of Bethlehem.
Sorry Bernie, I was confused. I thought the issues were how Reynolds and Callahan caused the demise of the Steel and the back in parking on Main St.
ReplyDeleteAnd, out of curiosity, I checked Callahan for Congress' YouTube page and the 1st video I looked at had a negative comment. Not that this means other negative comments weren't removed but clearly he did not "remove all comments questioning him."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRijxBr6RAs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Michele,
ReplyDeleteI believe the issue in this race is the financial management of the City, not the demise of Bethlehem Steel.
I do see that there is a negative comment in the Callahan campaign, and it was allowed to stand. But that's not the norm, and it wasn't the norm in his race. His F/B site, for example, was carefully orchestrated. And I have no problem with that. A candidate selling himself has every right to remove negative comments. It would be different if these were elected officials and it was a government-sanctioned site.
I notice your own blog requires people to identify themselves before commenting. Isn't that a form of censorship? In fact, they have to fill out all kinds of forms, so you know exactly who is saying what. Isn't that censorship?
No, you activate these requirements to stop trolls.
Bernie / Michele / Jon and all anonymous commentors. I am hoping that this is the last word on this topic. The civil & polite discourse between Bernie & Michele and Bernie & Jon is a pleasure to read. It's almost everyone else that drives me to cheap gin.
ReplyDeleteBernie, you got me on the comments. I debated enabling anonymous comments but overall I feel the quality of conversation is better when people put their name to what they have to say. I will admit it could keep some from expressing what they really want to say, I get it. People can still troll with a fake persona if they want.
ReplyDeleteAs for the steel and parking comment, that was a jab at the first video, which you have to admit spent way to much time on non-issues. I will give them credit that they did a better job sticking to relevant topics on the second video.
And Don, I'm sorry, I just had to.
I am enjoying the comment string on this topic. Just so all of you know, I will evaluate them all with an ever so light penchant (read heavy) to disfavor any incumbent who looks like a lackey for the status quo.
ReplyDeleteMost of our current probems in Betlum are born of useful tool lightweights like Callahan and a clueless city council (sans the Deege). When a progressive dingbat like Doober Dolan can get elected, that tells me it is time to kick it into high gear. We have far too many voters who cling tenaciously to the old Dem party thinking it has not changed since FDR... These are the useful idots in our midst.
BTW, I once voted for Cunningham because I thought that Otto Ehrsham was old entrenched guard...what a disappointment and mistake! Now I hear that he wants to run for Betlum mayor again! Get a real job, Don!!!
I am enjoying the comment string on this topic. Just so all of you know, I will evaluate them all with an ever so light penchant (read heavy) to disfavor any incumbent who looks like a lackey for the status quo.
ReplyDeleteMost of our current probems in Betlum are born of useful tool lightweights like Callahan and a clueless city council (sans the Deege). When a progressive dingbat like Doober Dolan can get elected, that tells me it is time to kick it into high gear. We have far too many voters who cling tenaciously to the old Dem party thinking it has not changed since FDR... These are the useful idots in our midst.
BTW, I once voted for Cunningham because I thought that Otto Ehrsham was old entrenched guard...what a disappointment and mistake! Now I hear that he wants to run for Betlum mayor again! Get a real job, Don!!!